Stefan Bishop

Postgraduate Research Student

stefan.bishop@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Stefan has a BA(Hons) in History and English Literature from Anglia Ruskin University and a MA History also from Anglia Ruskin University.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

Stefan is researching the lives of women in County Kerry during the Irish Revolutionary Period. Looking at their activities, their portrayal and insight into their struggle for recognition in the newly formed Irish Free State.

Research Funding

Student Loans Company

Rebecca Boast

Postgraduate Research Student

hsrboast@student.liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Rebecca has a BA in History and Criminology from the University of Liverpool.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

Research Funding

Student Loans Company

Paddy Brennan

Postgraduate Research Student

p.j.brennan@liverpool.ac.uk

Research Interests

Thesis Title

Paddy’s research looks at the literary significance of food, its consumption and its rejection in Irish fiction. Spanning from the mid-twentieth century up until the present day, it encompasses a diverse range of authors including Edna O’Brien, John McGahern, Sally Rooney and Niamh Campbell. This research charts how Irish attitudes towards eating and self-starvation alter as Ireland itself transitions from a prevailing culture of Catholic self-denial to being a modern, secular state where conspicuous consumption is rife.

Research Funding

Institute of Irish Studies

Louise Coyne

Postgraduate Research Student

L.M.Coyne@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Louise has a BA in History from the University of Oxford and an MA in Irish Studies from the University of Liverpool.

Louise’s research focuses on the connection between the Pankhurst family and Irish Nationalism in Britain, especially in Manchester. The Pankhurst family had numerous connections to Irish Nationalism: Richard supported Irish Home Rule and even stood for Parliament on that basis, Emmeline was ‘awakened’ by the death of the Manchester Martyrs, Christabel reportedly used Parnell’s tactics and Sylvia supported protests against the Dublin Lock-Out. This research aims to look closely at these connections and analyse how both the Irish National Movement and the British Suffrage Movement interacted with one another. 

Hannah Evans

Postgraduate Research Student

hannah.evans@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

I completed my undergraduate study in History & Egyptology at the University of Liverpool before moving to the University of Cambridge for my MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. My masters dissertation focused on women’s roles in the economy of medieval Iceland, particularly in relation to vaðmal production. My research interests include Viking Age and medieval history of Ireland and Scandinavia, textiles, material culture and archaeology, Old Norse and middle Irish literature, as well as palaeography, codicology and manuscript studies.
I also have a keen interest in heritage and museum practices, having worked for the National Trust and as the Collections Assistant at Ceredigion Museum before starting my PhD.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

My current research focuses on women’s economic agency in Viking Age Ireland, Iceland and Scandinavia. It is a comparative and interdisciplinary study using a range of sources including archaeology, material culture, and texts, and working through a specific framework of politics, culture, religion and environment. The aim of the project is to identify women’s roles, activities and influence within Viking age trade and economy.

Research Funding

Institute of Irish Studies

Melissa Farrell

Postgraduate Research Student

M.R.Farrell@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Melissa has a 1st Class BA in Irish studies and English from the Univeristy of Liverpool. Melissa was awarded the George Huxley and David Thistlewood prizes for her Undergraduate dissertation. She then went on to attain her MA, with distinction, in Irish Studies.

Outside of her studies, Melissa has written and produced several plays including an adaptation of Samuel Beckett's "Endgame" as well as some short Irish plays which were performed at the Liverpool Irish Festival.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"'My Whetstone': Uncovering Stanislaus Joyce in Finnegans Wake."

Melissa's thesis is an in-depth analysis of the brother relationship in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (1939). Building from Michael H. Begnal’s theory of ‘interpolations’ in the book, it examines five excerpts which deviate from the foundational narrative and involve interfaces between two brothers who bear resemblance to James himself and his brother Stanislaus Joyce. The research is interdisciplinary, drawing from biographical, historical, and cultural studies. 

Research Funding

Sir Joseph Rotblat Alumini Scholarship

Dean Farquhar

Postgraduate Research Student

hsdfarqu@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Dean has a BA and MA both from the University of Liverpool. Dean is also a residential adviser for the University accommodation team.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Youth and Democracy: A Post-Conflict case study."

Analysis of the 2015 Northern Ireland General Election Survey revealed that younger people were not only significantly less likely to vote than older people, but also likely to hold divergent attitudes on a number of salient political issues, such as equal marriage, abortion and Brexit. Why do young people have different views to older people on such issues? What reasons do they have for abstaining to vote? What makes one young person less likely to vote than another? Has youth voting behaviour been influenced by recent political developments? Does youth abstention present a long term threat to the democratic legitimacy of the institutions established by the peace process? This research project sets out to address these questions. The Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool has also provided a fees scholarship to support this endeavour.  

