Table of Contents
WHY UNDERTAKE A POSTGRADUATE DEGREE IN UL?...... 2
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY...... 3
SCHOOL OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION...... 7
SCHOOL OF LAW...... 9
SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS...... 12
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION...... 18
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY...... 23
WHY UNDERTAKE A POSTGRADUATE DEGREE IN UL?
WHAT IS A RESEARCH DEGREE?Do you enjoy working independently?
Did you enjoy the research project your carried out in your degree (FYP)?
Do you have a subject area you wish to explore further?
Do you have a good oral and written communication skills?
Do you expect to graduate with a 2:1 degree or higher? / IS IT RIGHT FOR ME?
A research degree involves an in-depth study of a specific topic which is then written up as a thesis.
You can apply for a Masters by research (MA), Research Doctoral (PhD) or Structured PhD (SPhD).
On average a research degree takes between two to four years to complete.
You can apply anytime during the year
IN WHAT SUBJECTS CAN I DO A RESEARCH DEGREE?
History,
Law,
Language & Linguistics,
Literature, Media & Communications,
Politics and Public Administration,
Sociology / CAREERS
Education, consultancy, public service, publishing, business, politics, creative arts, media.
Graduated AHSS PhD students:
- PhD in Sociology – Research Officer, Irish Research Council
- PhD in History – Director of Government Affairs, Insurance Ireland
- PhD in MLAL – Language Teacher and Translator, Portugal
- PhD in Law – Legislation Manager at Law Reform Commission
- PhD in PPA- Research Fellow – Corruption in Development Aid
- PhD in CC – Assistant Prof. of Language Education, Trinity College
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
Name / Research Topic / Supervisor(s)Robert Collins / Michael Flannery and Noraid: The importance of Irish-American support in the North of Ireland, 1968-1995 / Dr. Ruán O’Donnell
Stephen Griffin / A Leitrim Jacobite in the Holy Roman Empire: the life and times of Owen O'Rourke / Dr. Richard Kirwan
John Harrington / The ancient order of Hibernians, the American Alliance. From Whiteboys to Hibernian rifles. Irish secret socieites from the 1760’s to the GPO 1916 / Dr. Ruán O’Donnell
Paul Hayes / Reclaiming the republic: The IRA 1938-48 / Dr. David Fleming
Derek Kavanagh / The development and implementation of IRA military strategy in Ireland 1969-98 / Dr. Ruán O’Donnell
Rita McCarthy / Women's emigration to London and New York in the 1950s & 60s. / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Seán McKillen / Investigating the impact of the SDLP on the Sunningdale Agreement and what constitutes success and failure in power-sharing arrangements. / Dr. Ruán O'Donnell
Gerald Maher / Militant Irish nationalism in America and its effect on republican military campaigns in Ireland, 1912-23. / Dr. Ruán O'Donnell
Peter Miller / Exiled children: The influence of the Irish-American diaspora in the 19th and 20th centuries of Ireland / Dr. Ruán O’Donnell
Declan Mills / Eighteenth-century British print culture and political debate / Dr. David Fleming
Holly O’Farrell / How does the framing and representation of female migrant artists from Middle Eastern or Islamic cultures in contemporary exhibitions, both reflect and contribute to ‘Western’ conceptions of the ‘Islamic world? / Dr. Roberto Mazza/
Prof. Anthony McElligott
William O’Neill / A reassessment of the interpretations, reality and consequences of U.S. covert operations in Central America from 1979-1992 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Peter Stapleton / The transition from civil rights movement to an armed offensive in Northern Ireland / Dr. Ruán O’Donnell
Sean Whitney / The Irish tobacco industry 1780-1930 / Dr. David Fleming
HISTORY - gRADUATED STUDENTS
Name / Thesis Title / Supervisor(s)Julia Balla / Between triumph and resistance: Dr. Dénes Csánky and Hungarian cultural policy during the Second World War / Prof. Anthony McElligott
Timothy G. Boland / John Keynon and Young Ireland 1846-8 / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Julie Brazil / The representations of poverty and nomadism in Irish and British Art, 1760-1875 / Dr. Ciara Breathnach
Maria Odette Clarke / Caroline Wyndham-Quin, Countess of Dunraven (1790-1870): An analysis of her discursive and material legacy / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Adrian Cormican / The origins and development of the Irish Republican Socialist party and Irish National Liberation Army 1972-77 / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Catriona Delaney / The Presentation Order and the transformation of the Irish denominational Secondary School, 1940-72 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Tina Dingel / Shopping for masculinity: constructing the male consumer in Germany, 1920s to 1950s / Prof. Anthony McElligott
Mary Healy / Reviving the forgotten French women orientalist artists, 1860-1968: Cross-cultural contacts and western depictions of difference / Dr. Catherine Lawless
