Dr Niamh Wycherley

Early Irish (Sean-Ghaeilge)

Senior Post Doctoral Researcher

Biography

Dr Niamh Wycherley works in the Department of Early Irish as a medieval historian, specialising in the early Irish Church. She hosts The Medieval Irish History Podcast. She is Co-Chair of the Royal Irish Academy's Young Academy Ireland. She won the NUI Publication Prize in History in 2017 for her first monograph, The Cult of Relics in Early Medieval Ireland. She is the Principal Investigator of the 4-year SFI-IRC Pathway project 'Power and Patronage in Medieval Ireland: Clonard from the sixth to twelfth centuries'. She previously held IRC and NUI postdoctoral fellowships in UCD Dublin and NUI Galway. She contributes regularly to RTÉ Brainstorm and television programmes such as the RTÉ 1 documentary Finding Brigid (with Siobhán McSweeney). 

Research Interests

The cult of saints; medieval Irish history; the early church; language and history

My primary area of research is early medieval Irish history, specialising in the areas associated with the early church, such as the cult of the saint, the cult of relics, and the interactions of the church with society. My research explores the early medieval history of Ireland in a wider European context. The approach is interdisciplinary, drawing on all the available historical sources (annals, law-texts, church canons, sermons, letters, penitentials, martyrologies, genealogies, toponyms), Old-Irish and Hiberno-Latin literature (especially hagiography), and material culture.

Book

Year Publication
2016 Niamh Wycherley (2016) The Cult of Relics in Early Medieval Ireland. Turnhout: Brepols.

Book Chapter

Year Publication
2021 Niamh Wycherley (2021) 'Pregnancy in Medieval Ireland' In: Birth and the Irish: a miscellany. Dublin : Wordwell.
2021 Niamh Wycherley (2021) 'Eoin MacNeill and a “celtic” church in early medieval Ireland' In: Eoin MacNeill; the pen and the sword. Cork : Cork University Press.
2019 Niamh Wycherley (2019) 'The enduring power of the cult of relics – an Irish perspective' In: Making the Medieval Relevant. Berlin : De Gruyter.

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2018 Niamh Wycherley (2018) 'Latin and Irish words for “graveyard” in medieval Ireland'. Peritia, 29 :201-220.

Blog

Year Publication
2020 Niamh Wycherley (2020) Christmas in medieval Ireland. [Blog]
2022 Niamh Wycherley (2022) Boss Brigit. [Blog]

Consultancy

Year Publication
2022 Niamh Wycherley (2022) St Brigid of Kildare. [Consultancy] [Link]

Documentary

Year Publication
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) RTÉ documentary 'Finding Brigid' Janaury 31st, 2023. [Documentary]
2021 Niamh Wycherley (2021) Colmcille, An Naomh Dána (TG4). [Documentary]

Electronic Article

Year Publication
2019 Niamh Wycherley (2019) ‘Notre-Dame's rescued relics, faith and Paris’. [Electronic Article]

Electronic Publication

Year Publication
2021 Niamh Wycherley (2021) ‘CSI St Patrick: just where is the saint’s body?’. [Electronic Publication]
2021 Niamh Wycherley (2021) ‘Meet St Patrick’s spin doctor’. [Electronic Publication]
2019 Niamh Wycherley (2019) ‘The cult of the dead in medieval Ireland’. [Electronic Publication]

Media

Year Publication
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) Interview re Brigit for The Kildare Nationalist newspaper. [Media]
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) Interview with the Irish Examiner for feature on St Brigit. [Media]
2022 Niamh Wycherley (2022) RTÉ Nine O'Clock News. [Media]
2022 Niamh Wycherley (2022) RTÉ Six One News. [Media]

Magazine Article

Year Publication
2019 Niamh Wycherley (2019) The Notre Dame fire and the cult of relics. [Magazine Article]

Radio Presentation

Year Publication
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) The Mark Patterson Show on BBC Radio Foyle. [Radio Presentation]
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) KFM radio interview 'Kildare Focus' with Caoimhe Harney. [Radio Presentation]
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) Newstalk's Talking History. [Radio Presentation]
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) The Ray D'Arcy Show, RTÉ Radio One. [Radio Presentation]
2022 Niamh Wycherley (2022) KFM live radio interview. [Radio Presentation]

Podcast

Year Publication
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) Newstalk's Let me explain podcast with Sean Defoe. [Podcast]
2023 Niamh Wycherley (2023) Talking Derry Girls Podcast. [Podcast]

Guest Speaker Hosted

Year Publication
2019 Niamh Wycherley (2019) Medieval Irish history and the legacy of St Willibrord. [Guest Speaker Hosted]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Honors and Awards

Date Title Awarding Body
01/01/2017 NUI Postdoctoral Fellowship in Irish/Celtic Studies NUI
01/01/2012 Government of Ireland Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship IRCHSS
01/01/2017 NUI Publication Prize in Irish History NUI
01/01/2022 SFI-IRC Pathway project grant SFI-IRC

Education

Start date Institution Qualification Subject
UCD MA ‘Vita Sanctae Brigitae: Cogitosus and the creation of a Christian Society’
UCD PhD ‘The Cult of Relics in Early Christian Ireland’

Outreach Activities

Organisation Type Description
RTÉ Brainstorm Civic Society RTÉ Brainstorm, April 16th, 2019, ‘Notre-Dame's rescued relics, faith and Paris’. [Link]
Dublin City FM Civic Society Live radio interview, April 12th, Dublin City FM on St Valentine and Dublin’s relics.
RTÉ Brainstorm Civic Society RTÉ Brainstorm, Updated March 16th, 2021, ‘Meet St Patrick’s spin doctor’ [Link]
RTÉ Brainstorm Civic Society RTÉ Brainstorm, Updated March 11th, 2021, ‘CSI St Patrick: just where is the saint’s body?’ [Link]
RTÉ Brainstorm Civic Society RTÉ Brainstorm, October 31st, 2019, ‘The cult of the dead in medieval Ireland’. [Link]
The Independent Newspaper Civic Society Newspaper feature in The Independent (Weekender June 2nd, 2018) on the veneration of relics in modern Ireland.
RTÉ Brainstorm Civic Society Article 'What was Christmas like in Medieval Ireland?' [Link]
Presentation Girls' School, Maynooth Civic Society Talk to 600 primary school pupils about medieval Irish history