Professor Laura Kelly
History
Personal statement
I am a historian of modern Ireland with expertise in gender history, oral history and the social history of medicine. I joined the 糖心视频 as a lecturer in February 2015. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018 and Professor of Modern Irish History in December 2022.
I am originally from Galway in the west of Ireland. Prior to arriving at Strathclyde, I was awarded a PhD in History by the University of Galway in 2011 and undertook an Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at the , University College Dublin (2012-14). My research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust, British Academy, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Irish Research Council, and Carnegie Trust, amongst others.
I am the author of three monographs, the most recent of which is (Cambridge University Press, 2023, available open access) which won the British Association for Irish Studies Book Prize in 2024 and was runner-up for the Social History Society Book Prize in 2025. The book emanated from a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship in Medical Humanities 听
My recent work has focused on the history of sexual and reproductive health in twentieth-century Ireland. My project on contraception enabled me to explore Irish men and women's experiences of sex education, marriage, family planning, and attitudes to sexuality in the past. I am also fascinated by the experiences of individuals involved in activism, particular in relation to reproductive and sexual health issues. In addition to my recent , I 听听听听听听to听听. I also have a strong interest in socially conservative activism in late twentieth-century Ireland.
I am currently researching the history of pro-choice and pro-life activism in Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s. My next book, under contract with Oxford University Press, is a social and transnational history of the Irish anti-abortion movement.
My earlier work focused on the history of women in the medical profession and medical education and student culture in Ireland. It resulted in several journal articles on this theme and two monographs: 听(Liverpool University Press, 2018) and (Manchester University Press, 2012, paperback 2015).听
I am a member of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH), the Scottish Oral History Centre, and the Modern Irish History group at Strathclyde.
Prize And Awards
- Recipient
- 7/2025
- Recipient
- 5/2024
Publications
- The History of the Family (2026)
- Mason Sarah, Dee Olivia,
- 54 (2026)
- Irish Historical Studies Vol 49, pp. 335-336 (2025)
- Journal of the History of Sexuality Vol 34 (2025)
- Health and History Vol 26, pp. 51-72 (2025)
- Rusterholz Caroline,
- The Historical Journal Vol 68, pp. 216-238 (2025)
Teaching
In 2025-6 I will be teaching the third-year/honours module V1346/V1468 (Sex, medicine and society in Britain and Ireland, 1880s-1980s) and MSc module V1988 (Gender, health and modern medicine). I will also be teaching on our first-year 1A module.
I am happy to hear from prospective students about PhD supervision in areas related to the social history of medicine, gender history and modern Irish history.
I am supervisor to the following PhD students:
| Jois Stansfield: The history of speech therapy in Britain |
(first supervisor) 2021- |
| Victoria Cocozza: Legality and reality: women鈥檚 experiences of abortion in the West of Scotland c.1945-68 (Global Research Award) |
(first supervisor, 2023-) |
| Monique Lerpiniere: A Hidden Migration History: South Asian Medical Professionals in Scotland, 1872-2022 (SGSAH Collaborative Doctoral Award)听 |
(first supervisor, 2024-) |
|
Paula Jones: Large families - urban myth or reality? A longitudinal study of Dublin's Fertility Transition (PhD in History with Genealogical Studies) |
(first supervisor, 2024-) |
|
Arohi Sanyal: LGBTQ+ parenting (PhD in Education) |
(second supervisor, 2025-) |
Recently graduated PhD students:
- Dr Rory Stride: Gender, loss and memory: Women's experiences of deinsdustrialisation in the West of Scotland textile industry since 1970. (2024)听
- Dr Kristin Hay: Birth control practices in Scotland: an oral history, c.1960-1990. (2023)听
- Dr Georgia Grainger: 'Objectionable, mean and demeaning': The popularisation of vasectomy in Britain, c.1920-1990. (2023)
- Dr Jasmine Wood: Disability and intimacy in the lives of wounded British soldiers, 1914-45. (2022)
- Dr Mara Dougall: Writing Unity a Practice-led Exploration of Female Embodiment in Historical Fiction Set in Early Twentieth-Century Britain. (2021)
Research Interests
- The social history of medicine in modern Ireland
- Gender, health and medicine
- Contraception, abortion and reproductive health
- Activism (especially pro-choice, anti-abortion and health activism)
- History of sexuality
- The Irish diaspora and social activism
- The medical profession and medical education听
- Student experience and culture
I have received funding awards from the Wellcome Trust, Carnegie Trust, Royal Society of Edinburgh, British Academy and the Irish Research Council, amongst others.
From 2025-27 I will hold a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant for a project entitled 'Irish pro-choice activism: an oral history, c.1980-92'. I am also a CI on the project '鈥淧ro-life鈥� activism in Spain, Ireland and Poland (1970s-1990s): a comparative history from the margins of Europe' (PI: Sylwia Ku藕ma-Markowska, University of Warsaw, CI: Agata Ignaciuk, University of Granada), funded by the National Science Center, Poland (OPUS27 scheme).
I recently held a RSE Personal Research Fellowship (2023-24) for a project entitled 听and a Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grant for a project on Between 2016 and 2021 I held a Wellcome Trust research fellowship for my project 'Contraception and Modern Ireland, c.1922-92'.听
Professional Activities
- Advisor
- 2022
- Chair
- 28/10/2021
- Examiner
- 2021
- Advisor
- 2019
- Organiser
- 17/7/2018
- Advisor
- 2018
Projects
- Kelly, Laura (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
- Mahn, Churnjeet (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Co-investigator)
- AHRC/SGSAH Funded
- 08-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2027
- Ellis, Catriona (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Principal Investigator)
- The inclusive language guide recognises hat the language we use can help to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, and provide the same opportunities for all. We recognise that our language is important, and that historically the unthoughtful use of language has contributed to the consolidation of privilege and the marginalisation of voices from groups based on age, race, ethnicity, disability, gender, age or sexual orientation. This is a practical guide for students to facilitate good conversations in the classrooms.
- 01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2023
- Cresswell, Rosemary (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 09-Jan-2026
- Cresswell, Rosemary (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Laura (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2026
- Kelly, Laura (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019 - 30-Jan-2022