Thursday 4 December at 6pm (27 University Square 01/003, Queen’s University Belfast, and online).

You are very welcome to the final USIHS seminar of 2025 when Dr Henry Jefferies will speak on Irish women and the Reformation. This is a free event open to all.

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century represented the greatest religious crisis in European history since the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine to Christianity in the fourth century. Protestant reformers characterised the Catholic Church as an evil entity headed by the Antichrist, with doctrines and religious practices that were false. The Reformers looked to the ‘Word of God’, the Bible, to recreate the Church of Jesus de novo. They confronted women with a choice that was more important than simply a question of life and death – it concerned life after death! The Bible was clear as to how a woman was supposed to make her choice: 

“If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home”. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 ESV.

“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet”. 1 Timothy 2:11-14 ESV

This paper looks at the responses of Irish women to the Reformation. It reveals that despite the Bible’s injunctions, they exercised considerable agency, perhaps even decisive agency, in the religious struggles of the sixteenth century.

RECORDING:

USIHS Seminar. Online only, Thursday 13 November at 7pm.

Building to feel ‘at home’: Embedding/embedded memory in the built environments of Belfast and the diaspora.

This paper will explore the varied ways that parishioners, particularly female parishioners, have used and ‘put their mark’ on religious buildings to facilitate a sense of belonging in Ireland and abroad. Drawing on research from Sophie’s ‘Mapping Belfast’s Places of Worship’ project and her wider work on migrant belonging in the Irish diaspora, this paper explores some of the ways that people in the past used their built environments to feel ‘at home’. It will also consider some of the ways that demographic shifts have led to the repurposing or changing use of these buildings – and the (not so) hidden histories that they have embedded in them.

Dr Sophie Cooper is President of the Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies and Senior Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen’s University Belfast. She is a historian of Ireland and the Irish diaspora in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sophie’s first book Forging Identities in the Irish World: Melbourne and Chicago, c.1830-1922, was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2022 and won the ACIS Lawrence J. McCaffrey Prize for Books on Irish America.

RECORDING:

Thursday 16 October: 6pm (27 University Square/01/003 (QUB) and online via Teams)

Seán Ó Hoireabhárd (Maynooth University), ‘When Ulster became Ulster and Meath became Meath: The divorce of the Northern and Southern Uí Néill in the Central Middle Ages’

Free event – all welcome!

RECORDING:

Abstract:

The Uí Néill dynasty were the most important political collective in medieval Ireland. From the very beginning of recorded history down to the seventeenth century and the end of the Gaelic order, their leading men were consistently among the most powerful on the island. They controlled both the midlands and north-west Ulster, and their literary output and propaganda promoted the notion that ‘Tara’ was a metonym for Ireland – and so, to be ‘king of Tara’ meant to be ‘king of Ireland’. The Southern and Northern branches of the dynasty alternated in this role, and while it was at times more aspirational than demonstrable, there were kings of Tara who manifested their authority across the island, convincing even their most trenchant enemies of their prestige. But the system of alternating kingship that worked so well to cement their power failed around the turn of the millennium, and by the twelfth century new identities prevailed. ‘Mide’, ‘Meath’, literally ‘Middle’ came to be seen as a province stretching from the Shannon to the sea, while an idea of a province called ‘the North’, which reached from coast to coast also began to be articulated. Ultimately, this acquired the name of an older identity, ‘Ulster’. This paper looks at the political successes and failures of the Uí Néill in the Central Middle Ages, asking how their common identity broke down and considering how new ones took their place.

Prof. Laura Kelly (University of Strathclyde):

‘The Anti-Abortion Movement in Ireland, c.1972-92’

Thursday 22 May 2025, 6pm, at PRONI.

This lecture explores the history of anti-abortion activism in Ireland from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. Utilising oral history interviews with activists and a range of rich archival sources including anti-abortion publications, government archives, diocesan records and contemporary newspapers, it traces the history of one of the most significant social movements in Ireland. Drawing on approaches from the history of emotions, oral history, and gender history, it discusses show how and why the anti-abortion movement gained such strength in 1970s and 1980s Ireland, what motivated ‘ordinary’ people to get involved in it, the campaigns and strategies of activists, and what its success and ultimate decline reveal about wider changes in Irish society. I will argue that transnational networks, particularly between Irish and American activists, were crucial to the success of the movement in its early years. Ultimately, by illuminating the experiences, motivations, and strategies of anti-abortion activists, this paper helps to better contextualise the wider battle around reproductive rights in Ireland, and the ongoing legacy of this activism.

The J.C. Beckett Annual Lecture is hosted by the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. This is a free public event, all welcome.

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-anti-abortion-movement-in-ireland-c1972-92-tickets-1291413485499

20 March 2025 at 7pm (online only via Teams)

Prof. Cara Delay (University of South Carolina): ‘Transnational Mothering in the era of the Great Famine’

Dr. Cara Delay, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, holds degrees from Boston College and Brandeis University. Her research analyzes health, gender, and culture in Europe and the United States, with a particular focus on reproduction, pregnancy, and childbirth. Her award-winning body of scholarship includes more than 30 scholarly journal articles and chapters. She is also author or co-author of Women, Reform, and Resistance in Ireland, 1850-1950 (Palgrave), Irish Women and the Creation of Modern Catholicism, 1850-1950 (Manchester), Birth Control: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford), and Catching Fire: Women’s Health Activism in Ireland and the Global Movement for Reproductive Justice (Oxford). A Fulbright scholar, she also has received awards or fellowships from the American Association of University Women, the Coordinating Council for Women in History, Nursing Clio, and the Donnelly Foundation. She teaches courses in women’s health, women’s history, and reproduction.

REGISTER AT: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/usihs-seminar-transnational-mothering-in-the-era-of-the-great-famine-tickets-1194962417759?aff=oddtdtcreator

RECORDING:

Dr Susan Flavin (TCD): ‘Drunk? Adventures in 16th Century Brewing’

Thursday 6 February 2025 at 6pm (27 University Square, QUB, Belfast, Room 01/003)

This seminar will consist of a screening of Susan’s film on re-creating sixteenth-century beer and will be followed by a facilitated discussion. No doubt this will be of particular interest to those intrigued by interdisciplinary research, public history, and (of course) beer!

This seminar focusses on practice-based approaches to history through the lens of the ERC FoodCult brewing project. The project was a major interdisciplinary initiative, bringing together historians, archaeologists, scientists, and craftspeople, to recreate beer from sixteenth-century Ireland. The journey was captured by a team of academic film makers. This resulting film captures the complexities of historical recreation while reflecting on the intersections of art, science, and history. It highlights how embodied and material engagement with the past can generate fresh historiographical insights and invite broader audiences to connect with history. The seminar will comprise a screening of the film, followed by discussion and reflection on historical recreation as a methodology, and its potential for radical cross disciplinary collaboration.

Due to the nature of this seminar, it will be in-person only, so please join us at 6pm in 27 University Square, Queen’s University Belfast, BT7 1NN. As usual, parking is free in the carpark at McClay Library after 4.30pm. More information is available at the event’s Eventbrite page.