Professor Laura Kelly

History

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Personal statement

I am a historian of modern Ireland with expertise in gender history, oral history and the social history of medicine. I joined the University of Strathclyde as a lecturer in February 2015. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018 and Professor of Modern Irish History in December 2022.

I am originally from Galway in the west of Ireland. Prior to arriving at Strathclyde, I was awarded a PhD in History by the University of Galway in 2011 and undertook an Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland, University College Dublin (2012-14). My research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust, British Academy, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Irish Research Council, and Carnegie Trust, amongst others.

I am the author of three monographs, the most recent of which is Contraception and Modern Ireland: a social history, c.1922-92 (Cambridge University Press, 2023, available open access) which won the British Association for Irish Studies Book Prize in 2024 and was runner-up for the Social History Society Book Prize in 2025. The book emanated from a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship in Medical Humanities  

My recent work has focused on the history of sexual and reproductive health in twentieth-century Ireland. My project on contraception enabled me to explore Irish men and women's experiences of sex education, marriage, family planning, and attitudes to sexuality in the past. I am also fascinated by the experiences of individuals involved in activism, particular in relation to reproductive and sexual health issues. In addition to my recent monograph, I have published several journal articles relating to these themes. I also have a strong interest in socially conservative activism in late twentieth-century Ireland.

I am currently researching the history of pro-choice and pro-life activism in Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s. My next book, under contract with Oxford University Press, is a social and transnational history of the Irish anti-abortion movement.

My earlier work focused on the history of women in the medical profession and medical education and student culture in Ireland. It resulted in several journal articles on this theme and two monographs: Irish medical education and student culture, c.1850-1950  (Liverpool University Press, 2018) and Irish women in medicine, c.1880s-1920s: origins, education and careers (Manchester University Press, 2012, paperback 2015). 

I am a member of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH), the Scottish Oral History Centre, and the Modern Irish History group at Strathclyde.

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Teaching

In 2025-6 I will be teaching the third-year/honours module V1346/V1468 (Sex, medicine and society in Britain and Ireland, 1880s-1980s) and MSc module V1988 (Gender, health and modern medicine). I will also be teaching on our first-year 1A module.

I am happy to hear from prospective students about PhD supervision in areas related to the social history of medicine, gender history and modern Irish history.

I am supervisor to the following PhD students:

Jois Stansfield: The history of speech therapy in Britain

(first supervisor) 2021-

Victoria Cocozza: Legality and reality: women’s experiences of abortion in the West of Scotland c.1945-68 (Global Research Award)

(first supervisor, 2023-)

Monique Lerpiniere: A Hidden Migration History: South Asian Medical Professionals in Scotland, 1872-2022 (SGSAH Collaborative Doctoral Award) 

(first supervisor, 2024-)

Paula Jones: Large families - urban myth or reality? A longitudinal study of Dublin's Fertility Transition (PhD in History with Genealogical Studies)

(first supervisor, 2024-)

Arohi Sanyal: LGBTQ+ parenting (PhD in Education)

(second supervisor, 2025-)

Recently graduated PhD students:

  • Dr Rory Stride: Gender, loss and memory: Women's experiences of deinsdustrialisation in the West of Scotland textile industry since 1970. (2024) 
  • Dr Kristin Hay: Birth control practices in Scotland: an oral history, c.1960-1990. (2023) 
  • Dr Georgia Grainger: 'Objectionable, mean and demeaning': The popularisation of vasectomy in Britain, c.1920-1990. (2023)
  • Dr Jasmine Wood: Disability and intimacy in the lives of wounded British soldiers, 1914-45. (2022)
  • Dr Mara Dougall: Writing Unity a Practice-led Exploration of Female Embodiment in Historical Fiction Set in Early Twentieth-Century Britain. (2021)
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Research Interests

  • The social history of medicine in modern Ireland
  • Gender, health and medicine
  • Contraception, abortion and reproductive health
  • Activism (especially pro-choice, anti-abortion and health activism)
  • History of sexuality
  • The Irish diaspora and social activism
  • The medical profession and medical education 
  • Student experience and culture

I have received funding awards from the Wellcome Trust, Carnegie Trust, Royal Society of Edinburgh, British Academy and the Irish Research Council, amongst others.

From 2025-27 I will hold a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant for a project entitled 'Irish pro-choice activism: an oral history, c.1980-92'. I am also a CI on the project '“Pro-life” activism in Spain, Ireland and Poland (1970s-1990s): a comparative history from the margins of Europe' (PI: Sylwia Kuźma-Markowska, University of Warsaw, CI: Agata Ignaciuk, University of Granada), funded by the National Science Center, Poland (OPUS27 scheme).

I recently held a RSE Personal Research Fellowship (2023-24) for a project entitled 'Anti-abortion activism in the Republic of Ireland, c.1972-92'  and a Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grant for a project on Pro-life and Pro-Choice Activism in the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 2016 and 2021 I held a Wellcome Trust research fellowship for my project 'Contraception and Modern Ireland, c.1922-92'. 

Professional Activities

Wellcome Trust (External organisation)
Advisor
2022
GEDI committee of School of Humanities, Hass Faculty, Strathclyde University (External organisation)
Chair
28/10/2021
External Examiner - MA in History at NUI Galway
Examiner
2021
Society for the Social History of Medicine (External organisation)
Advisor
2019
Reproductive and sexual health activism, c.1960–present
Organiser
17/7/2018
Elected Member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland (External organisation)
Advisor
2018

More professional activities

Projects

Irish pro-choice activism: an oral history, c.1980-92
Kelly, Laura (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
A Hidden History: South Asian Medical Professionals in Scotland 1872-2022
Mahn, Churnjeet (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Co-investigator)
AHRC/SGSAH Funded
08-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2027
Inclusive Language Guide
Ellis, Catriona (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Principal Investigator)
The inclusive language guide recognises hat the language we use can help to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, and provide the same opportunities for all. We recognise that our language is important, and that historically the unthoughtful use of language has contributed to the consolidation of privilege and the marginalisation of voices from groups based on age, race, ethnicity, disability, gender, age or sexual orientation. This is a practical guide for students to facilitate good conversations in the classrooms.
01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2023
Society for the Social History of Medicine Events (Discretionary Award)
Cresswell, Rosemary (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2026
Society for the Social History of Medicine Research Community (Discretionary Award)
Cresswell, Rosemary (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 09-Jan-2026
Abortion activism in the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s
Kelly, Laura (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2019 - 30-Jan-2022

More projects

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Contact

Professor Laura Kelly
History

Email: l.e.kelly@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 444 8357