Log in
Multiple, reinforcing impacts where Kelly and Ó Ciardha's research has been repeatedly utilised to develop the cultural presentation of Derry legacies in museums and events. Public policy impact exist in the authors' roles as historical advisors to Donegal County Council's €1m commemoration of the Flight of the Earls (1607-2007) and Derry City Council's winning of UK City of Culture (2013), which utilised the Ulster Plantation as an historical base. Their research changed professional practice among museum officials and teachers, and enhanced popular historical knowledge through outreach and media. It impacted creative practice via programme content and the economy via tourism.
In 2011-12, Campbell engaged in a range of media activities and public talks to enable the effective sharing of his research on second-generation Irish musicians in England. These activities disseminated new insights to the public, increasing understanding of the experience and expressive cultures of England's Irish, and informing public debates on this topic. The activities comprised three strands:
i. Articles and interviews in the UK and Irish media generating public responses and awards;
ii. Public talks increasing public understanding and generating public responses;
iii. Series Advisor role on TV documentary series generating public responses and informing public debates.
Impact is evidenced through reach of dissemination, as well as audience comments, letters, online posts, blogs, social media, and awards.
The peace process in Northern Ireland and recent Anglo-Irish rapprochement has spurred fresh interest in new approaches to Irish history that venture beyond the traditional confines of nationalism. In a series of books, public lectures, essays and broadcasts over the last 20 years, Roy Foster has offered a distinctive perspective on the development of Irish history and identity, rejecting the idea of the uniqueness of Irish nationalism and showing how Irish and British culture and history have developed in dialogue with each other. Challenging inherited perceptions of Anglo-Irish exchanges, he has enhanced the quality of media representations and public discussion of Irish history, and improved public understanding of our shared past (and future).
Unit members Hope historians have enhanced public understanding of modern Irish cultural and political history. Principally, this was achieved through the extensive media exposure of biographical monographs published by Bryce Evans and Sonja Tiernan. Tiernan and Evans gained thorough research exposure through several prominent arteries of the national broadcast and print media in the Republic of Ireland and Britain. Collectively, this impacted awareness of Irish women's labour, political and economic history, both regionally and nationally. Research was cited in current affairs discussion, public discussion, and media reviews by journalists and commentators. Research provoked public comment through national radio phone-ins, blog coverage, and reviews. Research also impacted amongst `hard to reach' groups, particularly women and the gay community. Moreover, the press coverage of works by Kelly and O'allaghan significantly impacted on the policy-making and culture-informed public in Ireland, as discussed below.
This case study demonstrates the social, economic and cultural impact of research carried out by members of the Irish and Celtic Studies Research Institute into the history of the Irish language in Belfast in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
This research has revealed the extent of Irish language activity in Belfast in the 19th century, focussing on the one hand on Gaelic revivalism and antiquarianism and on the other on the history of an Irish-speaking community who migrated to this urban area from Omeath, Co. Louth. Our research into the Irish language in an urbanised and industrialised setting has been adopted and utilised by the Irish speaking community in Belfast, by Irish language organisations, by the media and by the tourist industry.
This case study demonstrates how our research has impacted on the wider community, in particular by tracing its dissemination in the key areas of broadcasting, cultural heritage and tourism initiatives. As an indication of the reach and significance of this impact, it is shown inter alia that a television documentary describing the findings of our research achieved very significant viewing figures (over 100,000 on its first showing); a permanent exhibition illustrating the history of native Irish speakers in Belfast has become a major tourist attraction in an economically disadvantaged area of Belfast; a cross-community cultural heritage project on this urban gaeltacht was funded by Belfast City Council and a specially commissioned drama was produced by Aisling Ghéar Theatre. Furthermore, a transportable exhibition on the Irish language in Belfast formed part of the centenary celebrations of Belfast City Hall and went on tour to the United States as part of an investment drive by the West Belfast Economic Forum.
James Loughlin's peer-reviewed research on the British monarchy's role in Ireland formed the essential basis for Irish state broadcaster's, RTÉ's, account of Elizabeth II's historic visit to the Irish Republic in 2011. He was advisor to the programme-makers from inception and his work formed the spine of the resulting documentary, `The Queen and Us'. Loughlin's research fundamentally shaped how the programmers presented knowledge of the monarchy's standing in Ireland, both historically and contemporaneously, and influenced strongly their creative practice. Audience levels reached 400,000+, including the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh themselves. The work spread worldwide via the RTÉ player.
This case study describes the reception and impact of Patrick Crotty's Penguin Book of Irish Poetry (2010), an unprecedentedly capacious anthology drawn from many languages and seventeen centuries of poetic composition in Ireland. The anthology presents poems in modern English and Scots alongside verse translations from Middle English, Old French, Old, Middle, Classical and Modern Irish, Latin and Old Norse. Many of the book's specially commissioned translations are by internationally renowned poets. The study considers responses to the anthology terms of its high sales, wide range of reviews, coverage by news media, and engendering of public events.
The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project was designed to have a range of public impacts since its inception and this case study focuses especially on the following three overlapping impacts: 1) It has enriched cultural life by recording, preserving and publishing free online the corpus of local place-names, and 2) has enhanced public understanding of aspects of language and history as preserved in these names. In particular, 3) it has impacted on civil society by creating space in which linguistic and cultural diversity can be encountered in an inclusive manner, and by illuminating the depth of connection between place and people across the range of historically diverse ethnic groups.
Ó Ciardha's underpinning research had a major impact on creative practice in the form of `Wolfland', a flag-ship, two-part Irish-language documentary considering Irish relations with the wolf. His research on outlaws fundamentally shaped the content and presentation of the films. He provided the historical, literary, folkloric background to Ireland's instinctive fascination with the wolf, a sense matched by viewing figures. Ó Ciardha's research for the documentary produced an original re-telling of the English/British re-conquest of Ireland through the character and place of the wolf. He was researcher, conceptualiser, advisor and narrator.
Mulqueen's research contributed to the education of military officers in Ireland as his monograph, the first academic analysis of Irish national security, was adopted as a standard text to be read by naval officers in training. His work impacted upon the governance of Irish institutions, following Mulqueen's confidential briefing on security to Ireland's Leader of the Opposition, the current Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Enda Kenny, and to the Irish Naval Senior Command. The research has been disseminated at forums including the 27 member state European Coast Guard Functions Forum and the 44 member state European Civil Aviation Conference.