Publications
Over the course of my academic career, I have had over 14 academic books (2 monographs and 11 edited or co-edited) published with leading international publishers (Yale University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Manchester University Press). In addition, the Irish Manuscripts Commission have published (2014–2020) The 1641 Depositions in 12 volumes; I am one of the four co-editors. I have published articles in peer-reviewed journals (including the very highly regarded Past & Present, American Historical Review and The Historical Journal), and chapters in edited volumes, anthologies and conference proceedings. Others appeared in more popular outlets (History Ireland and History Today).
Editor, Cambridge History of Ireland
Covering 1500 years of Irish history, the four-volume Cambridge History of Ireland offers an up-to-date and exciting synthesis of modern scholarship from the seventh century to the present. The volumes bring together over 100 contributors from 38 institutions worldwide. I was the editor of volume two.
Aimed at a general as well as an academic readership, the importance of The Cambridge History of Ireland as the ‘go-to’ for anyone interested in Irish history and what it means to be Irish cannot be overstated.
The Cambridge History of Ireland was launched in Dublin by President Michael D. Higgins, in London by former UK Prime Minister John Major and in Washington DC by President Joe Biden. View the launch here.
Securing Funding for Research
To date I have been the Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI for 25 research and research infrastructure projects, with awards totalling over €22+ million (Including philanthropy). Funders include the Horizon 2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions; Irish Research Council (IRC) and Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS); Higher Education Authority (PRTLI, Ireland); Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland); Irish Legal History Society; Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK); Leverhulme Trust (UK); British Academy (UK); American Council of Learned Societies (USA); Folger Library (USA); Huntington Library (USA); the Mellon Foundation (USA); and the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).
Principal Investigator, 1641 Depositions Project
This flagship technology project digitised 8,000 witness accounts from the 1641 massacres, making these controversial documents available online in a fully Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) compliant format. The collaborative and multidisciplinary project captured the popular imagination, spawned a number of imported related projects, and made the 1641 Depositions an essential resource for students from secondary schools to doctoral theses.
The website was launched in 2010 by President Mary McAleese and Ian Paisley, Lord Bannside, in a momentous occasion furthering our understanding of the history of this island. By 2018, the 1641 website had over 23,000 registered users from 111 different countries, the majority of whom were based in North America and Europe. In 2020 the Irish Manuscripts Commission published the final seven print volumes of the 1641 Depositions. To mark the tenth anniversary of the project on 22 October 2020, we hosted a Research Impact Showcase.
Principal Investigator, SHAPE-ID
SHAPE-ID is an EU-funded project addressing the challenge of improving interdisciplinary cooperation between the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) and STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and other disciplines. The project examines best and poor practices in AHSS integration through a survey, extensive literature review and a series of learning case workshops with stakeholders. SHAPE-ID will deliver a toolkit and recommendations to guide European policymakers, funders, universities and researchers in achieving successful pathways to interdisciplinary integration between AHSS and other Sciences, as well as within AHSS disciplines.
SHAPE-ID results will help the European Commission assess the potential of AHSS integration for responding to the significant challenges Europe faces in areas like health, food and agriculture, climate change, technological innovation and security, among others. SHAPE-ID is a Europe-wide consortium coordinated by Trinity College Dublin and including ISINNOVA, ETH Zurich, the University of Edinburgh, IBL PAN and Jack Spaapen.
Principal Investigator, Human+ Project
Human+ is a groundbreaking project which places the human at the centre of technology innovation to serve the long-term and collective needs of society. Co-funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and in partnership with Adapt (the SFI Centre for Digital Content Innovation), the programme was ranked 2nd in Europe among dozens of applications for its unique approach to driving technological innovation from the human perspective. Engaging a wide variety of enterprise partners, the project will allow us to appoint 18 postdoctoral fellows (2021–25).