Theresa M. Hereward-Ryan / An examination of the life of Edwin Wyndham Quin, Third Earl of Dunraven, 1812-71 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Declan Jackson / The ‘indivisible’ truth: the public and private writings of Frank Gallagher, 1911-65 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Deirdre Kelly / Interpreting the Iconographies of Mythology and Spirituality in the ‘Dream’ Paintings of George (AE) Russel / Dr. Niamh NicGhabhann/
Dr. Ciara Breathnach
Jeffrey Leddin / The ‘Labour Hercules’: A study of the relationships between the Irish Labour Movement, the Irish Citizen Army and Republicanism, 1913-23 / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Niamh Lenahan / ‘At the Service of all who want them’. The work of the Little Company of Mary in Ireland, 1888-1980 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Tomas MacConmara / ‘Always in the human consciousness of the people’ The Anglo-Irish war of Independence in County Clare, 1919-21, Oral History, Tradition and social memory / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Alexandra McCarthy / A study of a hobby, an accomplishment and a career: Irish women artists 1800-1914 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
HISTORY - gRADUATED STUDENTS
Name / Thesis Title / Supervisor(s)Mary McCarthy / Irish rural housing policy and domestic space: A comparative North/South study, 1942-60 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
Patrick McMahon / The life and career of Brendan Bracken, British Minister of Information, 1941-45 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
David Meeres / Policing ‘wayward’ youth-law, society and youth criminality in Berlin, 1939-1953 / Prof. Anthony McElligott
Rose Molloy / The best of intentions: Approaches to dealing with insanity and the insane in nineteenth-century Ireland, with particular emphasis on Killarney and Ennis District Lunatic Asylums / Dr. Ciara Breathnach
Ann Marie O’Brien / ‘The special combination of qualities and experiences desirable in diplomacy is less frequently found in women than in men’. A study of the entry into and experiences of female diplomats in the Irish Department of External Affairs/Foreign Affairs, 1919-86 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
William O’Brien / Imaging catholic Ireland: The Nationalist Press and the creation of national identity, 1843-1870 / Dr. John Logan
John O’Callaghan / Revolutionary Limerick: The republican campaign for independence in Limerick,
1913-21 / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Vincent O’Connell / Becoming Belgian: Herman Baltia’s transitory regime and the attempted assimilation of
Eupen-Malmedy by Belgium, 1919-39 / Prof. Anthony McElligott
Catherine O’Connor / Southern Protestantism: Womens’ Household Work in Ireland 1921-61’ / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
John P. O’Connor / ‘Déanta in Éirinn’: The reconstruction of Irish stereotypes, 1888-1914 / Dr. John Logan
Vincent O’Connor / Athlone 1800-1850: Strategic location and urban development / Dr. Padraig Lenihan
Gearóid Ó Faoleán / ‘A broad church’. The nature and experience of southern Provisional Irish Republicanism,
1962-86 / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Padraig Ó Ruairc / The Anglo-Irish Truce: An analysis of its immediate military impact, 8-11 July 1921. / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Niamh O’Sullivan / Space, identity and the late Victorian woman artist: An examination of Dorothy Tennant’s relationship with and creation of artistic, cultural and social space, 1873-90 / Dr. Catherine Lawless/
Prof. Bernadette Whelan
HISTORY - gRADUATED STUDENTS
Name / Thesis Title / Supervisor(s)Conor Reidy / Becoming ‘a useful member of society’: An analysis of policy approaches and treatment of the young offender in the Borstal system in Ireland, Clonmel 1906-21 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
John Reynolds / Divided loyalties: The Royal Irish Constabulary in County Tipperary, 1919-22 / Dr. John Logan/
Dr. David Fleming
Stephen Ryan / ‘An elder statesman of public monsters’? A contextual biography of Michael J. Quill / Dr. Ruan O’Donnell
Thomas Martin Walsh / Waging war against morality: The role of social purity organisations in the campaigns against immorality in England and Ireland, 1869-1939 / Prof. Bernadette Whelan
SCHOOL OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION
Name / Research Topic / Supervisor(s)Caitríona Ní Churtáin / “‘Suífeam seal ag machnamh’: Seán Ó Ríordáin, Fealsamh Fileata”. This thesis aims to explore the place of Seán Ó Ríordáin's poetic and theoretical concepts within the existentialist movement through a close analysis of his work and the annotations on the margins of works of thought housed in his personal library. / An Dr. Tríona Ní Shíocháin/
Dr. Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin
Tara Giddens / Investigating the Irish New Woman: Tracing Journalists in Media and Fiction / Dr. Tina O’Toole
Margaret Grene / Research Topic: Plain English and Health Literacy in Ireland / Dr Yvonne Cleary/
Dr Ann Marcus Quinn
Rachel Hynes / Fashioning Modernism: Sartorial Tropes in Modernist Writing, 1910-1930. / Dr. Patricia Moran
Cora Lynch / The Coloured Question: Embodied Subjectivity and Effects of Racist Discourse in the oeuvre of Zoe Wicomb / Dr. Yianna Liatsos
Paula McGrath / Narrative Strategies for the Representation of Trauma in Fiction: Theory and Practice / Prof. Joseph O'Connor/
Dr. Tina O'Toole
Noel O'Shea / Genre Cinema in the Digital Age.
