I was born in San Francisco, USA, and earned a history BA at the University of Oregon. Fascinated by Irish history, I completed a History MA at University College Cork in 1997. Returning to San Francisco, I worked in the Internet industry for six years. While on a career break I produced my first book, 'Florence and Josephine O'Donoghue's War of Independence', which was compiled from memoirs, correspondence, and biographical material. It was followed by my research monograph, Spies, Informers, and the Anti-Sinn Féin Society, an updated version of my 1997 MA thesis, which which examined the IRA's campaign against suspected civilian informers in Cork city. In 2006, I returned to UCC to undertake my PhD, funded by the UCC President's Scholarship. My dissertation looked at the radicalisation of Cork city public life from 1916 to 1918, as the First World War destabilised Irish politics and society. It was published as, The Dynamics of War: Cork City, 1916-1918 by Cork University Press in 2013. After receiving my doctorate in 2010, I initially joined the School of History as a contract lecturer. During 2016 and 2017 I was UCC's 'Decade of Centenaries Programme Coordinator', organising various public events and outreach efforts. In 2018 I became a permanent lecturer in the School of History. I was promoted Senior Lecturer in 2022. Currently I teach numerous courses in Irish and international history at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Within the School of History I am the Head of Third Year and Coordinator of the MA in History. I am best-known for my work on the Irish Revolutionary period, which includes monographs, edited collections, book chapters, and journal articles. My work often uses events in Cork city and county as a lens through which to view the entire period, and usually takes a 'history from below' approach. My scho

Irish Revolution, 1916-1923; Irish Higher Education; Modern Irish History; First World War; Maritime History; British Empire; Northern Ireland, History of Medicine; Leisure and Sports History; US History

As a historian of modern Ireland and I teach modules relating to mass movements, social control, revolution, and political violence in 19th and 20th century Ireland. My teaching in these fields is generally research led, and often has a subaltern focus. Some of my modules and seminar incorporate my core research area of Revolutionary Ireland and Ireland and the First World War. For a number of years, I have taught the MA seminar 'The Politics of Terror', which provides a global context to anti-government political violence. I also teach the MA course, 'Public History' which explores the practices and perils of public engagement by historians.