Professor Laura Kelly

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. Prior to arriving at Strathclyde, I was awarded a PhD in History by the National University of Ireland, 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 recent work has focused on the history of contraception in twentieth-century Ireland; this was funded by a Wellcome Trust research fellowship entitled 'Contraception and Modern Ireland, c.1922-92' (2016-2021). My third monograph, which is based on this research, was published by Cambridge University Press in March 2023 and is available open access. I have also published several articles on this theme.

I am also interested in the history of activism, particularly around reproductive and sexual health issues. I am currently researching the history of pro-choice and pro-life activism in 1980s and 1990s 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 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. 

My earlier research focused on the history of women in the medical profession and on medical education and student culture in Ireland. It has resulted in two monographs and several articles. My first monograph Irish women in medicine, c.1880s-1920s: origins, education and careers was published by Manchester University Press in 2012 (paperback, 2015) and my second monograph Irish medical education and student culture, c.1850-1950 was published by Liverpool University Press in September 2017 (paperback, 2020). 

I currently serve on the Executive Committee of the Women's History Association of Ireland (International Secretary). I am former Co-Director of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH) and a member of the Scottish Oral History Centre.