Niamh NicGhabhann Coleman

My current research focuses on Roman Catholic architecture in Ireland between 1795 and 1935, and I am currently working on a monograph on this topic (under contract with Liverpool University Press.) I led the Religious Spaces in Transition project, which focused on new and changing uses for religious architectural heritage in Ireland and internationally (funded by the Irish Research Council under the New Foundations scheme), and I also convene the MCHRI - Material and Cultural Heritages of Religion in Ireland research network. My research interests also include the dynamics of urban public space and festivity; the history of respectability in Irish culture; the histories of public space; Irish art history; public history; and interdisciplinary research practices. I also write on aspects of contemporary art. I am a member of HEBE (History of Emotions in the Built Environment). My current research also involves Locating Loss - a project which explores histories and experiences of infertility and reproductive health in places and spaces. Locating Loss is funded by the Research Ireland New Foundations scheme, and runs from 2025-2027.

Research MA and PhD supervision: My current PhD research students are working on nineteenth-century architectural history, Irish festival cultures, and aspects of the creative economy. I have been lucky to supervise PhD theses on the subjects of audience engagement; creative pedagogy; measurement and value in the visual art gallery; and on a range of issues relating to festival, festive practices, public space and identity. I welcome new research proposals on these and related topics, and am very happy to support postgraduate or postdoctoral researchers in developing their funding applications.

I am the programme director for the SPhD in Public Humanities. This is an innovative new PhD programme which enables those with a public humanities practice (i.e. curating, working in museums or galleries, documentary-making, working in engagement, outreach, or guiding) to engage their practice as a core part of their PhD project. For further information on this new SPhD, please visit: https://www.ul.ie/gps/courses/structured-phd-in-public-humanities

My teaching currently focuses on aspects of cultural history, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

I am current module lead for:

HI6191 Graduate Seminar in Irish Cultural History;

HI4277 Art, Nation, and Empire;

HI4103 - Imagining Ireland: from early modern to modern.

I lead the micro-cred module on Art and Architectural History, which is open to all those who are interested in developing their knowledge and research skills around art and architectural history. This module can also be taken as part of the MA History programme (this micro-cred will be next available in the 2026/2027 academic year).

For more information please visit: https://www.ul.ie/gps/courses/history-of-art-and-architecture-survey-module-hi6231

In 2020, I developed and led AH4007 Introduction to Public Humanities for students on the BA Arts programme at UL.