This research examines the use of high definition digital cameras in genre cinema, concentrating on the horror and crime genres as the most affective for the spectator. / Dr. David Coughlan
Pam Wall / Web communication - exploring the efficacy of communication heuristics in evaluating e-Government information and transactional services applications. / Dr. Yvonne Cleary/
Dr. Darina Slattery
Elaine Walsh / Assessment strategy for online programmes: developing design principles for assessment documentation. / Dr. Yvonne Cleary/
Dr. Ann Marcus Quinn
Iva Yates / My thesis is a retelling of the myth and folklore of Áine, a local Limerick goddess, and a critical component which examines the creative writing process of the novel. / Prof. Margaret Harper/
Prof. Joseph O'Connor
Culture and Communication – GRADUATED STUDENTS
Name / Thesis Title / Supervisor(s)Sara Buggy / Disciplining dystopia: Power and the body in contemporary young adult dystopian fiction / Dr. Michael Griffin
Deirdre Ní Chunacháin / Utopianism in eighteenth-century Ireland / Prof. Tom Moylan/
Dr. Michael Griffin
Guinevere Darcy / Code-mixing and context: a Corca Dhuibhne case study / Dr. Tadgh Ó hIfearnáin
Jack Fennell / The Irelands that we dreamed of: Irish science fiction from 1850s to the present day / Prof. Tom Moylan/
Dr. Michael Griffin
Helena Ní Ghearáin / An Phleanáil Oifigiúil Téarmaíochta sa Ghaeilge: Idé-eolaíocht, Inghlacthacht, údarás / Dr. Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin
Niamh Hehir / Echoes of the Chora: A Kristevan reading of the impact of maternity on Medbh McGuckian’s Poetry / Dr. Sinead McDermott
Bridget Hogan / Is the mother re-visioned in contemporary Irish Women’s Literary Fiction? / Dr. Sinead McDermott
Yvonne O’Keeffe / Mary Anne Sadlier’s Emigrant Narratives,
1850-1870 / Dr. Tina O’Toole
Noel P. Ó Murchadha / Idé-eolaíocht agus Daonteangeolaíocht na Gaeilge: Aird ar éagsúlacht teanga na Gaeilge / Dr. Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin
Clair Sheehan / Increasing the volume on Post-9/11 Literature / Dr. David Coughlan
SCHOOL OF LAW
Name / Research Topic / Supervisor(s)Nada Balto / The Codification of Sharia Discretionary rules in Saudi Arabia” / Dr. Kathryn O’Sullivan/
Prof. Shane Kilcommins
Lorraine Barron / Post-Release Management of Sex Offenders in Ireland: A Penological Perspective / Dr. Ger Coffey/
Dr. Susan Leahy
Ciara Bartley / Principles guiding the withdrawal of medical treatment from Neonates / Dr. John Lombard/
Dr. Susan Leahy
Susan Crean / Investigating the Impact of Sentencing Practices on the Problem of Recidivism in Ireland and Exploring Options for Reform / Dr. Andrea Ryan/
Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald-O'Reilly
Hope Davidson / Decision-making in dementia care: autonomy, capacity and the legal doctrine of informed consent / Dr. Eimear Spain/
Jennifer Schweppe
Magdalena Duggan / “Position of an Embryo (Foetus) in Private Law: A Comparative Analysis” / Eoin Quill
Aoife Finnerty / Advance Directives in the Irish Healthcare System: An analysis of the approaches of the jurisdictions of England & Wales, the Netherlands and New York State / Eoin Quill
Eoin Guilfoyle / An Examination of the Community Service Order in Ireland / Prof. Shane Kilcommins/
Dr. Susan Leahy
Gerard Greaney / Intellectual property: A Taxonomic approach / Prof. Ray Friel/
Dr. Eimear Spain
Denis S. Kennedy / "The Law of Evidence: An investigation into the role of judicial discretion in evidence admissibility in Irish courts". / Dr. Andrea Ryan
Carolanne Lynch / I am currently undertaking a PhD in Law at the University of Limerick examining cyberbullying and the efficacy of the current Irish legislation in tackling this issue. Of particular interest is how criminal law deals with the impact and emotional harm sustained as a result of cyberbullying. / Dr. Eimear Spain
