Scholarships & Bursaries

Scholarships & Bursaries

Scholarships

Since 2001 the Society has run a postgraduate studentship, established with the generous support of the Irish Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and History Ireland . The studentship is tenable jointly in the School of Law of Queen's University Belfast and the School of Law of University College Dublin, and enables a person to undertake research leading to a Ph.D. by thesis in any appropriate aspect of Irish legal history.

The first holder of the award was Richard McMahon, who completed a Ph.D. on homicide, the courts and popular culture in pre-Famine and Famine Ireland. This thesis is currently being prepared for publication by the Society. The current holder of the studentship is Donal Coffey, who is in the third year of his project to assess the original public meaning of and legal context to the Bunreacht na hÉireann.

The award is tenable for three years and is worth €12,697 per annum.

The Irish Legal History Bursary

The Irish Legal History Society administers the Irish Legal History Bursary which was established to subsidise the travelling expenses of postgraduate students undertaking research into any aspect of Irish legal history. The annual value of the award is €1,000.

Applying for the Bursary:

  1. Applicants for the Bursary should normally hold at least a second class degree in law or history.
  2. The award is available to any postgraduate student undertaking research into any aspect of Irish legal history. While the bursary is normally awarded to postgraduate research students, taught postgraduates who must undertake a substantial research project as part of their degree are also welcome to apply.
  3. Applicants must satisfy the Society that their work is likely to constitute a scholarly contribution to the knowledge and understanding of Irish legal history. They are also required to show that the completion of their research necessitates a consultation of source material that is not otherwise available locally; that is, in or near the place in which they normally reside.
  4. Completed application forms should be emailed to one of the Joint Secretaries before the closing date.
  5. Successful applicants will be presented with their cheques at either the spring or autumn meetings of the Society.

The closing date for applications for the new round is 30 January 2011.

Rules:

  1. The award of the bursary will be determined by a Committee of the Society.
  2. The Committee may decide to award a lesser amount than that sought, or may divide the bursary between two or more applicants, as it deems appropriate.
  3. The Society reserves the right to make no award in a given year.
  4. Awardees undertake to acknowledge the Society in any disseminations (such as publications or presentations) arising from the funded research.
  5. Awardees will be expected to furnish the Society with a short report within one year of the award, describing the research undertaken and how the bursary facilitated this work.

Previous Awards

In 2009 the bursary was awarded to Ms Patricia Herron of the University of Limerick, to fund a trip to use the UCD Archives and the National Library of Ireland. In 2004 the bursary was shared between two candidates: Ms Jackie Ui Chionna of National University of Ireland, Galway whose PhD topic was entitled ‘The History of the Galway fishery during the ownership of the Ashworth Family, 1852-1922’ and Adam Pole of Trinity College Dublin who was undertaking a PhD on legal aspects of landlord and tenant relations during the Land War.

Applicants for the Bursary should download this bursary application form and email it to either of the below joint secretaries of the Society: