Since 1998 the ICHS has worked in partnership with the National Library of Ireland to offer a one-year Research Studentship (originally called the NLI Studentship in Irish History) for advanced graduate or post-doctoral students working in Irish history.
The Studentship offers postgraduate or post-doctoral students experience of working in a library and an opportunity to explore, in depth, the Library’s unique archival collections. It is a paid position lasting 12 months.
Students work in the Manuscripts Department of the NLI. There they undertake an intensive study of a selected manuscript collection or collections. This involves cataloguing the collection, giving presentations and lectures to visiting groups of students and scholars, providing assistance to individual researchers with research queries, and producing a research guide in their specialist area. They are encouraged to use the collection as a major source in their own research programme and to continue to use their work after the completion of their Studentship in subsequent publications and outputs.
Former Recipients of the Research Studentship
Dr Bridget Harrison was holder of the Research Studentship in 2021-22. She catalogued the T.M. Donovan papers and listed, arranged, rehoused and catalogued the Daly of Dunsandle papers. These consisted of estate papers from a land-owing family in Galway, spanning from 1667 to 1954, with most dating from 1880 to 1920. You can read about her experiences here: Bridget Harrison NLI Studentship
Dr Kate Brophy was the holder of the Research Studentship in 2020-21. She catalogued the the Coolattin papers. The Coolattin estate spanned 85,000 acres of County Wicklow and was owned by the Fitzwilliam family who had their family seat at Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire. You can read her account of her experiences here: Kate Brophy NLI studentship
Dr Ciara Stewart held the Research Studentship in 2019/2020. She worked on the FitzMaurice Estate papers, which include records of the Burton, Baillie and Rochfort estates. You can read her account of her experiences here.
Nora Moroney was the holder of the Research Studentship in 2018/19. She catalogued the Greene Family papers and the Bagwell Estate papers. You can read her account of her experiences here.
Dr Martin O’Donoghue was the holder of the Research Studentship in 2017/18. He arranged and catalogued the papers of the Levinge family of High Park, later Knockdrin Castle, Co. Westmeath.
You can read an account of his time in the NLI and the collections that he worked on here
Marie Coleman (now Lecturer in the Department of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics) was awarded the first Studentship in 1998. She catalogued the papers of Piaras Béaslaí (1895-1965), a prominent figure in the Irish revolution and the first biographer of Michael Collins. You can read her reminiscences of her studentship here.
Frances Nolan was the holder of the Research Studentship in 2016/17. She arranged and catalogued the De Freyne Papers, which concern the Barons De Freyne and the wider French family of Frenchpark in County Roscommon. You can read an account of her time in the NLI (and her fascinating discoveries in the De Freyne collections) here.
Fionnuala Walsh (now Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at Trinity College Dublin) was awarded the Studentship in 2015. She worked on the papers of Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough (1779-1869) (NLI PC 12,696 / ACC 4021). You can read her account of her studentship here.