I have a wide range of interests from the prehistoric to the modern period. I specialise in Irish, British and French military history of the 18th and 19th centuries. I also have an interest in Irish national identity, and the experiences of Irishmen in foreign armies.
My PhD examined Irishmen in the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and my postdoctoral research has also explored the Irish in the French army and Jacobitism in the Long Eighteenth Century.
I also hold a BA in European Studies (2008) from Maynooth University, for which I completed a year of study at the Univeristé de la Sorbonne, Paris IV, and an MA in Classics (2009) from University College Dublin.
Please use my Contact Page if you wish to engage my services for historical research and heritage management matters.
My PhD examined Irishmen in the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and my postdoctoral research has also explored the Irish in the French army and Jacobitism in the Long Eighteenth Century.
I also hold a BA in European Studies (2008) from Maynooth University, for which I completed a year of study at the Univeristé de la Sorbonne, Paris IV, and an MA in Classics (2009) from University College Dublin.
Please use my Contact Page if you wish to engage my services for historical research and heritage management matters.
Research and Consultancy |
My 2013 PhD from Maynooth University thesis investigated Irishmen in the British military during the French Revolutionary Wars, demonstrating how their experiences of the conflict were shaped by the nature of their "Irish" identity, from the Franco-Irish Catholic émigrés of the Irish Brigade to the yeomen of the Protestant Anglo-Irish Ascendancy. My research received funding from the National University of Ireland and the Society for the Study of French History, and has resulted in a number of peer-reviewed articles and other publications.
In 2014 I was awarded a Jacobite Studies Trust Research Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, investigating the impact of the French Revolution on the Franco-Irish officers in the French army. In 2019 I was awarded an Eoin O'Mahony Bursary by the Royal Irish Academy, to further this research by facilitating visits to archives in Paris and London. Heritage Management and Consultancy I have experience in providing consultancy work for community groups, historical societies and media productions. This has included:
Community and Commercial Archaeology I am very interested in the archaeology of Ireland and Britain. In 2015-16 I worked at the Blackfriary Archaeology Field School in Trim, Co. Meath. As well as undertaking excavation of a 13th century Dominican friary I also conducted research on medieval Ireland and the Crusades. This work has resulted in a 2018 article and a chapter in a forthcoming volume on Ireland and the Crusades. I have taken part in a number of community archaeology projects over the years, including excavations at the Blackfriary Archaeology Field School (Trim: 2017-18), Swords Castle, Bremore Castle and Drummanagh (Fingal, Dublin: 2016-18), Newgrange Farm (Meath: 2018) and the Rosemarkie Caves Project (Inverness, Scotland: 2018). I have also worked in the commercial archaeology sector. Other interests I am also interested in modern strategic studies and defence research; I am currently working on a project comparing 18th century counterinsurgency techniques with modern COIN strategy. As well as these historical topics, I am also interested in the question of historiography, and in particular how we remember past military and revolutionary events. This is particularly relevant to the current period of commemorations in the UK and Ireland. Prior to my PhD I was a research assistant on a collaborative Digital Humanities project at the Department of History, Maynooth University. I catalogued and uploaded material for a searchable online database on Irish religious confraternities, as part of a study of religion and social identity in Ireland from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. I have also worked as a research assistant on a project on child substitution in Ancient Greece, at the Department of Classics, Maynooth University. |
Teaching |
In 2016-17 I taught on a number of different first, second and third year courses at University College Dublin, including Early Modern Irish History (1460-1800), Modern Irish history (1800-2010), Early Modern European History (1500-1800), Modern European History (1500-2000) and the history of the British Empire (1495-1945).
I have also taught second and final year undergraduates at Maynooth University in Early Modern European History (1500-1700), and 20th Century European History. Prior to this I was a lecturer at the Blackfriary Archaeology Field School, where I personally designed and delivered lectures for visiting undergraduates on topics in Irish, British and European History, from the prehistoric to modern period. During my PhD, I lectured on the MA in the Military History and Strategic Studies at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, on the topics including archival research skills, the Irish soldier and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. While studying for my MA at University College Dublin, I tutored in Greek history and Roman literature. |