Dean's wider research interests include Northern Ireland's political history and Ian Paisley's political career.

Research Centre Membership

Centre for Security and Conflict

Research Funding

Institute of Irish Studies

Andrew Foster

Postgraduate Research Student 

Thesis Title

Home away from heresy: English and Irish nuns in exile in the seventeenth century. 

Biography

I did a combined English and History degree at the University of York, where I earned a 2:1 BA, and I completed a Master's degree in History at the University of Liverpool (Pass with Distinction). My MA dissertation was on the Reformation in Ireland during the sixteenth century, which has inspired my PhD research topic on the Counter-Reformation in Ireland and Catholic communities in exile.

Outside of my studies I primarily work on writing fiction. I am currently working on a horror novel, which I aim to be publishing by the end of 2021.

Research Interests

My thesis concerns the comparative study of English and Irish female religious communities in the seventeenth century, primarily but not exclusively in exile. It focuses specifically on the case studies of English and Irish communities that began in exile, such as the Poor Clares at Gravelines and the Benedictines at Brussels, and the parallel developments and histories of their members. Some thrived as an exile community and remained in exile, while others did not and returned to their homeland, like the Irish Poor Clares in 1629.

The reasons for the comparative study are due to the often shared histories of these two communities (For instance the Irish Poor Clares who returned to Ireland began their religious careers in the English Gravelines convent), as well as a goal of more closely integrating the histories of Irish and English nuns into the broader debate about the Counter-Reformation in Europe.

Research Funding

Institute of Irish Studies

Keith Hennessy

Postgraduate Research Student

pskhenne@liverpool.ac.uk

Research Interests

Thesis Title

Research Funding

John Lennon Memorial Scholarship

Donal Manning

Postgraduate Research Student

donal.manning@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

I am in my third year of a part-time PhD in the Institute of Irish Studies. My thesis title is ‘Ulster and Unionism in Finnegans Wake’. I have presented two relevant papers at academic meetings: the American Conference for Irish Studies in Cork, June 2018, and the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures, Nijmegen, July 2108. I have one published paper, in the Australasian Journal of Irish Studies, 2016, and one in press with Irish Studies Review. I have led two Continuing Education courses on the works of James Joyce, one in 2016-7 and one in 2017-8.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Ulster and Unionism in Finnegans Wake"

Donal's thesis explores James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, which contains many references and allusions to Ulster. Some relate to places (Belfast, Ballymacarrett, the Giant’s Causeway), some are ‘written’ in Ulster dialect or with a   Northern accent, and many suggest Ulster’s separateness from the rest of Ireland. Related to the latter, the text contains strong hints of North-South, orange-green conflict. The objectives of the project are to describe some of these allusions, to analyse them and to consider their significance. It is anticipated that this analysis will support the thought that Joyce bemoaned sectarianism and xenophobia of all shades and held pluralist aspirations for Ireland, though he was ultimately pessimistic about the prospect of these aspirations being attained.

Research Centre Memberships

American Conference for Irish Studies

International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures

Gavin McAlinden

Postgraduate Research Student

Gavin.Mcalinden@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Gavin has a B.A. (Hons) from the University of Ulster and a PGCE from Goldsmiths College. Gavin received the Institute of Irish Studies Knowledge Exchange Award in 2019.

Gavin’s research interests include neglected female Irish Playwrights of the 1930s and contemporary Irish Theatre. As a theatre director he has produced critically acclaimed work by Mary Manning, Theresa Deevy, Elizabeth Connor, Tom Murphy and Frank McGuinness.

Funded by the Institute of Irish Studies.

Ian Redmond Russell

Postgraduate Research Student

ian.russell@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Ian graduated with his B.A. in Archaeology and Greek & Roman Civilisation from University College Dublin in 1996 and an M.A. in Classical Studies from the same University in 1998.  He started working as a professional commercial archaeologist with Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd in 1998 and became licence eligible in 2000.  He is a Senior Archaeologist with ACSU and is skilled at photography, drone photography, V-RTI and 3D imagery.  He has excavated a large number of multi-period sites over the past decades and was the director who led the team of archaeologists who found and partially excavated the 9th – 10th century Viking site at Woodstown, Co. Waterford in 2003-4, 2007 & 2018. 

