Dr Angela Byrne
2009
| Twitter link | @historianka |
| Bio | I am a historian of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, specialising in the experiences of migrants and women in the past. I have held teaching and research positions at Ulster University, University of Greenwich, NUI Maynooth, University of Toronto, and the Royal Irish Academy. My research has been supported by major grants from the NUI and Marie Curie/Irish Research Council Cofund. I have held research fellowships at St John’s College Cambridge, the Russian State Library for Foreign Literature, the Huntington Library, and the Moore Institute at NUI Galway. In 2018-19, I was co-editor of Eighteenth-Century Ireland/Iris an dá Chultúr. I am author of Geographies of the Romantic North: Science, Antiquarianism, and Travel, 1790–1830 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); A Scientific, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour: John (Fiott) Lee in Ireland, England and Wales, 1806–1807 (Routledge for Hakluyt Society, 2018); and co-editor with Ragnar Deeney Almqvist and Helena Nolan of All Strangers Here: 100 Years of Personal Writing from the Irish Foreign Service (Arlen House, 2021; repr. 2022). I am currently completing my fourth book, on Irish encounters with Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I am regularly invited to give public talks and to speak on local and national TV and radio. |
| Areas of expertise | Eighteenth century, nineteenth century, Irish diaspora, women’s history, British empire, women in science, travel and exploration, the Irish in Russia |
| Keywords | eighteenth century; nineteenth century; Irish diaspora; migration; British empire; women; science; travel; exploration; travel writing |
| Nickname | Dr Angela Byrne |
| Membership Type | Professional Historian |
| Education | Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education, University of Greenwich, 2014 |
| Employment | Cultural Officer, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin. June 2019-present. DFAT Historian-in-Residence, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Dublin. June 2018–June 2019. Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History (part-time), School of English and History, Ulster University. Jan. 2017–June 2018. Career break. Apr.–Dec. 2016 Lecturer in History, Department of History, Politics and Social Sciences, University of Greenwich, London. Aug. 2013–Apr. 2016. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of History, National University of Ireland Maynooth. Oct. 2012–Sept. 2013. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto. Oct. 2010–Sept. 2012. Research and Editorial Assistant (part-time), Irish Historic Towns Atlas, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. June 2003–Sept. 2010. |
| Management & Administrative experience | Programme Leader, MA History, University of Greenwich, 2013–15 Faculty Research Review committee, University of Greenwich, 2013–14 Faculty Technology Enhanced Learning committee, University of Greenwich, 2014–15 |
| Teaching | I have designed and delivered undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including: |
| Outreach activities | In 2018-19, I was Historian-in-Residence at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, where I curated three touring exhibitions for Irish embassies abroad. I regularly deliver public lectures for local history societies and at public events, have published history articles in local and national newspapers, and have organised public outreach events including travelling exhibitions, a History Ireland Hedge School at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, and the “Ulster University Herstory Salon” in May 2017. |
| Committees & Associations | History editor, Eighteenth-Century Ireland/Iris an dá Chultúr, 2018-19. |
| Awards | MAJOR RESEARCH GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow, Huntington Library (value $3000), 2015–16 Moore Institute Visiting Research Fellowship, National University of Ireland Galway (value €1900), 2015–16 CARA Postdoctoral Mobility Fellow in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Marie Curie COFUND/Irish Research Council (value €200,000), 2010–13 Visiting Fellow, All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow, 2013 Overseas Visiting Scholar, St John’s College, University of Cambridge, 2010 National University of Ireland Travelling Studentship (value €42,000), 2006–9 Postgraduate research bursary, Department of History, National University of Ireland Maynooth (value €5000), 2003–4 OTHER FUNDING Anna Parnell Travel Grant Award, Women’s History Association of Ireland (€500), 2017 University of Greenwich, ‘Greenwich Connect’ seed funding for technology in teaching and learning (10 audio kits for student podcast projects), 2014–15 University of Greenwich Early Career Researcher travel bursary (£881), 2014 An Foras Feasa, National University of Ireland Maynooth conference organisation funding (€500), 2013 Department of History, National University of Ireland Maynooth conference organisation funding (€250), 2013 Canadian Historical Association annual meeting travel fund ($400), 2012 |
