Research

Public Engagement

Spotlight on Research

We have been a leading centre in the Southeast for research inquiry for over 200 years. Current research activities are grounded in the College’s ethos, vision, and mission to foster openness to new ideas, to build civic engagement and social awareness, and to promote creativity and innovation. Our researchers shape and contribute to evolving contemporary discourses in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences across a variety of inter-disciplinary contexts and partnerships.


Carlow College, St. Patrick’s is committed to supporting research in alignment with local, regional, national and EU research interests, priorities and contexts. Our vibrant researchers are widely published and internationally respected in their fields. We aim to expand this profile by continuing to develop quality publications, institutional and public research events, and inter-institutional collaborations. The primary objectives of this approach are outlined in our framework document and are summarised here as follows:

  • To support and promote staff research
  • To foster a research agenda that aligns with College Strategy, Mission and Ethos
  • To connect the College’s research expertise with local and national organisations, communities and institutions
  • To play a supporting role in College programme development by identifying, utilising and enhancing existing and potential areas of College research and expertise.


View our Research Hub Framework here.

Contact our Research Hub: researchhub@carlowcollege.ie

Politics, Society & Sustainability

Inquiring how to build active citizenship, participative democracy and sustainable futures for our regional, national and global communities. Research in this field draws on our expertise in Social Policy, Politics, Sociology and History.

History, Literature & Culture of Ireland

Understanding and interpreting Ireland from the medieval period to the contemporary moment. Our research encompasses studies in the artistic, cultural, economic, social, military, and political evolution of Ireland.Sociology and History.

Ideas & Beliefs

Investigating key questions in the history of ideas and religious thought. We carry out research in the fields of human and animal ethics, twentieth-century continental philosophy, literature and philosophy, and religious and philosophical history.

Peoples, Places & Culture

Examining the history and representation of identities and cultures across Europe and the wider world. Research under this theme includes the political, religious and social histories of marginalised groups such as European Jews and Irish Protestants.

Mind, Memory & Behaviour

Advancing understandings of the psychology and history of the human mind. Our researchers investigate the nature of memory, human behaviour, and developmental disabilities.

Therapeutic Care

An Irish resource for foster carers, social care workers, social workers, and all interested in what a therapeutic approach means in theory and practice – created by Damien McLellan
Visit Website

Education, Theory & Practice

Exploring creativity and innovation in approaches to pedagogy. Studies in this area include the utilisation of philosophy and the creative arts in teaching, along with theories of education.

Politics, Society & Sustainability

Inquiring how to build active citizenship, participative democracy and sustainable futures for our regional, national and global communities. Research in this field draws on our expertise in Social Policy, Politics, Sociology and History.

Dr Elaine Callinan, Dr Morgan Cawley Buckley, Dr Anne Coakley, Helen Maher, Dr Ida Milne, Dr Sarah Otten

History, Literature & Culture of Ireland

Understanding and interpreting Ireland from the medieval period to the contemporary moment. Our research encompasses studies in the artistic, cultural, economic, social, military, and political evolution of Ireland.Sociology and History.

Dr Elaine Callinan, Dr Regina Donlon, Dr Ida Milne, Dr Margaret Murphy, Dr Orla Ryan, Dr Eoghan Smith, Dr Simon Workman

Ideas & Beliefs

Investigating key questions in the history of ideas and religious thought. We carry out research in the fields of human and animal ethics, twentieth-century continental philosophy, literature and philosophy, and religious and philosophical history.

Dr Noel Kavanagh, Dr Anthony McGrath, Dr Ida Milne, Dr Sarah Otten

Peoples, Places & Culture

Examining the history and representation of identities and cultures across Europe and the wider world. Research under this theme includes the political, religious and social histories of marginalised groups such as European Jews and Irish Protestants.

Dr Regina Donlon, Dr Noel Kavanagh, Dr Ida Milne, Dr Orla Ryan

Mind, Memory & Behaviour

Advancing understandings of the psychology and history of the human mind. Our researchers investigate the nature of memory, human behaviour, and developmental disabilities.

Dr Candice Condon, Dr Ida Milne, Dr Teresa Mulhern

Education, Theory & Practice

Exploring creativity and innovation in approaches to pedagogy. Studies in this area include the utilisation of philosophy and the creative arts in teaching, along with theories of education.

Dr Morgan Cawley Buckley, Dr Anne Coakley, Dr Noel Kavanagh, Dr Teresa Mulhern

Therapeutic Care

An Irish resource for foster carers, social care workers, social workers, and all interested in what a therapeutic approach means in theory and practice – created by Damien McLellan
Visit Website

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