Professor Laura Kelly

History

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).

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. My previous monographs are 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).

My recent work has focused on the history of reproductive health and activism in twentieth-century Ireland. In addition to my recent monograph, I have published several journal articles relating to this theme. I am currently researching the history of pro-choice and pro-life activism in 1980s and 1990s Ireland and developing my next book project on this topic. My earlier work explored the history of women in the medical profession and medical education and student culture in Ireland.

I currently hold a RSE Personal Research Fellowship (2023-24) for a project entitled 'Anti-abortion activism in the Republic of Ireland, c.1972-92'. I also recently held 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'.

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.

Publications

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Publications

The IFPA youth group, the Adolescent Confidential Telephone Service and sexual health activism in Ireland, c.1984-90: Kelly Laura; History Workshop Journal, pp. 1-28 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbae018
Depo-Provera, class, race and the domiciliary family planning services in Glasgow and Haringey, 1970-1983: Rusterholz Caroline, Kelly Laura; The Historical Journal (2024); https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X24000347
Marriage, family life and sexual ethics in Britain and Ireland, 1914-2000: Kelly Laura, Geiringer David; Oxford History of Catholicism in Britain and Ireland Recapturing the Apostolate of the Laity, 1914-2021 (2023) (2023)
Contraception and Modern Ireland : A Social History, c.1922-92: Kelly Laura; (2023); https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108979740
The Virgin condom : campaigning for access to contraceptives across the decades: Kelly Laura; (2023)
Celibacy was often the only option : women's battle to secure contraception in Ireland: Kelly Laura, Griffin Niamh; (2023)

More publications

Teaching

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Teaching

In 2023/24 I am on research leave. In Semester 2 of 2024-5 I will be teaching the third-year module V1346 (Sex, medicine and society in Britain and Ireland, 1880s-1980s) and MSc module V1988 (Gender, health and modern medicine).

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-)

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)

Research

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Research Interests

The social history of medicine in modern Ireland
Gender and medicine
Contraception and reproductive health
Activism
History of sexuality
The medical profession
Medical education and student culture

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

I currently hold a RSE Personal Research Fellowship for a project on Anti-abortion activism in the Republic of Ireland, c.1972-92 (August 2023 - July 2024).

I recently held a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship in Medical Humanities (June 2016 - February 2021), for a project which explored the history of contraception in Ireland, c.1922-92.