Biography

Maeve O'Riordan is lecturer in women's and cultural history at the School of History.

She is interested particularly in nineteenth and twentieth century social history, country house studies material culture, women's history and feminist history. Maeve has maintained her interest in gender equality in higher education and has worked in the Higher Education Authority, the Irish Research Council and Women's Studies at UCC since completing her PhD.

She won an Irish Research Council Scholarship for her PhD in UCC in 2010 and for her postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates at Maynooth University in 2014. 

 

Research Interests

My research is focused on Irish gender history, and women's history particularly focused on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I have written a detailed study on women of the Big House during this period (Liverpool University Press, 2018). At the same time, I curated a multimedia exhibition on the women of Airfield house; a suburban villa in Dublin.  My focus on privileged women has permitted me access to personal archival material. I have a background in Art History as well as history which informs my interest in art and fashion.

I am interested in broader issues of family and culture, as demonstrated by my current research project. I am in favour of a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to research. My most recent work has focused on establishing research networks across the humanities and social sciences, and across national boundaries to develop new approaches to research. Arising from my recent collaboration with Dr Leanne Calvert (University of Hertfordshire) I am co-editing a special issue on the Irish family.

Research Grants

  Project Funding
Body 		Start Date End Date Award
Womens Voices and the Decade of Centenaries. Irish Research Council 01-JAN-17 30-SEP-17 €12,432.00
Reconstituting the Irish Family (RIFNET) Irish Research Council 01-MAR-21 25-OCT-22 €11,794.00

Books

  Year Publication
(2018) Women of the Country House in Ireland, 1860-1914.
Maeve O'Riordan (2018) Women of the Country House in Ireland, 1860-1914. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2022) 'The birth of Brendan O’Brien: a son and heir'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2022) 'The birth of Brendan O’Brien: a son and heir' In: Salvadore Ryan (eds). Birth and the Irish: a miscellany. Dublin: Wordwell. [Details]
(2022) 'Gender and the Ascendancy: The Families Who Owned, and Lost, the Island of Ireland, 1852–1922'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2022) 'Gender and the Ascendancy: The Families Who Owned, and Lost, the Island of Ireland, 1852–1922' In: Jyoti Atwal, Ciara Breathnach, Sarah-Anne Buckley (eds). Gender and History: Ireland, 1852–1922. India: Routledge. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]
(2022) 'The death of May Chichester and the end of her ten-month marriage'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2022) 'The death of May Chichester and the end of her ten-month marriage' In: Birth and the Irish: a miscellany. Dublin: Wordwell. [Details]
(2019) 'Titled Women and Voluntary War Work in Ireland during the First World War: a case study of Ethel, Lady Inchiquin'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2019) 'Titled Women and Voluntary War Work in Ireland during the First World War: a case study of Ethel, Lady Inchiquin' In: Irish Women in the First World War Era: Irish Women’s Lives, 1914-18. London: Routledge. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]
(2019) 'A peer’s daughter marries a Catholic doctor: the Hon. Beryl O’Brien and Pat Gallagher, 9th April 1929'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2019) 'A peer’s daughter marries a Catholic doctor: the Hon. Beryl O’Brien and Pat Gallagher, 9th April 1929' In: Marriage and the Irish: a miscellany. Dublin: Wordwell. [Details]
(2019) 'Lady Castletown’s scrapbook: making memories for leisure'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2019) 'Lady Castletown’s scrapbook: making memories for leisure' In: Terence Dooley and Christopher Ridgway (eds). Sport and leisure in the Irish and British country house. Dublin: Four Court's Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]
(2017) 'Childhood in the Country House, Munster, 1860-1914'
Maeve O'Riordan (2017) 'Childhood in the Country House, Munster, 1860-1914' In: Mary Hatfield, Jutta Kruse and Ríona Nic Congáil (eds). Historical Perspectives on Parenthood and Childhood in Ireland. Dublin: Arlen House. [Details]
(2016) 'The purpose of leisure: entertaining in the Big House, c.1860-1914'
Maeve O'Riordan (2016) 'The purpose of leisure: entertaining in the Big House, c.1860-1914' In: Leeann Lane and William Murphy (eds). Leisure in nineteenth-century Ireland. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. [Details]
(2015) 'Elite Courtship: The Case of Mabel Smyly and Dermod O’Brien, 1901-1902'
Maeve O'Riordan (2015) 'Elite Courtship: The Case of Mabel Smyly and Dermod O’Brien, 1901-1902' In: Jennifer Redmond, Mary McAuliffe, Sandra McAvoy, Sonja Tiernan (eds). Sexual Politics in Modern Ireland. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. [Details]
(2013) 'Assuming control: elite women as household managers in late nineteenth century Ireland'
Maeve O'Riordan (2013) 'Assuming control: elite women as household managers in late nineteenth century Ireland' In: Ciaran O'Neill (eds). Irish Elites in the Nineteenth Century. Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]

