Meet the Team
The current Steering Committee and Directors of the Oral History Network of Ireland are:
Elizabeth (Liz) Kiely is a senior lecturer in social policy in the School of Applied Social Studies and co-chair of the Board of Women’s Studies in university College Cork. She worked on an oral history project on women’s work funded by the Higher Education Authority. This generated an oral history digital archive, which is now housed in the Digital Repository of Ireland. She is co-author of the book Irish Women at Work 1930-1960, An Oral History, published in 2012 by Irish Academic Press. She is presently working on an oral history project on Irish witchcraft, magic, haunting and the supernatural.
Daniel Carey is the research project officer for community engagement on the CUPHAT (Coastal Uplands Heritage And Tourism) project and is based in UCD’s School of Geography. His PhD, undertaken at the School of Communications in Dublin City University, took the form of an oral history project on the working lives of former journalists and editors in Ireland. A former journalist and a graduate of University of Galway, he completed his BA (International) in History, Sociology and Political Science in 2003, and his MA in Journalism in 2004.
Arlene Crampsie is an historical geographer in UCD’s School of Geography and has been involved in oral history since working on the GAA Oral History Project from 2008. Her research lies at the intersection of Irish political, socio-cultural and environmental geographies, focusing on the evolution of everyday lives and landscapes using a combination of archives and oral histories. She is currently leading the IRC project ‘Irish Droughts: Environmental and Cultural Memories of a Neglected Hazard’.
Regina Fitzpatrick is a founding director and former Chair of OHNI. As an oral historian on the GAA Oral History Project (2008-12), she contributed to the design, implementation and delivery of one of the largest sports oral history projects worldwide. She has also carried out oral history interviewing, consultancy and training for a number of local authorities, third level institutions and local organisations. She is particularly interested in the ethical practice of oral history.
Sara Goek is project manager at the American Library Association. She holds a PhD in History/Digital Arts and Humanities and an MA in Historical Research from University College Cork, and a BA in History and Irish Studies from Boston College.
Dianne Kirby is a member of Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University. Her present oral history project examines the activism of women religious in conflict zones around the world: https://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/research/las-casas-institute-for-social-justice/research-interests/women-religious-project/. Dianne’s earlier research on women of faith features in the Herstory exhibition ‘Peace Heroines’, which has exhibited in Stormont, the Irish Embassy in London and is presently touring Irish cities and schools: https://www.herstory.ie/news/2022/5/19/religious-women-and-the-peace-process
Derek Mulcahy works in the Academic support centre in Mary Immaculate College Limerick. He holds a PhD in History and a BA in History and English from Mary Immaculate College. Derek is on the final stages of a book on the life and music on P.J. McNamara (1869-1927) of McNamara’s Band fame, Limerick, and New York.
Derek has recently been engaged by Limerick City and County Council to write the history of Limerick’s civilian marching bands. This will be published in 2022.
Derek has recently been engaged by Limerick City and County Council to write the history of Limerick’s civilian marching bands. This will be published in 2022.
Gráinne is a Hons BSocSc / Social Science graduate and a current research PhD student in the School of Applied Social Studies at University College Cork. Her current research interests lie in migration, feminism and gender. She is a Social Policy and Politics Tutor and a Learning Support Worker with the id+ Project in University College Cork and a Creative Editor / Editorial Board Member with UCC’s Graduate School of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies, and Social Sciences (CACSSS) peer-reviewed, postgraduate journal, Aigne.
Conor Murphy is preparing an interdisciplinary oral history PhD project in Trinity College Dublin which will explore the experiences of adoptive parents in Ireland between 1952 and 1987. Conor also holds an MPhil in Modern Irish History from TCD and a BA in History from The Open University.
Matthew O’Brien is a PhD candidate at UCD’s School of History researching Black Power grassroots activism in twentieth-century Chicago. His research incorporates oral history interviews with former members of the Black Panther Party, and other political activists. Matthew’s research has been funded by both the Irish Research Council and the Irish Fulbright Commission.
Sean O’Connell is Professor of Modern Irish and British social history at Queen’s University Belfast. He has been an oral historian for almost 30 years. He is an editor of Oral History and is a director of QUOTE Hub, Queen’s University’s oral history collective.
Adrian Roche is an independent historical researcher and interpretive content writer who has worked on a range of museum and exhibition projects, and conducted a variety of oral history projects around the country. He is a founding director and formerly both Chair and Treasurer of the Oral History Network of Ireland, and has carried out oral history training for local authorities and community groups.
David Ryan is a genealogist and historian based in Cork. He has an MA in Medieval History from UCC and previously worked as a researcher with the Cork Folklore Project. He is currently studying an MA in Public History with the University of Limerick.
Mary Shanahan is a member of OHNI Training Sub-Committee. As a result of her social research work, Mary developed a real love for oral histories. She lives in Abbeyfeale and is a founding member of Abbeyfeale Oral History Association (AOHA), of which she is currently Chair. Mary has a Masters in Sociology, Applied Social Research Methods from UL, a Masters in Gaelic Literature from UCC and a Diploma in Training and Development from the Irish Institute of Training & Development. She was employed for over 20 years as a Training & Social Research Consultant. She also tutored Qualitative Research Methods to UL students. She is now retired.