Rachel Murphy


 
researcher

Biography

I lecture on the MA History of Family in the Department of History. I am Chair of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas Digital Working Group, and a member of the National Library of Ireland's Genealogy and Heraldry committee.

Along with colleagues Dr Ciara Breathnach and Prof. Tiziana Margaria I was a recipient of the University of Limerick Team Teaching Award 2023, and the AHSS Team Teaching Award 2023. I hold a Grad. Dip. Teaching, Learning and Scholarship from the University of Limerick (2020).

I hold a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and an MA in History of Family from the University of Limerick. I completed a PhD in History and Digital Humanities at University College Cork (UCC) in 2017. During this time I also completed a Higher Diploma in Geographical Information Systems.

Following my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the interdisciplinary project Deep Maps:West Cork Coastal Cultures project led by Prof Clare Connolly (UCC). From August 2020 to August 2023 I was postdoctoral researcher on Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922 project led by Dr Ciara Breathnach. Both projects were funded by the Irish Research Council.

I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship from the University of Limerick.

Academic Grants and Awards

  • Awarded a Heritage Council Stewardship Fund 2023 grant with co-investigator, Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas project) for ‘Placing our heritage: creating a digital atlas of the city of Cork’. 
  • Awarded funding from National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for Enhanced Engagement with Special Collections and Archives, with Kirsten Mulrennan, University of Limerick Special Collections (2020).
  •  Awarded Heritage Council funding to create a Digital Atlas of Fethard with Fethard Historical Society (2018).
  • Awarded a 4-year funded PhD studentship (PRTLI 5 2011-2015).

Research Interests

As well as the history of family, a key focus of my research is the history of landholding in Ireland during the early modern and modern periods. This includes the history of the landed estate (landed elites, servants, agents, tenant farmers, the roles of women, agricultural labourers and vagrants). Other areas that interest me include local history, urban history and environmental history.

I frequently use digital tools and technologies to facilitate and present research. Areas such as spatial humanities and digital history are of interest to me, in particular the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).  As demonstrated by some of the projects I have worked on, I enjoy taking an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to research, as well as conducting individual research.

Academic Grants and Awards

Awarded a Heritage Council Stewardship Fund 2023 grant with co-investigator, Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas project) for ‘Placing our heritage: creating a digital atlas of the city of Cork’. 

Awarded funding from National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for Enhanced Engagement with Special Collections and Archives, with Kirsten Mulrennan, University of Limerick Special Collections (2020). ·        

Awarded Heritage Council funding to create a Digital Atlas of Fethard with Fethard Historical Society (2018).

 4-year funded PhD studentship (PRTLI 5 2011-2015).