He co-wrote, with Dr. Maurice Hurley, the book ‘Woodstown: A Viking Age settlement in Co. Waterford’ published by Four Courts Press in 2014 and submitted a chapter (No. 7) entitled ‘The Woodstown Enigma:  A discussion of the 9th – 10th century Viking Winter Camps at Woodstown, Co. Waterford, Ireland published by Routledge in 2023 in ‘Viking Camps: Case Studies and Comparisons’ edited by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson and Irene Garcia Losquino. 

Research Interests

Thesis Title

Ian's thesis will focus on attempting to contextualise the 9th – 10th century Viking Longphort at Woodstown by attempting to ascertain its form and function.  So much was found at Woodstown yet so many questions remain unanswered.  Was it just a raiding base, a centre for commercial trade? Or was it also a centre of manufacture with a settled Viking community with families of men, women and children integrated or partly integrated with its geographic and political neighbours?  For example what did it look, sound and smell like?

Ian will attempt to answer these questions by a comparison of the archaeological/historical evidence and the material culture found at Woodstown, Linns and Dublin (in Ireland), and also at the similar sites identified at Foremark, Aldwark and Torksey (in the UK), to plot the known or possible locations of Viking Longphorts in Ireland and attempt to examine the nature and distribution of Viking raids in order to establish how they were carried out, why and what were their political impacts. 

Research Funding

The Institute of Irish Studies

Ségdae Richardson-Read (they/them)

Postgraduate Research Student

Segdae.Richardson-Read@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

I have an MLitt in Viking Studies from the University of Highlands and Islands, where my Masters dissertation looked at queer themes within Old Norse mythology and drew this from the Old Norse literature sources including Eddas and sagas. I’m interested in exploring the presence of queer identities and queer bodies within Old Norse sources, in particular focusing on texts that describe the supernatural, divine, and magical encounters and individuals. I’m also a co-organiser of the Performing Magic in the pre-Modern North conference, which has run on an annual basis since 2020.
My research interests include Old Norse literature, burial archaeology, and applications of transgender and queer theory in studies of history.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

My project is focused on the practice of seiðr, a ritual practice of magic, as it is described in Old Norse text sources. This practice is referenced in multiple different sources, and in many different ways, which provide insight into how the practice was perceived and how the practitioners are framed. I am exploring how these insights can provide a re-interpretation of the identity of the practitioners, and in using queer theoretical frameworks, to highlight how seiðr practitioners may have moved through and away from binary gender identities.

Edwin Rutherford

Postgraduate Research Student

edwinr@liverpool.ac.uk

Lucy Simpson-Kilbane

Postgraduate Research Student

l.a.simpson@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Lucy has a BA in History from the University of Leicester and an MA in Irish Studies from the University of Liverpool. Lucy has received the Institute of Irish Studies MA Dissertation Award for her thesis and is the co-history editor of the Liverpool Postgraduate Journal of Irish Studies.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"‘Documents of truth’?: The Ryan (2009) and McAleese (2013) Reports."

This research project will present a critical analysis of the state-funded investigations into institutional and clerical abuse in twentieth-century Ireland. It will offer a limited assessment of the Ferns (2005), Murphy (2009), and Cloyne (2010) Reports into clerical abuse, and a more in-depth analysis of the Ryan Report into child abuse in Ireland’s industrial schools, as well as the McAleese Report into state involvement in the operation of the country’s Catholic Magdalen laundries.

The thesis will consider how far the investigations and reports were a symptom of Ireland’s ‘inquiry culture’ and will also address the legacy of the reports and the lessons that can be learned from them.

Lucy’s broader research interests include the history of institutionalisation and welfare provision, the Irish Catholic Church, and women and gender studies

Research Funding

Institute of Irish Studies

William Purvis

Postgraduate Research Student

E.Purvis@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

William has a 1st Class BA in International Politics and Conflict studies from Queen's University Belfast and has achieved the David Mullholland Prize for best Undergraduate dissertation. 

Outside of his studies, William offers advice as a political consultant, works with the Green Party in Northern Ireland and has worked in Mexico teaching English for one year. Currently, William works part-time for a community arts company.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Community-based resistance to drug trafficking organisations in Ireland and Mexico."

In recent years, Mexico and Ireland have both witnessed the birth of localised resistance to criminal groups by non-state actors. Responses range from community-led protests and marches to armed struggle and vigilante justice. This comparative study looks at the failure of state-led structural responses to violent crime, how and why communities coalesce for the purpose of resistance, and the effects on the drug trade. In examining local knowledge of the contested social order in these communities we can start to re-assemble approaches to power that are reflective not on the episodes of violent crime but a more nuanced understanding of the merit of resistance and its more precise and immediate understanding of those problems.  

Research Group Membership

Centre for Security and Conflict

Research Funding

Institute of Irish Studies