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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).
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.
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.
The impact of Furneaux's research on Dickens is two-fold: she has enhanced public understanding of a major cultural icon, but also of the ways in which an earlier period may shape or challenge pressing social issues in our own time. Her work on gender, sexuality and domesticity has encouraged popular re-evaluations of Dickens's legacy, particularly his reputation as the eminent author of conservative `family values', and has informed audiences' perceptions of what constitutes a family both in Dickens's work and in the early 21st century.
During the 2012 Dickens bi-centenary alone, Furneaux engaged in dialogue with 25,000+ Dickens enthusiasts through projects including a Facebook reading group, a blog, a schools' resource, workshops and talks, and she presented new perspectives on Dickens in various media. Furneaux and her AHRC-funded CDA student, Catherine Malcolmson, have also worked closely with the Charles Dickens Museum (CDM) in generating income for the Museum and shaping its engagement with new audiences.
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst has been credited with enabling a `reinvention' of biography. His studies of Charles Dickens and 19th century London have been communicated to a diverse audience in the UK and worldwide through his work as a biographer and an advisor on highly regarded TV adaptations of classic novels. His contributions to events marking the bicentenary of Dickens's birth include advising on BBC1's 3-part adaptation of Great Expectations (2011), assisting with sound historical and creative interpretation to support the film's educational, cultural and market value. Wider public understanding of the life and motivations of Dickens was achieved through various means including television and radio appearances, newspaper articles, blogs, podcasts, and public speaking engagements.
John Bowen's research discoveries and arguments about the interaction of autobiography and fictionality in Dickens's writing challenge and extend scholarly perceptions of this major culturally iconic figure and provide the basis for bringing a new Dickens to 21st-century publics. He has used his research deliberately to shape the way Dickens is presented by key cultural institutions. Direct beneficiaries of his research have included the Dickens Universe, the British Library, the Museum of London and the media. He has worked with these institutions to ensure the wide UK, European and American reach of the impact of his research.
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.
Birkbeck's Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies (CNCS) has pioneered a reassessment of Victorian sentimentality, prompting the rethinking of a maligned cultural phenomenon. Its major impacts include contributions to understanding Dickens's life and writings, exemplified by the success of Dickens Day and Slater's publications; and two recent exhibitions. `Victorian Sentimentality' (commissioned by Tate Britain, 2012) and `Touching the Book: Embossed Literature for Blind People in the Nineteenth Century' (with the support of RNIB and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2013), illustrate how CNCS has played an influential role in re-shaping public understanding and reception of Victorian literary and visual culture.
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.
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.