1 February 2026. The nineteenth century, including in Ireland, is often characterised by large-scale, abstract processes of accelerated change. The phenomenon of ‘modernisation’, encompassing various forms of economic rationalisation, administrative bureaucratisation, social standardisation, and cultural massification is seen to have left the Ireland of 1900 (or 1921) as almost unrecognisable from that of 1800 (or 1801). The voluminous records of a quasi-colonial ‘union’ state have provided rich pickings for historians and others seeking to situate and understand this transformation. But how do scholars find the human core to this enormous story? How did these changes impact ordinary lives? And indeed, how did ordinary people in nineteenth-century Ireland contribute to, contend with, or confound the transformations going on around them? The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 1 February 2026 and three conference travel bursaries of 300 euro each are available on a competitive basis.
