Current and past PhD theses

Kieran Devenish 

Project Title: Ardmore Studios: Ireland’s First Film Factory
Supervisor: Dr. Tomás Finn
Email: K.devenish1@universityofgalway.ie

Kieran Devenish is conducting research into the origins and development of Ardmore Studios, Ireland’s first film factory, which was set up in Co Wicklow in 1958. As there was strong international involvement in establishing the studios – and because so few Ardmore-related materials exist in Ireland – the research has necessitated a good deal of travel to Britain and elsewhere. Kieran has a particular interest in labour history and, in 2025, published an oral history study entitled Factory life in Industrial Yarns Ltd, Bray, 1958-98.

Daniel Gallen

Project Title: A transnational analysis of the experiences of Irish LGBTQ+ emigrants in the USA: 1960-2015"
Supervisor: Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley
Email: D.GALLEN2@universityofgalway.ie

Daniel Gallen (he/they) is a PhD Researcher in history in the University of Galway. His work focuses on Irish LGBTQ+ emigrant communities in Britain, using oral histories to track the experiences of the Irish queer diaspora abroad. His MA, also completed at the University of Galway, examined the experiences of Irish LGBTQ+ emigrants in London, and his PhD is tracking those same communities in other parts of Britain. He also sits on the committee of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society where he serves as Webmaster, and on the board of directors of Amach LGBT!, a Galway-based LGBTQ+ community development organisation. He is a recipient of the University of Galway's Hardiman PhD Research Scholarship.

Websites         https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-gallen-8233b649/

Bluesky: @gallenator85.bsky.social

Elliot Gallogly

Project Title: "The Only Gay in the Village": An examination of the experiences of LGBT+ individuals in rural Ireland, 1970-2000.
Supervisor: Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley
Email: e.gallogly1@universityofgalway.ie

Elliot Gallogly (he/him) is a PhD researcher with the University of Galway, funded by Research Ireland. He has an undergraduate degree in creative writing, history and English from University of Galway, and an M.Phil in International History from TCD. His PhD is on LGBT+ history in rural Ireland, 1970-2000, and his professional interests include LGBT+ history, Irish migrant history, and post-colonial history. 

Websites:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-gallogly-425829299/

https://www.instagram.com/alt_irish_historian/

https://share.upscrolled.com/en/user/81c1b122-ec19-4bb6-b22b-e3ff95b4af53

 

Shauna Mulligan

Project title: Slavery, Race and Nation Building in Wartime: A Comparison between South Carolina in 1861-1865 and Estonia in 1941-1945
Supervisors: Prof. Enrico Dal Lago & Dr. Róisín Healy
Email: S.MULLIGAN6@universityofgalway.ie

This doctoral project investigates the impact of the American Civil War in South Carolina from 1861-1865, with the impact of the Second World War in Estonia from 1941-1945, by comparatively analysing the different stages of slave labour production and racial policies of the American plantation and Nazi concentration camp during the two Wars. Her doctoral research project is fully funded by Research Ireland’s Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship (2023). She is also a previous recipient of the Hardiman Research Scholarship, University of Galway (2022). She has additionally been awarded the Organisation of American Historians’ Presidents’ Travel Fund for Emerging Historians (2026) in relation to her doctoral research. Her academic background is in the history of modern race relations, unfree labour policies, human rights and international law, with a particular focus on modern United States and modern Germany. She holds a BA, MA and LLM, all achieved with the Department of History and the Irish Centre for Human Rights, the University of Galway.

Websites:        www.linkedin.com/in/shauna-mulligan-26b373240

https://bsky.app/profile/shauna-mull94.bsky.social

Áine O'Flynn

Project Title: An epigenetic comparison of Irish and Irish-Canadian populations in the nineteenth century
Supervisor: Dr. Laurence Marley
Email: a.oflynn1@universityofgalway.ie

Áine O'Flynn is a History PhD Candidate in University of Galway. Her research focuses on medical history in the nineteenth century, specifically examining the health of the Irish in Atlantic Canada.