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
2022 'Gender and History: Ireland, 1852-1922'
Rachel Murphy (2022) 'Gender and History: Ireland, 1852-1922' In: yoti Atwal, Ciara Breathnach and Sarah-Anne Buckley (eds). 'Gender and the Irish family, 1852-1922'. London: Routledge. [DOI] [Details]
2021 'Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures'
Claire Connolly, Rachel Murphy, Breda Moriarty, Orla-Peach Power, Michael Waldron and Rob McAllen (2021) 'Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures' In: Robert J.N. Devoy, Valerie Cummins, Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett and Sarah Kandrot (eds). Shorelines: The Coastal Atlas of Ireland. Cork: Cork University Press. [Details]
2018 'The Courtown Land Agents and Transnational Estate Management, 1850-1900'
Rachel Murphy (2018) 'The Courtown Land Agents and Transnational Estate Management, 1850-1900' In: C. Reilly, L. A. Rees and A. Tindley (eds) (eds). The Land Agent 1700-1920. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. [DOI] [Details]
2016 'Lady Charlotte Stopford: A Lady of Leisure?'
Rachel Murphy (2016) 'Lady Charlotte Stopford: A Lady of Leisure?' In: Leeann Lane and William Murphy (eds) (eds). Leisure and the Irish in the Nineteenth Century. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
2023 'In praise of peer observation of teaching: inter-disciplinary reflections from early career lecturers’'
Michael Johnson, Olubunmi Ipinnaiye, Rachel A. Murphy and Hope Davidson (2023) 'In praise of peer observation of teaching: inter-disciplinary reflections from early career lecturers’'. AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, xv (iii):1-16 [Details]
2023 'Fine lines: Locating commercial sex work in official data, Dublin 1901 and 1911'
Ciara Breathnach and Rachel Murphy (2023) 'Fine lines: Locating commercial sex work in official data, Dublin 1901 and 1911'. Urban History, [DOI] [Details]
2022 'The Goreybridge Censuses, 1862-7'
Rachel Murphy (2022) 'The Goreybridge Censuses, 1862-7'. Analecta Hibernica, lii :165-268 [Details]
2020 'Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures'
Claire Connolly, Rachel Murphy, Breda Moriarty, Orla-Peach Power, Michael Waldron and Rob McAllen (2020) 'Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures'. Eire-Ireland, lv (3&4):180-187 [Details]
2015 'Visualising a Spatial Archive: GIS, digital humanities, and Relational Space'
Ronan Foley and Rachel Murphy (2015) 'Visualising a Spatial Archive: GIS, digital humanities, and Relational Space'. Breac, [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
2023 2023 IEEE 47th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)
2. Ciara Breathnach, Rachel Murphy, Alexander Schieweck, Enda O’Shea, Stuart Clancy, and Tiziana Margaria (2023) Curating History Datasets and Training Materials as OER: An Experience 2023 IEEE 47th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC) , pp.1570-1575 [Details]
2022 2022 IEEE International Conference on Big Data
Adam J. Doherty, Rachel A. Murphy, Alexander Schieweck, Stuart Clancy, Ciara Breathnach, and Tiziana Margaria (2022) CensusIRL: Historical census data preparation with MDD support’ 2022 IEEE International Conference on Big Data , pp.2507-2514 [Details]
2022 2022 IEEE 46th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)
A. Schieweck, R. Murphy, R. Khan, C. Breathnach and T. Margaria (2022) Evolution of the Historian Data Entry Application: Supporting Transcribathons in the Digital Humanities through MDD' 2022 IEEE 46th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC) , pp.177-186 [Details]
2021 Proceedings of IEEE 45th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference
C. Breathnach, R. Murphy and T. Margaria (2021) Transcribathons as Practice-Based Learning for Historians and Computer Scientists Proceedings of IEEE 45th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference , pp.1131-1136 [DOI] [Details]
2014 Big Data (Big Data), 2014 IEEE International Conference on
Owen Conlan, Alexander O'Connor, Órla Ní Loinsigh, Gary Munnelly, Séamus Lawless and Rachel Murphy (2014) Revolutionary entities: Turning data into knowledge to drive personalized exploration of The Irish Rising of 1916 Big Data (Big Data), 2014 IEEE International Conference on [DOI] [Details]

Book Review

  Year Publication
2019 Review of Philip Bull, Monksgrange: Portrait of an Irish House and Family, 1769-1969 (Dublin, 2019) in Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2021.
Rachel Murphy (2019) Review of Philip Bull, Monksgrange: Portrait of an Irish House and Family, 1769-1969 (Dublin, 2019) in Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2021. Book Review [Details]
2016 Review of Maria Luddy and James M. Smith (eds), Children, Childhood and Irish Society, 1500 to the Present (Dublin, 2014) in Children and Society, Vol. 30, (2016), pp 335-6.
Rachel Murphy (2016) Review of Maria Luddy and James M. Smith (eds), Children, Childhood and Irish Society, 1500 to the Present (Dublin, 2014) in Children and Society, Vol. 30, (2016), pp 335-6. Book Review [Details]
2015 Review of Vandra Costello, Irish Demesne Landscapes, 1660-1740 (Dublin, 2015) in Eighteenth Century Ireland, Vol. 30, Dublin, 2015, pp 170-172.
Rachel Murphy (2015) Review of Vandra Costello, Irish Demesne Landscapes, 1660-1740 (Dublin, 2015) in Eighteenth Century Ireland, Vol. 30, Dublin, 2015, pp 170-172. Book Review [Details]

Blog

  Year Publication
2022 Why your census form will be of interest 100 years from now.
Rachel Murphy (2022) Why your census form will be of interest 100 years from now. Blog [Details]