Edited Books

  Year Publication
(2018) Women and the Country House in Ireland and Britain
Terence Dooley, Maeve O'Riordan, Christopher Ridgway (Ed.). (2018) Women and the Country House in Ireland and Britain Dublin: Four Courts Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2022) 'Review: Diane Urquhart, Irish Divorce: a history (Cambridge, 2020), Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 9781108493093, 285pp, £74.99 (hb), £22.99 (pb)'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2022) 'Review: Diane Urquhart, Irish Divorce: a history (Cambridge, 2020), Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 9781108493093, 285pp, £74.99 (hb), £22.99 (pb)'. Saothar: Journal of The Irish Labour History Society, [ Publisher's Version] [Details]
(2021) '‘We … galloped hard and straight over some big stone gaps’: Freedom of the Hunt for Elite Women in Ireland, 1860-1914'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2021) '‘We … galloped hard and straight over some big stone gaps’: Freedom of the Hunt for Elite Women in Ireland, 1860-1914'. Studies in Arts and Humanities, [Details]
(2021) 'Editorial'
K. Liston, H Bynre and M.O'Riordan (2021) 'Editorial'. Studies in Arts and Humanities, [Details]
(2021) 'Growing up in nineteenth-century Ireland: a cultural history of middle-class childhood and gender by Mary Hatfield, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019, 279 pp., £60 (hardback), ISBN 9780198843429'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2021) 'Growing up in nineteenth-century Ireland: a cultural history of middle-class childhood and gender by Mary Hatfield, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019, 279 pp., £60 (hardback), ISBN 9780198843429'. Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society, [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Monksgrange: portrait of an Irish house and family, 1769–1969. By Philip Bull,. Pp 269. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2019. €50'
O'Riordan, Maeve (2020) 'Monksgrange: portrait of an Irish house and family, 1769–1969. By Philip Bull,. Pp 269. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2019. €50'. Irish Historical Studies, [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Titled Women and Voluntary War Work in Ireland during the First World War: a case study of Ethel, Lady Inchiquin'
Maeve O'Riordan (2018) 'Titled Women and Voluntary War Work in Ireland during the First World War: a case study of Ethel, Lady Inchiquin'. Womens History Review, 27 (3: Irish women in):360-378 [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2016) Enhancing student engagement in decision making.
Tom Collins et al. (2016) Enhancing student engagement in decision making. HEA, Dublin. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]
(2016) HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn et al. (2016) HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions. HEA, Dublin. [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Exhibition

  Year Publication
(2015) Lives Less Ordinary: The Women of Airfield House.
O'Riordan, Maeve (2015) Lives Less Ordinary: The Women of Airfield House. Exhibitions [Details]

Journal Volume Edited

  Year Publication
(2021) Women in Sport.
Liston, Katie, Helena Byrne and Maeve O'Riordan (2021) Women in Sport. Journal Volume Edited [ Publisher's Version] [Details]
(2020) Women's History Journal: Women and the Family in Ireland.
Calvert, Leanne and O'Riordan, Maeve (2020) Women's History Journal: Women and the Family in Ireland. Journal Volume Edited [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Web Page

  Year Publication
(2021) The Big House and the War of Independence.
O'Riordan, Maeve (2021) The Big House and the War of Independence. Web Page [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2022 Elected fellow Royal Historical Society Royal Historical Society
2021 UCC Returner's Scheme UCC
2019 CACSSS Impact Funding Scheme UCC
2020 Reconstituting the Irish Family Research Network (with Leanne Calvert) Irish Research Council/ Economic and Social Research Council
2018 Small Grants Award (with Dr Leanne Calvert, University of Hertfordshire) Women's History Network
2018 CACSS Research Support Fund College of Arts Celtic Studies and Social Sciences
2018 Research Support Fund School of History, UCC
2016 New Foundations Award Irish Research Council
2015 Anna Parnell Travel Prize Women’s History Association of Ireland
2015 Scheuerle-Zatlin International Travel Award Nineteenth Century Studies Association
2014 Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Irish Research Council
2011 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship : Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Now Irish Research Council)
2011 Michael Joseph McEnery Prize School of History, UCC
2010 School of History Tutorial Scholarship School of History, UCC
2004 College Scholar University College Cork