SCHOOL OF LAW
Name / Research Topic / Supervisor(s)Yvonne Mitchell / The impact of the minimum mandatory sentencing on the Irish Criminal Justice System / Prof. Shane Kilcommins/
Dr. Laura Cahillane
Karen O’Brien / Have the recent reforms in personal insolvency and bankruptcy law been sufficient to deal with the enormity of the over indebtedness problem facing all types of individuals in Ireland caused by the legacy of unsustainable debt? / Prof. Raymond Friel
P J Ryan / The Criminal Assets Bureau and the proceeds of crime / Prof. Shane Kilcommins/
Prof. Ray Friel
Philip Smyth / The Garda diversion programme: the needs for external oversight to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the Garda management of the programme / Dr. Susan Leahy/
Dr. Gerard Coffey
Michelle Stevenson / The effects of DNA evidence on the presumption of innocence in Ireland. / Dr. Andrea Ryan
Stephen Strauss-Walsh / Research Title: Victims’ Rights: A Voice for the Voiceless?
/ Prof. Shane Kilcommins/
Dr. Sean Patrick Donlan/
Dr. Eimear Spain
Mary Tumelty / The spiralling costs, time delays and emotional burdens of medical negligence actions: exploring mediation as a means of ameliorating problems with traditional litigation / Dr. Eimear Spain/
Jennifer Schweppe
John Walsh / Criminal cause and sifting burdens in miscarriage of justice cases / Dr. Ger Coffey
LAW – GRADUATED STUDENTS
Name / Thesis Title / Supervisor(s)Katie Boyle / An examination of the case for justiciable economic, social and cultural rights in Northern Ireland as a conflicted democracy: A categorisation of legitimate and viable justiciability mechanisms / Dr. Gerard Coffey/
Dr. Edel Hughes
Kate Doran / Reconciling Ireland’s bail laws with traditional Irish constitutional values / Prof. Paul McCutcheon
Leonard Durac / The implications of the power to use lethal force for the concept of civil police in retain and Ireland / Prof. Dermot Walsh
Eban Staniclus Ebai / The role and development of human rights based policing in the transition from dictatorship to democracy in Cameroon / Prof. Dermot Walsh
Shaun Elder / Irish Financial regulatory enforcement: reforming the Criminal Law and administrative sanction interplay strategy / Prof. Paul McCutcheon/
Dr. Philip O’Regan
Laraine Hanlon / An assessment of the legitimacy of internment in a constitutional democracy based on the rule of law: Case study Ireland / Prof. Dermot Walsh
Patricia Herron / Rediscovering Ireland’s ancient laws / Prof. Paul McCutcheon
Colin P. King / The confiscation of criminal assets: Tackling organised crime through a ‘middleground’ system of justice / Prof. Dermot Walsh
Stephen King / Consensual violence and the State: A case study in combat sports / Eoin Quill
David O’Dwyer / DNA and the criminal process: 'striking the right balance': the case for a 'reflective' approach / Prof. Dermot Walsh
Kathryn O’Sullivan / A critique of the legal protections afforded to the matrimonial home in Ireland: lessons from British Columbia / Una Woods
Richard Roche / Changed by the Job: the impact that working in a prison has on Prison Officers / Prof. Shane Kilcommins/
Dr. Eimear Spain
Eimear Spain / Duress and necessity in the criminal law: Emotions, threats and lesser evils / Prof. Paul McCutcheon
Kevin Sweeney / The changing nature of Police interviewing in Ireland / Prof. Shane Kilcommins/
Dr. Eimear Spain
SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Name / Research Topic / Supervisor(s)Mansour Alammar / The effectiveness of group work vs. individual writing: A case study to compare group work with individual writing in class to improve essay writing for male Saudi ESL learners. / Dr. Freda Mishan
Mazin J. Al-Hilu / Complimenting Behaviour in British English and Iraqi Arabic: A Cross-Cultural Pragmatics Study / Dr. David Atkinson
