ICHS Seminar 2024, Remember Professor Raymond Gillespie, 11.30am Saturday 23rd

The Irish Conference of Historical Sciences will hold it’s biennial symposium on the topic of Professor Raymond Gillespie’s impact on local history. Prof. Gillespie’s 1998 book co-authored with Myrtle Hill, Doing Irish Local History: pursuit and practice, opened up the field of local history to academic researchers and had an enduring legacy in educating generations of students in the field, and in encouraging academic rigour in the area of study. These points were reiterated in Prof. Gillespie’s paper to the ICHS symposium in Belfast in 2019 on the topic of public history. His contributions to many historical societies, including those affiliated with the ICHS, inspired engagement and excellence.

To reflect Prof. Gillespie’s legacy to local history the symposium will consist of two papers. Dr. Brendan Scott deliver a paper titled ‘The Book of Fenagh: a case study in local history’. Prof. Marian Lyons, Maynooth University, will give a paper entitled ‘Thomas Arthur, M.D. (1593-1675): a case study of medical practice and moneylending in Limerick’.

The seminar will be begin at 11.30am on Saturday 23rd November at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland at 63 Merrion Square, and there will be light refreshments afterwards which will be a chance to remember Ray in an informal setting.  All are welcome but we would recommend booking a seat as it is limited. To do so please contact Kieran Hoare, our secretary at kieran.hoare@universityofgalway.ie by Friday 22nd November.

Irish Chiefs’ and Clans’ Prize in Gaelic History 2024

Clans of Ireland (Finte na hÉireann), together with the Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains (Buanchomhairle Thaoisigh hÉireann) and the History Department of Trinity College, Dublin alert their correspondents that the deadline for submission of essays is 1 June 2024.  


Entry is open to all persons over 18 years who are NOT on the academic staff of a history department in any third-level institution.


Encouraging evidence-based and original research is a chief aim of the Clans of Ireland. One palpable way to encourage this is to showcase excellence in scholarship which has been applied to researching, promoting and promulgating Irish-Gaelic history. 


Clans of Ireland and the Standing Council in association with the History Department of Trinity College, Dublin, and History Ireland magazine, offer a prize of €500 for the winning entrant. At the May 2025 Clans of Ireland Cultural Summit the winner will be invited to present their findings and be presented with the Ó Ceallaigh Dal gCais Perpetual Cup. Essays will be evaluated by Dr. Katharine Simms, Mr. Luke McInerney and the evaluation team.


Further information on this competition can be found HERE

Irish Legal History Society, Student essay competition

Prize: The winning entrant will receive a prize of €250.

Eligibility: The competition is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Essays must be written in English and be the work of students who are enrolled in a third level institution in Ireland or abroad, or within one year expiration of that enrollment.

Essay/Submission Details: Essays must be no longer than 5,000 words (including all references). All entries must use an accepted referencing style (such as APA, Harvard, Oscola), be typed, double-spaced, and include an abstract of approximately 100 words. 

Deadline: Essays should be received no later than 31st May 2024.

For full details and to enter see: https://www.irishlegalhistorysociety.org/?page_id=1464

cfp. History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) Network Ireland annual confernce

Date: 26/27 April 2024
Location: Carlow College
Call for papers:
The annual meeting of the HSTM Network Ireland will be held this year, in person, at Carlow College. We welcome the submission of organised panels as well as individual papers on any topic related to the history of science, medicine, and technology. We encourage scholars at any stage of their career from inside and outside of academic institutions.
We encourage papers, panels, and poster on themes, such as:
· The past and future of the HSTM of Ireland
· Decolonise HSTM and/or decolonial research in HSTM
· HSTM between the local and the global, the small and the large, the celebrated and invisible
· Feminist and gender-critical approaches to HSTM
· Research and engineering for social equality and equity
· HSTM in the classroom, at the desk, and in public
· Disability between science, technology, and medicine
Submissions of papers on any theme relating to HSTM are welcome, and need not be related specifically to Ireland. Abstracts (no more than 300 words) and a short biography (no more than 100 words) should be submitted by 22 February 2024 using this Google Form. We will notify all prospective speakers at the latest by the end of February.
The conference fee will not exceed 20 euro per person to include tea/coffee/lunch.
We are a small organisation and cannot support speaker travel expenses. Please note that there are a number of small grants for conference travel for postgraduate students available from other organisations, such as the Society for the Social History of Medicine (https://sshm.org/bursaries/).
Carlow College is in the centre of Carlow town, five minutes walk from trains and busses. The train is less than one hour from Dublin and Waterford on the Dublin Waterford rail line, and Carlow is connected by bus to many other locations, including a direct link to Dublin Airport. It is a historic building, and the second oldest third level institution in Ireland, after Trinity College, Dublin. There are several bed and breakfasts, hotels, and Air BNBs available locally.
Please direct any queries to Dr Ida Milne and the HSTM conference committee at HSTMNetworkIreland@gmail.com

Enterprise Partnership Scheme (Postdoctoral) Fellowship with RDS, historical research

The current call for this scheme includes applications to work with the Royal Dublin Society in one of the following general areas:

RDS: Colonialism and Empire: The RDS and its membership’s activities/collections (pre 1877 plant, museum, art and library collections) through the lens of Colonialism and Empire (impact at home and abroad- links to slavery, Anti-Catholicism, treatment of tenants by landowners in Ireland etc.)


RDS and the Environment- The historical impact of the RDS and its activities on Ireland’s environment, landscape and biodiversity.


RDS and women and entrepreneurism – the RDS and its support of women in small business and entrepreneurism in Ireland.


Details for potential applicants can be found here: https://research.ie/funding/eps-postdoc/?f=postdoctoral

RDS contact is Natasha Serne (RDS Archivist): https://www.rds.ie/ 

Royal Irish Academy, Charlemont Grant scheme open to applications

The Charlemont Grant scheme is open to early career researchers who wish to undertake short international visits from Ireland for the conduct of primary research in any subject area.

This highly successful scheme speaks to one of the RIA’s fundamental missions to identify and encourage excellence in research and scholarship, and to support the development of international links and collaborations by early career researchers.

Applications for up to €2,500 are invited.

The deadline for applications is 17:00 on Friday, 27 October 2023. 

For full details and to apply see https://www.ria.ie/news/grants-and-awards-charlemount-grants/charlemont-grant-scheme-open-applications-0