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland Executive Committee Member 01-JUL-19 /
Irish Association of Professional Historians Member 01-JAN-14 /
Royal Historical Society Fellow 06-MAY-22 /
Women also know history Listed Scholar 01-JAN-18 /
Women's History Association Book Reviews Editor 01-JUL-17 /

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
(2019) WHN Women and the Family in Ireland, 1550-1950,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2019) So one becomes an old maid': the position of the unmarried woman in elite families’, WHN Women and the Family in Ireland, 1550-1950. [Oral Presentation], WHN Women and the Family in Ireland, 1550-1950, University of Hertfordshire . [Details]
(2019) Secret societies and societies with secrets: Youghal History Conference,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2019) Doneraile House and Elizabeth St.Leger, the first female Freemason. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Secret societies and societies with secrets: Youghal History Conference, Youghal . [Details]
(2019) TCD,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2019) ‘A woman's domain? women as employers in the nineteenth-century country house’. [Oral Presentation], TCD, Trinity College Dublin . [Details]
(2018) UCC History Seminar Series,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2018) Women of the Irish Country House, 1860-1914. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], UCC History Seminar Series, UCC . [Details]
(2018) Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Annual Conference,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2018) Guano, coral necklaces and French olives: the buying network of Mary, Viscountess Doneraile. [Oral Presentation], Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Annual Conference, QUB . [Details]
(2018) Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates Annual Conference,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2018) Going in for Art’: Women as objects, consumers and practitioners of art in the Irish Country House, 1860-1914. [Oral Presentation], Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates Annual Conference, Maynooth University . [Details]
(2016) European University Association 11th European Quality Assurance Forum: Quality in context – embedding improvement,
O'Riordan, Maeve (2016) Embedding Improvement through Student Engagement. [Oral Presentation], European University Association 11th European Quality Assurance Forum: Quality in context – embedding improvement, Ljubljana, Slovenia . [Details]

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
Mná UCC Committee member 2021 /
Academic Council Committee member 2021 /
Mná UCC Founding member and Vice Chair Academic 2019 /
Teaching and Learning Committee Vice Chair 2018 /
Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland Committee member 2018 / 2021
Women's History Association of Ireland Book Reviews Editor 2016 / 2018

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
Maynooth University Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow 01-OCT-14 /
UCC Lecturer in Women's and Cultural History 18-MAR-18 /
Irish Research Council Programme Manager 10-JUL-17 / 18-MAR-18
UCC Lecturer/Coordinator, Women's Studies 01-SEP-16 / 09-JUL-17
Higher Education Authority Postdoctoral Fellow 01-APR-15 / 30-JUN-16
UCC Head Tutor/Hourly Lecturer 01-SEP-12 / 30-AUG-14
UCC Tutor/ hourly lecturer 01-OCT-09 / 20-AUG-12

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2007 University College Cork BA History (major) History of Art (minor)
2018 UCC Digital Badge in Postgraduate Training Postgraduate Training
2018 Fistral Training Introduction to project management Project Management
2019 UCC Teaching & Learning in Higher Education Certificate Teaching and Learning
2019 Advance HE Aurora Programme Leadership
2014 University College Cork PhD History

Consultancy

  Client Description
Higher Education Authority
Consultant on Gender Equality Review

Teaching Interests

I teach a range of modules on women's and cultural history. 

I currently coordinate or co-coordinate the following:
  • HI1012 Women in Europe since 1800
  • Second-year core: Sex, Gender and Power in History
  • HI2105 Case Study: Researching the Big House and its people
  • HI3135 The Female Body and British Culture 1800-1918
  • HI3001 Seminar: Women, Society and Class in Ireland, 1850 to 1980
I also teach on the following modules:

Postgraduate modules:
  • MA Women’s Studies:  Women and Society 
  • MA Local History 
  • MA History: Public History 

Undergraduate modules:

  • HI1115: Irish  History for International Students Women in Post-famine Ireland
  • HI3001: Historical Debate Gender History

External Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country
Leanne Calvert University of Hertfordshire UNITED KINGDOM