Research Profile

Oisín Wall

Biography

Dr Oisín Wall is a historian of marginalised communities in 20th Century Ireland and Britain. He is a Lecturer at University College Cork’s Radical Humanities Laboratory and the School of History, and also holds a Wellcome Fellowship for the project We are the Heroin Capital of Europe:’ Marginal Communities, Health, Identity, and the Opioid Epidemic in Twentieth-Century Ireland.
Wall’s first monograph explored the intersection of institutional psychiatry and the counter-culture in 1960’s London (The British Anti-Psychiatrists, Routledge: 2017). He has published articles on the histories of prison activism, drug-use, and psychiatry; as well as museum studies and education. Beyond his academic publications he has curated three major international exhibitions on prison and medical history at the Science Museum (London) and Kilmainham Gaol Museum (Dublin). Wall is also a member of the Society for the Social History of Medicine’s executive committee and the editor of the society’s Gazette.

Research Grants

 ProjectFunding
Body
Start DateEnd DateAward
‘We are the heroin capital of Europe’: Marginal Communities, Health, Identity, and the Opioid Epidemic in Twentieth-Century IrelandWellcome Trust15-NOV-2115-NOV-23€221,665.00
Living Inside: Six voices from the history of Irish prison reform01-APR-1920-SEP-20€900.00
Medicine Galleries Research StrategyWellcome Trust01-DEC-1601-JAN-20€350,000.00
Anti-University of LondonArt & Humanities Research Council01-SEP-1401-SEP-15€1,150.00

Publications

Books

 YearPublication
(2017)The British Anti-Psychiatrists: From Institutional Psychiatry to the Counter-Culture, 1960-1971.
Oisín Wall (2017) The British Anti-Psychiatrists: From Institutional Psychiatry to the Counter-Culture, 1960-1971. London and New York: Routledge.   [Details]

Book Chapters

 YearPublication
(2020)'Obscuring Psychiatry: Basaglia and the British Anti-Psychiatrists'
Oisín Wall (2020) 'Obscuring Psychiatry: Basaglia and the British Anti-Psychiatrists' In: John Foot and Tom Burns (eds). Basaglia: From asylum to community, international experiences. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [DOI] [Details]
(2019)'Hearing Distant Voices: Psychiatry, Asylums and the Limits of History'
Oisín Wall (2019) 'Hearing Distant Voices: Psychiatry, Asylums and the Limits of History' In: Natasha McEnroe (eds). Medicine: An Imperfect Science. London: Scala. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2021)'From ‘Opium Smoking Orgies’ to ‘Junkie Babies’: Representations of Heroin-Use in Ireland, 1915-90'
Oisín Wall and James Grannell (2021) 'From ‘Opium Smoking Orgies’ to ‘Junkie Babies’: Representations of Heroin-Use in Ireland, 1915-90'. Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society, [Details]
(2019)'Living Inside: Displaying difficult subjects and working with academic institutions'
Oisín Wall and Brian Crowley (2019) 'Living Inside: Displaying difficult subjects and working with academic institutions'. 26 :22-26 [Details]
(2019)'‘Embarrassing the State’: The ‘Ordinary’ Prisoner Rights Movement in Ireland, 1972–6'
Oisín Wall (2019) '‘Embarrassing the State’: The ‘Ordinary’ Prisoner Rights Movement in Ireland, 1972–6'. Journal of Contemporary History, 55 (2):388-410 [DOI] [Details]
(2017)'The birth and death of Villa 21'
Oisín Wall (2017) 'The birth and death of Villa 21'. History Of Psychiatry, 24 (3):326-340 [Details]

Professional Activities

Professional Associations

 AssociationFunctionFrom / To
Royal Historical Society Fellow30-SEP-21 /
Society for the SocialHistory of Medicine Gazette Editor01-SEP-22 /

Committees

 CommitteeFunctionFrom / To
Society for the Social History of Medicine Executive committee member2022 / 2026

Employment

 EmployerPositionFrom / To
Science Museum Research Curator of Medicine01-MAR-15 / 26-JAN-18
University College Dublin Postdoctoral Research Fellow29-JAN-18 / 30-SEP-21
University College Dublin Wellcome Research Fellow01-NOV-21 /
University College Cork Lecturer in Radical Humanities01-SEP-22 /

Education

 YearInstitutionQualificationSubject
2008University College Cork BAHistory and Philosophy
2014King's College London PhDHistory
2009Birkbeck College London/ London Consortium MResHumanities and Cultural Studies

Outreach Activities

 Description

This gallery explored stories from the history of medicine through objects from the Wellcome and Science Museum's medicine collections.

This exhibition told the stories of six ordinary people whose lives were entwined with the history of prison reform in Ireland.

I co-curated this permanent gallery which explores how medicine shapes, and is shaped by, communities.

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

I teach contemporary Irish history and the histories of marginalised communities, particularly people who have been incarcerated.

Research supervision:
  • I am interested in supervising research related to marginalised communities in 20th century Ireland, for instance:
    • People who are, or have been, incarcerated
    • People who use drugs
    • Communities of sex workers
    • LGBTQI+ communities
    • The Traveller community
  • I am also interested in supervising histories of medicine, including psychiatry.

Contact details

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School of History

Scoil na Staire

Tyrconnell,Off College Road,Cork,Ireland.

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