Websites:       www.linkedin.com/in/aineoflynn

Norma Owens

Project Title: Irish Lacemaking Networks in the Long Eighteenth Century
Supervisor: Dr. Róisín Healy
Email: N.Owens1@universityofgalway.ie

Norma Owens is a doctoral researcher in history, specialising in the social history of female entrepreneurs in Ireland during the long-eighteenth century. Her doctoral project examines the extent and nature of early endeavours by Irish women to develop lacemaking industries and the place of those enterprises within the broader European context. Given that lacemaking was not native to Ireland, this study seeks to trace the role of social networks in acquiring specialised knowledge from continental Europe. To maximise the information that can be gleaned from scarce historical sources, this project uses an interdisciplinary approach combining traditional archival research with analysis of lace specimens and the application of digital methodologies. By systematically exploring the lacemaking industry in Ireland, this project will deepen our understanding of the gendered character of early industry in Ireland and the role of female networks in diffusing technical skills. This research will provide an interdisciplinary framework for future academic research and contribute essential data to inform policy and strategic development in the heritage and cultural tourism sectors. Forthcoming publications include a peer-reviewed journal article and chapters in edited collections (2026–2027).

Norma graduated with a first-class honours MA in History from the University of Galway and the highest marks ever awarded for the thesis element. In 2024, she was awarded a College of Arts Fellowship and she also won the MacCurtain/Cullen Essay Prize in Irishwomen’s History from the Women's History Association of Ireland. In 2025, she was invited to participate in the STEMMA Hackathon, a collaborative digital humanities and data-driven research event, where her team’s submission was awarded for ‘Most Potential’. Her academic training combines intensive archival research with multimodal source analysis. She developed expertise in network analysis to maximise the research potential of scant archival sources characteristic of under-represented or marginalised groups. She has also undertaken training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to support the spatial mapping and analysis of information diffusion processes across historical and transnational networks. Norma has a background in education and visual studies. She initially pursued a career as a primary educator, developing skills in communication, pedagogy, and curriculum development. She subsequently earned a degree in photography, gaining expertise in the analysis of visual sources, skills that are now applied to non-textual historical sources.

Experience spanning three years as a teaching assistant at the University of Galway, supporting undergraduate History and postgraduate Computer Science modules, including: Economy and Society in Pre-Independent Ireland; Europe and Ireland, 1789-1918; Early Medieval Ireland and Early Modern Europe; Early Cultural Encounters in Ireland and the Americas; and Web and Network Science. Public history activity includes contributions to research that supported the inclusion of Headford lacemaking in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Professional engagement encompasses Postgraduate Research Representative to the School Board (History and Philosophy) at the University of Galway; serving on the executive (2026) of the Women’s History Association of Ireland; and Graduate Historian membership of the Irish Association of Professional Historians.

Websites:             https://research.universityofgalway.ie/en/persons/norma-owens/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/normaowens/

 

Recently Completed Theses 

2025

Pat Farrell, ‘Against the Tide: Immigration into Ireland from Continental, 1945-1990’. Funded by College of Arts Fellowship. Supervised by Dr. Róisín Healy.  

Jamie Canavan, ‘In the best interest of the child: Foster care in Ireland, 1922-1983’. Funded by the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship. Supervised by Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley.

Alice Mulhearn, ‘Sensory memory, lived experience and the Magdalene laundries’. Funded by NUIG Hardiman Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley.

2024

Margaret Houlihan, ‘Cumann na mBan in Clare, c.1916-1939’. Supervised by Dr. Caitriona Clear. 

2023

Maria Cullen, ‘NGOs as national political actors during the Cold War: A  comparison of Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam’s  humanitarian Pprogrammes in the Global South, 1979-1988’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Kevin O’Sullivan.

Liam Alex Heffron, ‘The revolutionary intersection of land hunger, social justice and memory’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

 

2022

Ian Kenneally, ‘The Press in Ireland, 1921-25’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham and Dr. Simon Potter.

Jane O’Brien, ‘Care and Control: The Experience of the Sisters of Mercy run Irish Industrial School System, 1868-1936'. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley.

2020

Raina Howe,Tudor representations of Sylvan Ireland and constructions of barbarity and civility Supervised by Prof. Steven Ellis and Prof. Alison Forrestal. 

Bernadette O'Connell, The people’s saviours? Voluntary activism in Dublin and Toronto in the age of the influenza pandemic, 1900-1920 supervised by Dr. Kevin O'Sullivan.

Gavan Duffy, ‘The British Empire’s southern Dominions and the emergence of the League of Nations “C” mandates, 1914–1926: Origins, administration and international oversight.’ Supervised by Dr. Gearóid Barry.

Lorraine Grimes. ‘Migration and assistance: Irish unmarried mothers in Britain, 1926-1973.’ Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship Scheme. Supervised by Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley.

Dominic Haugh. ‘The History of Labour in Limerick in the Nineteenth Century. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

David Kilgannon. '”The Problem of the Mentally Handicapped”: statutory policy, voluntary provision and intellectual disability in Ireland, 1947-84.’ Funded by the Wellcome Institute. Supervised by Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley and Dr. Kevin O’Sullivan.

