Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Statement
Professor Fearghal McGarry specialises in modern Irish history. He is currently writing a book on inter-war anxieties about modernity.
His early publications, including studies of Ireland and the Spanish Civil War, the socialist republican Frank Ryan, and the fascist Eoin O'Duffy, explored inter-war Irish radicalism in a European context.
More recently he has written on the revolutionary period, including a history of the Easter Rising, and a collective biography of seven rebels associated with the Abbey Theatre. He also works on Irish republicanism and political violence.
Fearghal is interested in public history including historical memory; commemoration; film; and documentaries. He co-edited Ireland 1922: Independence, Partition, Civil War, published by the Royal Irish Academy to mark the centenary of independence, and a special journal issue on Ireland's Decade of Commemorations.
He led two AHRC projects on film and history and was PI of the AHRC-funded project, A Global History of Irish Revolution (2017-2021) which assessed how global factors shaped the independence struggle. His co-edited volume, The Irish Revolution: A Global History, was published by New York University Press.
He has served as joint editor of Irish Historical Studies and a member of the editorial board of Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. He is a series editor for Irish Historical Monographs. He has worked as a consultant for public history projects, including the development of An Post's GPO Witness History museum, and has contributed to documentaries by BBC, RTE and TG4.
He was a member of advisory or steering groups for the Ulster Museum's Collecting the Troubles and Beyond project and the Making the Future cultural heritage project. He is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for the National Museum of Ireland's 20th Century History of Ireland Galleries, the first permanent exhibition on the history of modern Ireland, and is on the advisory group of the Military Service Pensions collection project.
He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2019.
Teaching
Prof Fearghal McGarry teaches on the following programmes/modules:
Undergraduate
- HIS3109 Age of Anxiety
- HIS3073 The Irish Revolution, 1917-1921
- HIS2012 Politics and Society in 20th c. Ireland
Postgraduate
- MHY7035 Theory in History
- MHY7025 Presenting Sources
- MHY7081 Topics in Irish History
- MHY7010 Modern History Dissertation
Prof McGarry welcomes PhD applications on twentieth-century Irish history. He has supervised dissertations on female republican experiences of imprisonment, the afterlife of Michael Collins, censorship and propaganda in Northern Ireland, museum representations of the Troubles, the Irish border, political conflict in East Ulster, labour in Belfast, the Blueshirts, Irish communism, the Sunningdale power-sharing administration, and republicanism in Tyrone.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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R1134HIS: Documentary Film and the Public Communication of Historical Knowledge
McGarry, F. (PI)
01/08/2010 → …
Project: Research
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R1726HAP: A global history of Irish Revolution, 1916-1923
McGarry, F. (PI)
15/03/2017 → 30/11/2020
Project: Research
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R1192HIS: Documentary Film, Public History and Education in Northern Ireland
McGarry, F. (PI)
01/08/2012 → 31/07/2014
Project: Research
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The Civil War legacy: Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s
McGarry, F., 12 Sept 2024, Atlas of the Irish Civil War: new perspectives. O'Keefe, H., Crowley, J., Ó Drisceoil, D., Borgonovo, J. & Murphy, M. (eds.). Cork: Cork University Press, p. 355-374 19 p. (Atlas Series).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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'A hard price to pay': the burden of revolutionary inheritance
McGarry, F., 23 Nov 2023, A very hard struggle: lives in the Military Service Pensions Collection. Dolan, A. & Crowe, C. (eds.). Dublin: Military Archives, Irish Department of Defence, p. 246-265 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Open AccessFile88 Downloads (Pure) -
A vision of Ireland: remembering the struggle for self-determination
McGarry, F., 28 Nov 2023, Art and self determination: a reader. Irish Museum of Modern Art, p. 158-167Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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Ireland
McGarry, F., 31 May 2023, European fascist movements: a sourcebook. Clark, R. & Grady, T. (eds.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 202-230 29 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Open AccessFile105 Downloads (Pure) -
Ireland's global revolution
McGarry, F., 01 Dec 2023, Machnamh 100. Centenary Reflections. Dublin: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Vol. 2. p. 41-46 6 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Open Access
Prizes
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Government of Ireland post-doctoral fellowship (NUI Maynooth)
McGarry, F. (Recipient), 2000
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Member of the Royal Irish Academy
McGarry, F. (Recipient), 24 May 2019
Prize: Election to learned society
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Activities
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National Endowment for the Humanities symposium, University of Notre Dame
McGarry, F. (Contributor)
28 Apr 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited or keynote talk at national or international conference
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Liverpool University Press (Publisher)
McGarry, F. (Peer reviewer)
Dec 2024Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity
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Public lecture, La Touche Legacy Seminar 2024
McGarry, F. (Lecturer)
21 Sept 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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Public lecture, Münster
McGarry, F. (Lecturer)
13 Jun 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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Public lecture, Essen
McGarry, F. (Lecturer)
12 Jun 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
Press/Media
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ABC Austalia interview, Easter Rising commemoration
27/04/2025
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Interviewee, The Records Show, RTE/Midas Productions
22/10/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Historical Consultatnt, The Records Show, RTE/Midas Productions
22/10/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Interviewee, Taking sides: Britain and the Civil War, RTE/Midas Productions
10/05/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Taking sides: Britain's involvement in the Irish Civil War, RTE/Midas Productions
08/05/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Impacts
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Addressing the Past: History, Film and Public Memory
McGarry, F. (Participant)
Impact: Cultural Impact, Societial Impact