University of Edinburgh

What Songs Reveal about Irish-American Experience & Sentiments during the American Civil War

Academic History:

2014-present PhD in History, University of Edinburgh

2012-2013 MA in American Studies, King’s College London

2008-2012 BA History with a Year Abroad, University College London, including a year at the University of Pennsylvania (2010-2011)

Supervisors:

Dr Enda Delaney

Dr David Silkenat

Research Interests:

My doctoral research explores songs produced during the American Civil War about the Irish born & descended men who fought during the conflict on both the Union & Confederate sides. I analyse the sentiments song lyrics express & what their dissemination & authorship may reveal about a transnational cultural diaspora between Ireland & America in the mid-19th century. More generally, I am interested in all aspects of the American Civil War, especially political, social & cultural developments within the Union & Confederacy. I have a great passion for American history & studies, particularly topics from the colonial period through to the turn of the 20th century. I regularly contribute to the British Association for American Studies’ postgraduate forum & act as the social media administrator for the Scottish Association for the Study of America.

Previous Research Projects:

• “We show our loyalty by trying to get in, while others are trying to get out”: The Mormon Church’s Conflicting Relationship to the American Civil War
• Lincoln’s Exemplar Political General: How Military Necessity, Shrewdness & Political Ideology Shaped Benjamin F. Butler’s Civil War Stance

Scholarships/ Awards:

2014-present AHRC DTP Studentship

2015-2016 Eccles Centre Postgraduate Fellow in North American Studies

2010-2011, University of Pennsylvania Dean’s Honours List

Publications:

• Co-producer, “Britain & the American Civil War, British Library Online Gallery Exhibition, (2013)
• Contributor to “U.S. Studies Online”, postgraduate online forum for the British Association of American Studies, (2015-present)

First published: 1 October 2014