Olivia Martin, ‘Family and society in the old Irish and Anglo-Irish elite in Connaught, 1714-1914.’ Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley.

Matthew Mc Ginty, ‘“Every Kingdom divided against itself shall be destroyed”: Gaelic succession, overlords, uirríthe and the Nine Years’ War (1593-1603).’ Supervised by Dr. Pádraig Lenihan.

Francisco Rozano-García. ‘The “Old English Elegy” in the context of early medieval Latin and vernacular traditions: A reappraisal of intertextuality, poetics, and literary genre, with a study of manuscript context.’ Funded by the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship and the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Prof. Michael Clarke and Dr. Frances McCormack.

2019

Michael Kavanagh, ‘Galway Grammar School, c. 1673-1958: A Foundation Institution of the Erasmus Smith Trust.’ Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Anthony King, ‘Home Rule from a transnational perspective: The Irish Parliamentary Party and the United Irish League of America, 1901-18’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

Áine Ní Chonghaile. ‘Pobal sa naoú haois déag á athrú agus á nua-aoisiú.’ Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham and Dr. Niall Ó Ciosáin.

Máire Ó Broin, ‘Vineta: the Vineta ‘Sage’ and its reception in German literary texts from the 1820s to 1989. Funded by the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship. Supervised by Dr. Róisín Healy and Prof. Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa.

Brega Webb, ‘The decoration of the Litterae Notabiliores in the Cathach of Colmcille’. Supervised by Prof. Daibhí Ó Cróinín.

 

2018

Deirdre Fennell, ‘The reluctant Lord Deputy: the early life and career of Sir William FitzWilliam of Milton’. Supervised by Prof. Steven Ellis and Dr. Pádraig Lenihan.

Caroline Gillan, ‘Lord Bute and Eighteenth-Century Science and Patronage’. Supervised by Dr. Niall Ó Ciosáin.

Gerard Madden, ‘“We here in Ireland are not outside this struggle”: The Irish Catholic Church, anti-communism and the Cold War, 1945-1965’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Michael O’Dowd, ‘Wolveridge’s Speculum Matricis: a mirror on antiquity?’. Supervised by Dr. Pádraig Lenihan.

Florry O’Driscoll, ‘Irish Soldiers in Risorgimento Italy and Civil War America: Nineteenth-Century Irish Nation-Building in Transnational and Comparative Perspective’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Prof. Enrico Dal Lago.

Madeline O’Neill, ‘From Carnacon to Cape Town: An Interpretive Study of the Transnational Career of Senator Colonel Maurice Moore (1854-1939), Soldier, Diplomat, and Politician:’ Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham and Dr. Laurence Marley.

Mark Scannell, ‘The position of Irish Catholics in the Officer Corps of the British Army, 1829-1899’. Supervised by Dr. Pádraig Lenihan.

Diarmuid Wheeler. ‘From Gaelic Lordships to English counties: The Tudor Transition in Leix and Offaly, c. 1547-1603’. Supervised by Prof. Steven Ellis and Dr. Pádraig Lenihan.

 

2017

James Curry, ‘The Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union and the labour press in Ireland, 1909-1920’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Eamon Gardiner, ‘An examination of the Auxiliary Division, Royal Irish Constabulary, exploring possible links between conduct and conflict-related injury, traumatic experiences and stress’. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

 

2016

Kenneth Coyne, ‘A close reading of the direct speech element in Robert the Monk’s Historia Herosolimitana as an alternative method for its historical analysis’. Supervised by Dr. Kim LoPrete

Carla Lessing, ‘Promoting English Civility in Tudor Ireland: Ideology and the Rhetoric of Difference’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Prof. Steven. Ellis and Dr. Alison Forrestal.

Martin O’Donoghue, ‘The Legacy of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Independent Ireland, 1922-49’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship and the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

Katherine O’Driscoll, ‘Reform, instruction and practice: the impact of the Catholic revival on the laity in the Dublin diocese, 1793–1853’. Supervised by Dr. Niall Ó Ciosáin.

Gerard Watts, ‘James Larkin and the British, American and Irish free state intelligence services: 1914-1924’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

 

2015

Christina Folsom, ‘The Irish Folklore Questionnaire System, 1936-45’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris and Prof. Lillis Ó Laoire.