| Other activities | Editorial assistant, Irish Historic Towns Atlas: Dublin suburbs series |
| Books | 2021. Byrne, Angela, Ragnar Deeney Almqvist and Helena Nolan (eds). All Strangers Here: 100 Years of Personal Writing from the Irish Foreign Service (Arlen House, 2021; 2nd ed. 2022). 2018. Byrne, Angela (ed.). A Scientific, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour: John (Fiott) Lee in Ireland, England and Wales, 1806–1807 (Routledge for Hakluyt Society). 2013. Byrne, Angela. Geographies of the Romantic North: Science, Antiquarianism, and Travel, 1790–1830 (Palgrave Macmillan). In preparation. Byrne, Angela, with Sebastian Sobecki (eds), Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations of the English Nation (1598–1600), vol. 2. Oxford University Press. |
| Book Chapters | 2019. Byrne, Angela. “The Scientific Traveller.” Routledge Research Companion to Travel Writing, edited by Alasdair Pettinger and Tim Youngs (Routledge), pp. 17–29. 2016. Byrne, Angela. “Imagining the Celtic North: Science and Romanticism on the Fringes of Britain.” Imagining the Supernatural North, edited by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough, Danielle Marie Cudmore and Stefan Donecker (University of Alberta Press), pp. 131–47. 2015. Byrne, Angela. “Scientific Practice and the Scientific Self in Rupert’s Land, c.1770–1830: Fur Trade Networks of Knowledge Exchange.” Spaces of Global Knowledge: Exhibition, Encounter and Exchange in an Age of Empire, edited by Diarmid A. Finnegan and Jonathan J. Wright (Ashgate), pp. 79–95. 2015. Byrne, Angela. “‘No Longer to be Gazed at as a Distant Glimmering Star’: Irish-Born British Diplomats’ Accounts of Russia, 1733–1767.” Intermédiaires Culturels / Cultural Intermediaries, edited by Vanessa Alayrac-Fielding and Ellen R. Welch (Honoré Champion Éditeur), pp. 57–82. 2013. Byrne, Angela. “Entertainment, Memorials and Societies.” Maps and Texts: Exploring the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, edited by Howard B. Clarke and Sarah Gearty (Royal Irish Academy), pp. 236–53. 2013. Byrne, Angela. “Les Voyageuses Irlandaises à Spa au 18e Siècle.” Spa, Carrefour de l’Europe des Lumières. Les Hôtes de la Cité Thermale au XVIIIe Siècle, edited by Daniel Droixhe with Muriel Collart (Hermann), pp. 67–87. Byrne, Angela. “Princess Dashkova and the Wilmot Sisters.” Treasures of the Royal Irish Academy Library, edited by Bernadette Cunningham and Siobhán Fitzpatrick (Royal Irish Academy, 2009), pp. 248–55. |
| Peer Reviewed Journals | 2022. ‘Life Lines: Agency and Autobiography in Sarah Curran’s Poetry.’ Women’s History Review, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 126-141. DOI: 10.1080/09612025.2022.2161441. 2022. ‘Life after Emmet’s Death: Sarah Curran’s Literary and Friendship Circle.’ Irish Studies Review, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 119–135. DOI: 10.1080/09670882.2022.2076555. 2019. Byrne, Angela. “The World of an Irish Merchant Migrant to the Canadas, 1830–43: The Memoir of David Blair Little.” Immigrants and Minorities, vol. 37, pp. 69-91. DOI: 10.1080/02619288.2019.1623673 2019. Byrne, Angela. “Anonymity, Irish Women’s Writing, and a Tale of Contested Authorship: Blue-Stocking Hall (1827) and Tales of my Time (1829).” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 119C. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3318/PRIAC.2019.119.02 2015. Byrne, Angela. “‘My Little Readers’: Catharine Parr Traill’s Natural Histories for Children.” Journal of Literature and Science, vol. 8, no. 1 [special issue] Ingenious Minds: British Women as Facilitators of Scientific Knowledge Exchange, 1810–1900, pp. 86–101. DOI: 10.12929/jls.08.1.06 2013. Byrne, Angela. “A Gentlemanly Tour on the Fringes of Europe: William Hartigan Barrington in Scandinavia and Russia, 1837.” Irish Economic and Social History, vol. 40, pp. 31–47. DOI: 10.7227/IESH.40.1.2 |
