Language and the Anxiety of Belonging in London-Irish Literature

Next we have Niamh MacGloin (University of York), whose bursary facilitated archival research and Irish language classes to deepen her research: I first travelled to Dublin to access Dónall Mac Amhlaigh’s archives at the National Library of Ireland. I spent time reading through his personal diaries from 1951, when he first moved to Britain, to […]

Consumption and Self-Starvation in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Irish Fiction.

Next up is 2025 BAIS Bursary Prize winner, Paddy Brennan (University of Liverpool). Paddy utilised his bursary to attend and present at conferences and carry out archival research: The BAIS Bursary Prize allowed me to present two separate papers at two conferences this year, as well as providing me with the chance to carry out […]

Looking back to look forward: examining the forgotten and misrepresented women’s voices of the ‘Troubles’ in Belfast-made theatre 1969-1998.

The second report from our 2025 Bursary Prize winners comes from Ciara O’Neill (Edge Hill University). Ciara used the BAIS bursary to support the development of her practice-based PhD: The bursary received from BAIS has been invaluable to myself thus far on my practice-based PhD research project. It has enabled me to perform the final […]

‘The Bond of Holy Paint’: Exploring the Role of Art in Commemorating Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising

Welcome back to our BAIS PGR bursary prize winners blog post series. Each year we ask our bursary prize winners to write up a short post on how they spent their bursary funds. This year we begin with Alice Reffin (University of Oxford), for whom the BAIS bursary supported the development of her DPhil through […]

British Association for Irish Studies Awards and Bursaries 2025

We are pleased to announce the winners for our 2025 awards and bursaries, which will be presented at the Embassy of Ireland on 22nd May. BAIS would like to acknowledge the valuable support of the Embassy of Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Cambridge University Press and the Irish Studies Review. Book Prize The […]

“Shattered Glass and Toppling Masonry”: The Irish Revolutionary Period and Aesthetic Transitions in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake

Our final report from the 2024 BAIS Bursary Prize winners comes from Declan Houten (University of Liverpool). Declan’s bursary enabled him to attend and present at two conferences: Due to the bursary, I was able to attend four days of the Joyce Symposium in Glasgow, where I was presenting on the final day. This symposium […]

“Losing the run of ourselves:” Comedies of Appetite and Excess in Celtic Tiger Literature

Here we have 2024 BAIS Bursary winner Ellen O’Leary (University of Oxford). Ellen used her bursary to conduct extensive research at Irish theatre archives: The bursary allowed me to conduct a week of research in the theatre archives at the Hardiman Library at the University of Galway. It provided the funding for me to travel […]

Extricating the Work of Flann O’Brien, Seán O’Casey, Brendan Behan and Pádraic Ó Conaire from Narrative Theory’s Normative Realist Assumptions

Our next 2024 BAIS Bursary awardee is Mikelyn Rochford (University of York). Mikelyn’s bursary enabled her to present her research in Poland: My bursary helped fund my registration and travel costs to participate in a conference hosted by the Polish Association for Irish Studies with the theme “Mobility of Forms,” which took place from the […]

Encountering the Early Irish Poor Law (1838-1847)

Next we have Elizabeth Garner (University of Aberdeen), whose bursary facilitated archival research relating to her PhD project: I spent two weeks at The National Archives in Kew. The bursary allowed me to accept the Theodore Bosanquet Bursary which consisted of two weeks accommodation in Francis Grandner House, London. I surveyed collections in The National […]

The Artists’ Book and Artists’ Publishing in Ireland, 1987-2022

Next up is 2024 BAIS Bursary Prize winner, Killian Beashel (UCL). Killian utilised his bursary to facilitate archival research in Irish art collections: The research funded by the bursary took place at the Arts Council of Ireland archive in Dublin, the National Irish Visual Arts Library at NCAD, and the Void Art Centre in Derry. […]