Electronic Publication

  Year Publication
2020 The Digital Atlas of Dungarvan.
GIS and Storymap: Rachel Murphy; Project co-ordination and cartography: Sarah Gearty; Text input and editing: Jennifer Moore; Academic content: John Martin; Academic editors: H.B. Clarke, Raymond Gillespie, Jacinta Prunty, Michael Potterton and Anngret Simms; Digitisation: Frank Cullen (2020) The Digital Atlas of Dungarvan. Electronic Publication [Details]
2012 The Diary of Mary Martin.
Jane Burns, Sinéad Moloney, Rachel Murphy, Gordon O'Sullivan and Patrizia Rebulla (2012) The Diary of Mary Martin. Electronic Publication [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
2023 Sixth Biennial Conference of the European Rural History Organisation,
Rachel Murphy (2023) Landownership in and beyond mid-nineteenth-century Ireland. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Sixth Biennial Conference of the European Rural History Organisation, Cluj-Napoca, Romania [Details]
2023 Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922, project symposium,
Rachel Murphy (2023) DBD Ireland – introducing the methodology’. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922, project symposium, University of Limerick [Details]
2023 Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922, project symposium,
Ciara Breathnach, Rachel Murphy and Stuart Clancy (2023) Spatialising historical census data: Dublin and Limerick case studies. [Oral Presentation], Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922, project symposium, University of Limerick [Details]
2023 5th conference of European Society of Historical Demography,
Ciara Breathnach and Rachel Murphy (2023) Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922: introducing the methodology. [Oral Presentation], 5th conference of European Society of Historical Demography, Nijmegen, Netherlands [Details]
2023 Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922, project symposium,
Rachel Murphy (2023) Transcribathons: Embedding in Teaching. [Oral Presentation], Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922, project symposium, University of Limerick [Details]
2023 SFI Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence,
Rachel Murphy (2023) Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922. [Oral Presentation], SFI Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence, University of Limerick [Details]
2023 Conference of Irish Geographers,
Rachel Murphy and Sarah Gearty (2023) The Irish Historic Towns Atlas: reconstructing the past using Ordnance Survey town plans. [Oral Presentation], Conference of Irish Geographers, Wexford [Details]
2022 Society for the Social History of Medicine conference,
Rachel Murphy (2022) Mapping causes of death and resilient diseases, Dublin 1901. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Society for the Social History of Medicine conference, Swansea/Online [Details]
2022 Historical Ontology of Urban Spaces conference,
Rachel Murphy and Sarah Gearty (2022) Towards a controlled vocabulary: the Irish Historic Towns Atlas Project and its topographical information. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Historical Ontology of Urban Spaces conference, Poland/Online [Details]
2020 Mapping Respiratory Disease in Dublin 1901-1902,
Rachel Murphy (2020) Irish Modern Urban History Symposium. [Oral Presentation], Mapping Respiratory Disease in Dublin 1901-1902, Limerick [Details]
2020 The Goreybridge Censuses, 1862-1867,
Rachel Murphy (2020) Irish Modern Urban History Symposium. [Oral Presentation], The Goreybridge Censuses, 1862-1867, Limerick [Details]
2019 A Comparative Analysis of Household Structures on the Courtown Estates 1901 and 1911,
Rachel Murphy (2019) Third Conference of the European Society of Historical Demography. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], A Comparative Analysis of Household Structures on the Courtown Estates 1901 and 1911, University of Pécs, Hungary [Details]
2018 Geospatial Innovation Seminar,
Rachel Murphy (2018) Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Geospatial Innovation Seminar, Lancaster University [Details]
2017 Mapping Townscapes: Irish Historic Towns Atlas Seminar 2017,
Rachel Murphy and Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas project) (2017) The IHTA, its cartographic practices and future directions. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Mapping Townscapes: Irish Historic Towns Atlas Seminar 2017, Royal Irish Academy [Details]
2017 Sixth Annual Conference of the All Ireland Architectural Research Group. Evaluating Landscapes panel, convened by Dr. Jane Russell-O'Connor (Waterford Inistitute of Technology),
Rachel Murphy and Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas project) (2017) Rethinking Historical Urban Landscapes - A Digital Approach. [Oral Presentation], Sixth Annual Conference of the All Ireland Architectural Research Group. Evaluating Landscapes panel, convened by Dr. Jane Russell-O'Connor (Waterford Inistitute of Technology), Waterford Institute of Technology [Details]
2017 Digital Cultures Network,
Rachel Murphy (2017) Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures. [Invited Oral Presentation], Digital Cultures Network, Cardiff University [Details]
2017 Sea, Land and Spirit Conference,
Rob McAllen, Rachel Murphy, Breda Moriarty, Orla-Peach Power and Michael Waldron (2017) Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Sea, Land and Spirit Conference, Dingle, Co. Kerry [Details]
2017 European Historic Towns Atlas Project Workshop: 'GIS-based Cartography - A Change of Media or a change of Paradigms for Historic Towns Atlases?' Institut für vergleichende Städtegeschichte,
Rachel Murphy (2017) (i) Town Atlas Mapping: Creating the Core Map in ArcGIS and (ii) Integrating Maps and Texts: Plotting Town Atlas Data in ArcGIS. [Oral Presentation], European Historic Towns Atlas Project Workshop: 'GIS-based Cartography - A Change of Media or a change of Paradigms for Historic Towns Atlases?' Institut für vergleichende Städtegeschichte, University of Münster, Germany [Details]
2017 Environments of Knowledge Masterclass,
Claire Connolly, Rob McAllen, Rachel Murphy, Breda Moriarty, Orla-Peach Power and Michael Waldron (2017) The West Cork Coastline between the Disciplines. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Environments of Knowledge Masterclass, University College Cork [Details]
2017 Meitheal - Irish Studies Graduate Seminar,
Rachel Murphy (2017) An Exploration of Place, Community and Organisation on the Courtown Estates 1649-1933. [Invited Oral Presentation], Meitheal - Irish Studies Graduate Seminar, NUI Galway [Details]
2016 Landscapes, Environment and Heritage in Irish Studies Workshop at University College Cork,
Rachel Murphy (2016) Digital Rural Landscapes - An Analysis of Landholding on the Courtown Estate 1858-1931. [Oral Presentation], Landscapes, Environment and Heritage in Irish Studies Workshop at University College Cork, University College Cork [Details]
2016 Maritime History Conference,
Rachel Murphy and Breda Moriarty (School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UCC) (2016) Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Maritime History Conference, University College Cork [Details]
2015 Networking the Digital Environmental Humanities,
Rachel Murphy (2015) Digital Approaches to the study of Landholding in Ireland. [Invited Oral Presentation], Networking the Digital Environmental Humanities, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
2015 Digital Mappings and Historical Geographies panel convened by Keith Lilley (Queen's University Belfast) and Catherine Porter (Lancaster University) International Conference of Historical Geographers,
Rachel Murphy (2015) Place, Space and Community: Mapping an Irish Landed Estate. [Oral Presentation], Digital Mappings and Historical Geographies panel convened by Keith Lilley (Queen's University Belfast) and Catherine Porter (Lancaster University) International Conference of Historical Geographers, Royal Geographical Society, London, UK [Details]
2014 Irish Historic Towns Atlas workshop,
Rachel Murphy (2014) Potential and Practicalities of GIS for the Irish Historic Towns Atlas Project. [Oral Presentation], Irish Historic Towns Atlas workshop, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin [Details]
2014 'Paying the Price to the Utmost Farthing?' Women and the First World War,
Rachel Murphy (2014) ‘We have started saying the rosary together for you every night': A Mother's Perspective on the First World War. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], 'Paying the Price to the Utmost Farthing?' Women and the First World War, University College Cork [Details]
2013 Conceptualising Maps and Land Use Planning (Historical Geography) panel, 38th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association,
Rachel Murphy (2013) Reconstructing the Courtown Estate Using GIS. [Oral Presentation], Conceptualising Maps and Land Use Planning (Historical Geography) panel, 38th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association, Chicago, USA [Details]
2012 New Methods/New Perspectives on Humanities Scholarship: A NeDimah (Network for Digital Methods in the Arts and Humanities)/DARIAH Workshop,
Rachel Murphy (2012) Reconstructing the Courtown Estate. [Invited Oral Presentation], New Methods/New Perspectives on Humanities Scholarship: A NeDimah (Network for Digital Methods in the Arts and Humanities)/DARIAH Workshop, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
2012 Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland 2012 Conference on Leisure and the Irish in the Nineteenth Century,
Rachel Murphy (2012) An Analysis of the Diaries of Lady Charlotte Stopford – A Lady of Leisure?. [Oral Presentation], Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland 2012 Conference on Leisure and the Irish in the Nineteenth Century, Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin City University [Details]
2012 The Economic and Social History Society of Ireland's Annual Conference: 'Networks and Connections',
Rachel Murphy (2012) Recruiting Servants in the Irish Country House 1850-1930. [Oral Presentation], The Economic and Social History Society of Ireland's Annual Conference: 'Networks and Connections', Queen's University Belfast [Details]