Waad Aljohani / Corpora in English Language Teaching in Saudi Arabia: Current Status and Potential Integration. / Dr. Fiona Farr/
Prof. Angela Chambers
Yasser Aljuhney / Investigating the impact of E-Learning management system (System design and user interface) on teaching methods used by faculty members: An empirical study on Najran University and University of Limerick / Dr. Liam Murray
Majed Alshaibani / A study of twitter uses and gratifications among college students in Saudi Arabia / Prof. Helen Kelly-Holmes
Ibrahim Althagafi / The role of social media in the recent ‘Arab Srping’ / Prof. Helen Kelly Holmes
Norah Banafi / Saudi teachers and students’ attitudes towards academic usage of social media for teaching and learning English in Saudi Higher Education / Prof. Helen Kelly-Holmes/
Dr. Mairead Moriarty
Joanna Baumgart / Language accommodation and the integration of English language learners in the Irish Secondary School context / Dr. Fiona Farr
Steven Byrne / Language attitudes of Catalan third level students towards the Catalan language / Dr. David Atkinson/
Dr. Mairead Moriarty
Vera Lucia Lima Carvalho / Self-analysis of experience TESOL Professionals-corpus based discourse analysis of peer’s and group’s contributions / Dr. Fiona Farr
Una Clancy / Prenatal Language Acquisition / Dr. Mairead Moriarty/
Dr. Mikael Fernström/
Dr. Peter Murphy
Lawrence Cleary / Evaluating the Teaching of Discipline-specific Writing through Appeals for Identification with the Community: Corpus Analysis/Ethnography of student writing / Dr. Fiona Farr/
Prof. Angela Chambers
SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Name / Research Topic / Supervisor(s)Joanna Colón / Tropical Gothic. Horror Literature and Cinema in Latin America. / Dr. Mariano Paz
Richard Cotterell / Study of current methods and issues in computer assisted language learning / Dr. Liam Murray
Niall Curry / A corpus-based contrastive analysis of questions and reader pronouns in academic research articles in English, French and Spanish. / Dr. Máiréad Moriarty/
Prof. Emerita Angela Chambers/
Ahmed Elkbuli / Native and Non-native speaker English Language teachers in an EFL context (Libya): teachers’ self-perception, students’ attitudes and, institutional regulations. / Prof. Helen Kelly- Holmes
Chris Fitzgerald / A discourse analysis of Irish English Oral Histories / Dr. Elaine Vaughan/
Dr. Mairead Moriarty
Anaïs Guittonny / Women's characters and discursive practices in eighteenth-century French gynocentered utopias / Dr. Michael G. Kelly
Sana Hussein / Social media as an autonomous learning tool of English among foreign language learners in Libya / Prof. Helen Kelly-Holmes
Muhammad KashifJalil / Development of a model English Language Teacher Education Programme for School teachings in Pakistan / Dr. Freda Mishan/
Dr. Paul Conway/
Dr. Anne O’Keeffe
Katerina Lawless / Construction of Russian Identity in the Discourse of James Bond Films. / Dr. Máiréad Moriarty
Antoinette McNamara / Nazi children as victims? A literary analysis / Dr. Marieke Krajenbrink
Gyorgy Nagy / Towards intercultural competence: Investigation into and development of the integration of Irish culture into ESL materials in Ireland / Dr. Freda Mishan/
Dr. Elaine Vaughan
Sean O’Connell / An investigation into a phonologically-based approach to pronunciation teaching; its implementation in the classroom and an evaluation of its effectiveness on learner and teaching experience and outcomes / Dr. Mairead Moriarty/
Dr. Cinta Ramblado
Yanuar Dwi Prastyo / Exploring the uses of co-operative learning on communication competence, interaction and motivation of university students in Indonesia / Dr. Freda Mishan/
Dr. Elaine Vaughan
School of modern languages and applied linguistics