| Other Journals | 2020. Byrne, Angela. ‘Kate McCarry, Letterkenny’s First Woman Urban District Councillor.’ Donegal Annual, no. 72, pp. 27–31. 2019. Byrne, Angela. ‘Constructing the Global Irish Woman Traveller: Cynthia Longfield’s Scientific Researches in South America, 1921–27.’ ABEI Journal: The Brazilian Journal of Irish Studies, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 27–36. Available at https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v21i2. 2017. Byrne, Angela. “A Previously Unknown Traveller’s Account of Kilkenny: John Lee (né Fiott) Visits Dunmore Cave, September 1806.” Old Kilkenny Review: Journal of Kilkenny Archaeological Society, vol. 69, pp. 105–13. 2016. Byrne, Angela. “Student-Generated Podcasting for Learning and Assessment in Undergraduate History.” Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, vol. 8, no. 12, n.pag. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21100/compass.v8i12.258 2013. Byrne, Angela. “The European Travels of Dorothea Ladeveze Adlercron (neé Rothe), c.1827–54.” Old Kilkenny Review: Journal of Kilkenny Archaeological Society, vol. 65, pp. 81–93. 2011. Byrne, Angela. “Supplementing the Autobiography of Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova: the Russian Diaries of Martha and Katherine Wilmot.” Irish Slavonic Studies, vol. 23, pp. 25–34. 2011. Byrne, Angela. “Irish Soldiers in Russia, 1690–1812: a Re-assessment.” The Irish Sword, vol. 28, no. 111, pp. 43–58. |
| Electronic Publications | Digital content ‘How Northern Lights have Fascinated Irish People for Centuries’. RTÉ Brainstorm, 27 Feb. 2023. Series of 19 blog posts on women’s history on RTÉ Culture website, 2020. ‘From Russia (to Ireland) with Love.’ History Today, 26 Mar. 2020. “Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova.” Royal Irish Academy library blog, 2019. Articles in “Extraordinary Emigrants” series, Irish Times digital edition, 2018-19. “Bog Bursts at Cappanihane, Ireland, 1697 and 1727.” Weather Extremes blog, 16 Sept. 2015, University of Nottingham, blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/weatherextremes/2015/09/16/guest-post-bog-bursts-at-cappanihane-ireland-1697-and-1727/. |
| Reviews | I have published book reviews in Irish Historical Studies, Women’s History Association of Ireland online reviews, International Journal of Maritime History, British Society for Literature and Science online reviews, Environment and History, English Historical Review, Keats-Shelley Journal, Irish Studies Review and Journal of British Studies.
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| Other | 2021. Byrne, Angela. ‘A Mother’s Advice to her Pregnant Daughter, 1813.’ Birth and the Irish: A Miscellany, edited by Salvador Ryan (Wordwell), pp. 100–103. Byrne, Angela. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entries: Katherine Wilmot (1773–1824), Martha Wilmot (1775–1873), Eleanor Cavanagh (fl. 1803–8), Sarah Curran (1782–1808). Byrne, Angela. Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography entry: Anna Maria Chetwood (1774–1870). 2019. Byrne, Angela. “(Hi)stories Contained: The Earl Grey Orphans Scheme, 1848–50.” Correspondences: An Anthology to Call for an End to Direct Provision, edited by Stephen Rea and Jessica Traynor, pp. 13–20. 2019. Byrne, Angela. “Lizzie and William’s Continental Honeymoon, 1859.” Marriage and the Irish: a Miscellany, edited by Salvador Ryan (Wordwell Books), pp. 160-62. 2016. Byrne, Angela. “Sacrificed on ‘the Mountain of Final Death’: the Drumkeeragh Bog Body, 1781–5.” Death and the Irish: a Miscellany, edited by Salvador Ryan (Wordwell Books), pp. 105–7. 2016. Byrne, Angela. “Grieving through the Sublime: Dorothea Ladeveze Adlercron at Lake Garda, 1844.” Death and the Irish: a Miscellany, edited by Salvador Ryan (Wordwell Books), pp. 127–9. 2016. Byrne, Angela. “Dashing Waves and Dreadful Cliffs: John Lee’s Visit to the Blaskets, 1806.” History Ireland, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 24–5. 2015. Byrne, Angela. “Oriental Riches and Shrunk Black Fingers: an Anglo-Irish Visit to a Russian Orthodox Monastery in 1806.” Treasures of Irish Christianity, Volume 3: To the Ends of the Earth, edited by Salvador Ryan (Veritas), pp. 96–9. Byrne, Angela. “‘Why Wouldn’t They Content Themselves to Dress like Christians?’: Fashion and Self-Fashioning in Late Eighteenth-Century Russia.” Study Group on Eighteenth-Century Russia Newsletter, vol. 37 (2009), pp. 14–18. |
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