Dr Patrick Bresnihan

Biography
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Maynooth University. I joined the Department in 2019. Before joining Maynooth, I was lecturer in the Department of Geography in Trinity College Dublin (2015-2019). I have a PhD in Sociology from Trinity College Dublin (2012) and an MPhil in History from Cambridge University (2007).
My work examines the contested politics of water, land, and infrastructure in Ireland, and how these speak to broader questions of postcolonial development, imperialism and the green transition.
I have co-written two recent books. All We Want is the Earth. Land, Labour and Movements beyond Environmentalism (Bristol University Press, 2023) and From the Bog to the Cloud. Dependency and Eco-modernity in Ireland (BUP, 2025).
Research Interests
This work connects a number of longstanding interests, including how Ireland's colonial and postcolonial development continues to shape the present; the production of environments and infrastructures for Foreign Direct Investment; the political ecology of the green transition and environmental governance; and transnational environmental justice movements centring claims around land, decolonisation and labour.
My book, All We Want is the Earth. Land, Labour and Movements beyond Environmentalism, written with long-time collaborator Naomi Millner (Bristol University), will be published in 2023 with Bristol University Press.
My research is often collaborative, including working with local community groups, activists, and artists. I am interested in experimenting with creative methods and practices. This interest has been shaped by my involvement in the Provisional University (provisionaluniversity.wordpress.ie) and the Authority Research Network (www.authorityresearch.net).
I am currently supervising:
- Cristóir King on Contested Transitions: Environmental Conflicts and Justice in Rural Ireland (IRC-funded)
- Laure Detymowski on urban environmental justice (IRC-funded)