Women Historians in the NUI, 1922–1949

Abstract

Four women taught history in the National University of Ireland (NUI) in the first half of the twentieth century.1 Mary Hayden became the Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin (UCD) in 1911, Mary Donovan O’Sullivan was appointed the Professor of Modern History at University College Galway (UCG) in 1914, Sile Ni Chinneide became a Lecturer in History at UCG in 1927, and Pauline Henley became an assistant lecturer in history at University College Cork (UCC) in 1931. All had received their degrees from the NUI,2 and only Ni Chinneide had initially specialized in history. The educational backgrounds of the NUI women historians diverged from those of other academic women historians, particularly in the United States, Britain, Finland, and Scandinavia, who tended to have studied history as undergraduates or as graduate degree candidates.3