Maxine Keoghan, ‘From Connemara to Minnesota: The Nugent emigration scheme, 1880’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Therese Moylan, 'Women entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners in Ireland 1922-1972’. Supervised by Dr. Caitriona Clear.

Joe Regan, ‘Irish Immigrants in the Rural U.S. Slave South’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Prof. Enrico Dal Lago.

Terri Shoosmith, ‘Landscape and Settlement in the barony of Tulla, Co. Clare, c. 1580-1810’. Funded by the NUIG Hardiman Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Pádraig Lenihan.

Cathal Smith, ‘Lords of Land and Labour: A Comparison of Antebellum Mississippi’s John A. Quitman and Nineteenth-Century Ireland’s Lord Clonbrock’. Funded by the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship. Supervised by Prof. Enrico Dal Lago.

Lili Zach, ‘Irish perceptions of national identities in Austria-Hungary and its small successor states, 1914-1945’. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

 

2014

Matteo Binasco, ‘Establishing Mission Networks in the Early Modern Catholic Church: Ireland, Rome and the West Indies, 1600-69’. Funded by the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship and the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Alison Forrestal.

Christopher Doyle, ‘The Endgame of Treason: Suppressing Rebellion and Usurpation in the Late Roman Empire AD 397-411’. Supervised by Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín.

Mary B. Hawkins, 'Nurses and midwives in the state sector in Galway 1922-1970’. Supervised by Dr. Caitriona Clear.

Paul McNamara, ‘The Sovietization of Poland’s Baltic “Recovered Territories”, 1945-1956’. Funded by the IRC Doctoral Research Fellowship. Supervised by Dr. Róisín Healy.

James O’Donnell, ‘International News Supply to Ireland, c. 1899-1949’. Funded by PRTL1. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris and Dr. Simon Potter.

Séan Ó Duibhir, ‘The response of the Irish state to subversion 1969-1981’. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

Pauline Scott, ‘Evictions on the Glinsk Creggs estate of Allan and Margaret Pollok in the 1850s’.Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

 

2013

Ronan De Bhaldraithe, ‘Ghost Dances and Ring Shouts: Nineteenth-Century Lakota and Gullah Musical Traditions in Comparative Perspective’. Supervised by Prof. Enrico Dal Lago.

Susan Loughlin, ‘The Pilgrimage of Grace: Rhetoric, Reward and Retribution’. Funded by the NUIG Doctoral Research Scholarship. Supervised by Prof. Steven. Ellis and Dr. Alison Forrestal.

Mark Phelan. ‘Irish responses to Fascist Italy, 1919-1932.’ Funded by IRC. Supervised by Prof. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh.

 

2012

John Burke, ‘Athlone, 1900-1921: politics and conflict in provincial Ireland’. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

Geraldine Curtin, 'Criminal children in post-Famine Connacht:  poverty, crime and punishment 1854-1870.’ Supervised by Dr. Caitriona Clear.

Sarah McCann, ‘Bede’s plures de Scottorum regione; the Irish in Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum’.Supervised by Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín.

Joanne McEntee, ‘The state and the landed estate: order and shifting power relations in Ireland 1815-1891’. Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Seán Smith, ‘Fidelity to Founder under the Bourbon Regime: The Congregation of the Mission, 1660-1736’. Funded by the PRTLI4 Postgraduate Fellowship and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Supervised by Dr. Alison Forrestal.

 

2011

Jacqueline Maria Callan, ‘The history of the Galway Fishery during the ownership of the Ashworth Family, 1852-1922’.Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Claire E Lyons, ‘Sylvester O’Halloran’s General History (1788):  Irish Historiography and the late Eighteenth-Century British Empire’. Supervised by Dr. Niall Ó Ciosáin.

Dónal McAnallen, ‘Playing on the Fourth Green Field: The Gaelic Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland State, 1921-1968’. Supervised by Dr. Mary Harris.

Orla Power. ‘Irish planters, Atlantic merchants: the development of St. Croix, Danish West Indies, 1750-1766.’  Funded by the Irish Research Council. Supervised by Nicholas Canny.

Andrew Sargent. ‘Ruling the Borders: Wiliam Lord Dacre and the genesis of the Dacre Rising’. Supervised by Prof. Steven Ellis.

 

2010

Bernard Kelly, ‘Prisoners of history: Irish ex-servicemen, the De Valera government and Irish society, 1945-1948’.Supervised by Dr. John Cunningham.

Laura Kelly. ‘Irish Medical Women c.1880s-1920s: the origins, education and careers of early women medical graduates from Irish institutions’. Supervised by Dr. Aileen Fyfe.