Spotlight on Research

Could a box of 8mm amateur film reels change Irish film history?

Despite her youth at the time of her filmmaking, Flora Kerrigan's work shows someone ahead of her time and at the forefront of a transformative period in Irish society, write MU's Dr Sarah Arnold and Kasandra O'Connell of the IFI Irish Film Archive

Monday, 01 December 2025

old caricature of the Four Courts in 19th centure Dublin depicting four well dressed lawyers

Meet the 'quack lawyers' who were at large in 19th century Dublin

Benjamin Casey from the Department of History examines how members of the legal and medical professions were depicted in image and text in late 18th and early 19th-century Dublin

Monday, 24 November 2025

Mauve space telescope will show how stars and planets form

A new space telescope with Irish scientific involvement will soon begin operations on a mission to study how stars form and evolve, writes Dr Emma Whelan of MU’s Department of Physics

Monday, 17 November 2025

All you need to know about string theory

The concept that string theory suggests a vast range of possible universes is explored by Kay Lehnert from MU’s Department of Physics.

Tuesday, 11 November 2025

Fields of pumpkins in front of an orange setting sun

Preserving Samhain - Halloween in the Schools’ Collection of Irish folklore

The Schools’ Collection of Irish folklore offers us a treasure trove of knowledge on the customs surrounding Halloween, many of which are still observed, writes Dr Lára Ní Mhaoláin of the Department of Nua-Ghaeilge (Modern Irish)

Thursday, 30 October 2025

How votes are counted in an Irish presidential election

Prof David Malone of the Hamilton Institute outlines the process of counting votes in an Irish presidential election, as the country gets ready to choose its 10th President

Thursday, 23 October 2025

Hand painting, colourful picture, artist, brush, paint, canvas

How Basic Income for the Arts scheme is a win for all

The socioeconomic benefits of supporting artists through this scheme is worth €100 million to Irish society, writes Dr Jenny Dagg of MU's Department of Sociology

Monday, 20 October 2025

Meet the fierce, proactive women of medieval Ireland

Translators of medieval romances reshaped stories to portray Irish women as more independent and proactive than their English counterparts, writes Benedetta d’Antuono, PhD researcher at the Department of Early Irish

Monday, 13 October 2025

Stormy waves with sand dune grasses blowing in the wind behind a submerged fence

A short history of destructive Irish storms

We can learn from the impacts of past storms to better adapt to the destructive effects of future storms, writes Dr Carla Mateus of ICARUS and the Dept of Geography

Friday, 03 October 2025

Why Moldova's election is so important for Europe and Russia

Dr Keith Harrington from the Department of History reviews the Moldovan parliamentary election, which will be of crucial interest to both Moscow and Europe

Friday, 26 September 2025

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