Academic Director,  Méabh Ni Fhuartáin, M.A., Ph.D

Director of Irish Music Studies at the Centre for Irish Studies, NUI Galway and Lecturer in Irish Music Studies, Méabh is particularly interested in the institutionalization of musical revival in Ireland during the twentieth century and popular music studies. Formerly an IRCHSS scholar, she has contributed articles and reviews to a variety of journals and is also Popular Music subject editor of the landmark Encyclopedia of Music in Ireland (UCD Press, 2013). Co-editor with Dr David Doyle of Ordinary Life and Popular Culture in Ireland (IAP, 2013), she is centrally involved in the development of the research network Comhrá Ceoil: Irish Music Studies at NUI Galway and has published in numerous international journals and collections.

SS115 Representing Ireland, Literature and Film

Director: Timothy Keane, M.A. M.A., Ph.D

Tim Keane is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago, the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) and the University of Galwat. He teaches for the Centre for Irish Studies and the Department of English at the University of Galway. His main research fields are nineteenth and twentieth century Irish literature, working-class literature, popular culture and postcolonialism. He has published on radicalism and the culture of Irish nationalism. 

SS116 The Archaeological Heritage of Ireland

Director: Dr Mags Mannion

Dr Mags Mannion holds a doctorate in archaeology from the National University of Ireland, Galway where she currently lectures with the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies. Her research interests include the archaeology, art and artisans of the prehistoric, Early Christian and Viking periods in Ireland. Dr Mannion has presented her research at both national and international conferences and has published a number of papers on her research and published a book Glass beads from Early Medieval Ireland: Classification, Dating, Social performance. Mags also co-edited the conference proceedings volume from the seventh international conference on Insular art held at NUI Galway, Islands in a Global Context. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Insular Art, held at the National University of Ireland, Galway, 16-20 July 2014. She regularly participates in Irish heritage events presenting demonstrations and workshops on medieval bead making, body ornament and symbolism and performance.

SS117 Irish History: Conflict, Identity and the Shaping of Modern Ireland

Director:  Tomás Finn, M.A., Ph.D

Tomás Finn is a Lecturer in History at the University of Galway. His research interests include modern Irish and British history and politics, the role of intellectuals, civil society, public policy, Church-state relations and Northern Ireland. He has published a book and articles on the role of intellectuals and the influence of ideas in the modernisation of Ireland. These include his monograph Tuairim, Intellectual Debate and Policy formulation: Rethinking Ireland, 1954-75, which was published by Manchester University Press in 2012.

SS118 Introduction to Art in Ireland : Exploring Ireland’s vibrant artistic heritage from prehistory to the ‘Golden Age’

Director: Dr Mags Mannion

Dr Mags Mannion holds a doctorate in archaeology from the National University of Ireland, Galway where she currently lectures with the Department of Geography and Archaeology. Her research interests include the art and artisans of the Iron Age and Early Christian and Viking periods in Ireland. Dr Mannion has presented her research at both national and international conferences and has published a number of papers and a book Glass beads from Early Medieval Ireland: Classification, Dating, Social performance. She regularly participates in Irish heritage events presenting demonstrations and workshops on medieval bead making and body ornament.

SS119 Creative Writing: Poetry and Fiction

Director: Dr Ryan Dennis

Ryan Dennis is a Fulbright alumnus and PhD in creative writing, and has taught writing at the University of Education, Schwäbisch Gmünd, the University of Galway and Maynooth University. Ryan is the author of the novel The Beasts They Turned Away, published by époque press in March 2021. The Irish Times described the novel as “a demanding debut, dense and dark, but ultimately rewarding in its strange beauty.” His work has appeared in various literary journals and he is a syndicated columnist for agricultural print periodicals in four countries and two languages. In addition to exploring the dynamics of rural life in literature, Ryan also seeks to serve those communities more directly. In 2020 he founded The Milk House, an initiative to showcase the work of those writing on rural subjects in order to help them find greater audiences. He has been featured in numerous rural publications and programmes, such as The Irish Farmers Journal and RTE’s Countrywide, addressing agricultural policy concerns. In 2021-2022 Ryan was selected as a Writerin-Residence at Maynooth University. As part of the residency, he created and edited Voices from the Land, a collection of short stories, essays and poems by Irish farmers.

SS120 Gaelic Literature and Culture; From Cú Chulainn (Cuchulainn) to the Cultural Revival and beyond

Director: Liam Ó hAisibéil, MA, Ph.D.

Dr Liam Ó hAisibéil is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Irish in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Galway and graduated with a Ph.D. in Irish from the University of Galway in 2013. He has worked at higher education institutes in Ireland and in Canada and spent periods of research at universities in Ireland and Britain, most recently as a visiting researcher at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Dr Ó hAisibéil lectures on onomastics and medieval Irish literature on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and his research interests include placenames, surnames, and medieval Irish literature and culture. He is co-author, with Dr Kay Muhr, of the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names of Ireland, published by Oxford University Press in 2021.

SS122:  Irish Traditional Music and Dance

Director: Méabh Ni Fhuartáin, M.A., Ph.D

Verena Commins is lecturer in Irish Studies at the Centre for Irish Studies, NUI Galway. Specialising in Irish music and dance studies, her research interests include exploring concepts of re-traditionalisation, surrogation and authenticity in the appraisal of Irish traditional music contexts in Ireland and beyond.   A former Galway Connect Doctoral Research Fellow, she recently completed her PhD entitled Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy: Transmission, performance and commemoration of Irish traditional music, 1973-2012.‌

Malachy Egan, MA

Malachy has a B.A. in History and Geography from NUI Galway and also holds an M.Phil in Modern Irish History from Trinity College Dublin. Malachy has previously taught at the International Summer School, as well as teaching as part of the B.A. (Irish Studies) and the Irish Life and Culture programmes. He is currently completing his PhD in Irish Music Studies at the Centre for Irish Studies, N.U.I. Galway. His research interests include Irish music and identity; cultural revivalism; the social history of twentieth century Ireland; and social geography. 

SS1153 Economic Policy in Ireland

Director: Brendan Kennelly

Brendan Kennelly is a lecturer in economics at NUI Galway.   His main research interest is health economics, particularly mental health and dementia. He has published papers on these and other topics in journals such as Public Choice, Health Policy, and Social Science and Medicine.  He is currently working on a number of projects in health including an evaluation of an Integrated Care Programme for people with dementia, an analysis of early intervention programmes for psychosis, and measuring preferences for mental health services and home care services for people with dementia.  He has over 25 years of teaching experience at NUI Galway and at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He has extensive experience in teaching microeconomics, public sector economics and health economics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.