Workshops

  Year Publication
2022 ‘Exploring your Past: A Genealogy Talk’, Clonmel Library, Heritage Week (August 2022).
Rachel Murphy (2022) ‘Exploring your Past: A Genealogy Talk’, Clonmel Library, Heritage Week (August 2022). Workshops [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Irish Modern Urban History Group Member /
Local Population Studies Society Member /
Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Member /
Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement Member /
Irish Association for Professional Historians Member /
Geographical Society of Ireland Member /
Social History Society Member /
The Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland Member /
British Agricultural History Society Member /

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2017 University College Cork PhD History and Digital Humanities
2008 University of Limerick MA History of Family
1992 University of Oxford BA English Language and Literature

Teaching Interests

I lecture on the MA History of Family teaching on the following modules:
HI6041: Introduction to history of family
HI6061: Families and Communities
HI6062: People on the move: Studying Migration
HI6002: History research seminar

I have supervised 23 students to submission of their MA History of Family dissertations.

In the past I have lectured on the MA in Local History and the MA in Irish Literature and Film at University College Cork.


Modules Taught

  Term (ID)) Title Link Subject
Autumn Introduction to History of Family HI6041
Spring History Research Seminar HI6002History
Spring People on the Move: Studying Migration HI6062History
Autumn Linking Families to Communities HI6061