Eoin Kinsella

Background

About Eoin Kinsella

I am currently Managing Editor with the Dictionary of Irish Biography, one of the flagship research programmes based at the Royal Irish Academy. The DIB tells the island’s life story through the biographies, at home and overseas, of prominent men and women born in Ireland, north and south, and the noteworthy Irish careers of those born outside Ireland. Launched in 2009 after many years of research by hundreds of contributors, the DIB’s online edition is free to access, features nearly lives and continues to grow. We regularly publish new entries on important figures who have died in recent times, and on ‘missing persons’: previously overlooked figures deserving fresh interest. As well as its online database, the DIB is available in print, with eleven volumes published by Cambridge University Press to date. It has also published several themed books which curate DIB entries to give a deeper insight into the lives of the men and women involved in major Irish historical events, movements and migrations. Prior to joining the DIB I built a career as a professional historian, providing historical consultancy and research services in the fields of heritage and public history. I hold a doctorate in Irish history from University College Dublin, and certificates in Research Integrity and Intellectual Property (RIA/Epigeum). In addition to completing my doctoral studies, between 2008 and 2022 I specialised in commemorative and institutional histories, along with the design and curation of large-scale research and heritage projects. My expertise and professional reputation enabled me to work with a variety of public and private bodies, including the Irish Defence Forces, the Royal Irish Academy, the National Archives of Ireland, Dublin City University, Leopardstown Park Hospital, the Commissioners of Irish Lights, the National Print Museum, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of the Taoiseach. I have published extensively on various topics in Irish history, and my books include The Irish Defence Forces, 1922–2022: servant of the nation (2023); Dublin City University, 1980–2020 (2020); Catholic survival in Protestant Ireland, 1660–1711 (2018); and Leopardstown Park Hospital, 1917-2017: a home for wounded soldiers (2017). I am a graduate of University College Dublin (BA, PhD) where I held doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships.