Call for papers: History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) Network Ireland Annual Meeting

Date: 20 and 21 April

Location: Dublin City University, St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra, Dublin 9

(Please note: Papers will be delivered on Friday, 21st April. On 20th April there will be an afternoon tour of libraries and archives meeting in Dublin city centre.)

Call for papers:

The annual meeting of the HSTM Network Ireland will be held this year, in person, at Dublin City University. We invite submission of abstracts for consideration. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and should be submitted no later than 5pm (GMT) on Wednesday, 1 March. We will notify all prospective speakers by 10 March at the latest. Abstracts should be submitted by use of a Google Form at the link or QR code below.

We welcome the submission of organised panels as well as individual papers on any topic related to the history of science, medicine and technology. We welcome submissions from scholars inside and outside of academic institutions and at any stage of their career. The subject need not be Irish.

Possible themes for papers and panels include, but are not limited to:

  • Disability
  • Artificial intelligence and human-technology interface
  • Intersections between health and social inequality
  • Histories of engineering and infrastructure
  • HSTM in local history
  • Sustainability
  • Relationships between science and religion
  • Feminist and decolonial approaches to HSTM

Submission of papers on any theme are welcome.

The conference fee will not exceed €60 per person to include tea/coffee/lunch. Unfortunately, we are a small organisation and cannot pay for speaker travel expenses. Please note that there are small grants for conference travel for postgraduate students available through, for example, the Society for the Social History of Medicine (https://sshm.org/bursaries/).

Please direct any queries to Juliana Adelman (Juliana DOT Adelman AT dcu.ie)

Submit abstracts to https://forms.gle/Wi2hsBeK5WoT33NA6

For more details about the conference and HSTM Network Ireland, please visit https://hstmnetworkireland.org/hstm-network-conference-2023/

Rippling effects of the Great Irish Famine. Free Online lecture series

Full details below, to register please follow this link: https://form.jotform.com/223423318584355

19th January

19th Century Ireland, Context and Causes of the Great Irish Famine.
Dr. Áine Doran, Ulster University.

The Province of Ulster and The Great Famine.
Dr. Gerard MacAtasney.

26th January
The Workhouse: Creation of the workhouse system during the famine with case study, Lurgan Workhouse, Co. Armagh.
Dr. Gerard MacAtasney

The Master of Portumna Workhouse: Corruption and Exploitation.
Mr. David Broderick.


2nd February
How The Great Famine Affected Irish Women.
Asmae Ourkiya

Reforming Food in Post-Famine Ireland & Subsequent Nutritional Decline.
Dr. Ian Miller, Ulster University

The Earl Grey Scheme: Irish Famine Orphans in Australia.
Jonathon Fairall, Australian journalist and author.

9th February
Famine Roads: Archaeological Insights into the Public Works Schemes from the Great Famine in Ireland.
Dr. Colm Donnelly, Queen’s University Belfast.

Subject Lacking Words?:The Gray Zone of the Great Famine.
Prof. Breandán Mac Suibhne, University of Galwa

16th February
Famine Migration to British North America (Canada).
Prof. Mark McGowan, University of Toronto.

Voices from the American Civil War: The stories of Ireland famine-era emigrants and the conflict that changed their lives.
Dr. Damian Shiels, Research Fellow at Northumbria University.

23rd February
The Impact of Irish Refugees in shaping Liverpool.
Emma Smith & John Maguire, Irish Liverpool Festival.

Was The Great Irish Famine an Ecological Disaster: Lessons for Policy Makers today?
Dr. Alan Fernihough, Queens University Belfast.

Further details can be found at: https://www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk/famine/

History of Science, Technology and Medicine Network Ireland, online seminar series Feb.-May 2023

All are welcome to join our HSTM Seminar Series on the first Wednesday of each month, between 3-4pm (GMT/UTC), online.

1st Feb. 2023 – 3pm
Ph.D. work-in-progress session
Rebecca Watterson, Ulster University, ‘Hiding in Plain Sight – Psychosurgery in 1960s Britain’.
Shelby Zimmerman, Trinity College Dublin, ‘’The Dublin Workhouses’ Involvement in the Anatomy Trade, 1872-1920.’

1st March 2023 – 3pm
Dr Elizabethanne Boran, Edward Worth Library
‘Science in Trinity College Dublin in the seventeenth century’

5th April 2023 – 3pm
Dr Juliana Adelman, Dublin City University
‘Seagulls & the city: from protected to pariah’

3rd May 2023 – 3pm
Dr Ida Milne, Carlow College
‘Informing COVID: practical global applications of history during the pandemic’

For further details and to register, please follow this link: https://hstmnetworkireland.org/public-events/

HSTM Network Ireland runs a series of activities throughout the year, including a monthly reading group and an annual conference. For more details go to https://hstmnetworkireland.org/

For those interested in joining the Network, this can be done here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1Xi5YMwROr0q-kLCOSCkpY1BZS2MVtrTHeXbRRCq5CA70zQ/viewform

History of Science, Technology and Medicine Seminar Series: 1 February 2023

Speaker: Rebecca Watterson, MA, BA (Hons), AFHEA, Ulster University, ‘Hiding in Plain Sight – Psychosurgery in 1960s Britain’ and Shelby Zimmerman, Trinity College Dublin, ‘’The Dublin Workhouses’ Involvement in the Anatomy Trade, 1872-1920.’ 

Place: Online

Date and time: 1 February 2023, 15.00-16.00 hrs (GMT)

For details and to register, follow this link: https://hstmnetworkireland.org/2023/01/12/hstm-seminar-series-1-february-2023/

All Welcome

Ripping effects of the Great Famine: Free online lecture series

Full details below, to register please follow this link: https://form.jotform.com/223423318584355

19th January

19th Century Ireland, Context and Causes of the Great Irish Famine.
Dr. Áine Doran, Ulster University.

The Province of Ulster and The Great Famine.
Dr. Gerard MacAtasney.

26th January
The Workhouse: Creation of the workhouse system during the famine with case study, Lurgan Workhouse, Co. Armagh.
Dr. Gerard MacAtasney

The Master of Portumna Workhouse: Corruption and Exploitation.
Mr. David Broderick.


2nd February
How The Great Famine Affected Irish Women.
Asmae Ourkiya

Reforming Food in Post-Famine Ireland & Subsequent Nutritional Decline.
Dr. Ian Miller, Ulster University

The Earl Grey Scheme: Irish Famine Orphans in Australia.
Jonathon Fairall, Australian journalist and author.

9th February
Famine Roads: Archaeological Insights into the Public Works Schemes from the Great Famine in Ireland.
Dr. Colm Donnelly, Queen’s University Belfast.

Subject Lacking Words?:The Gray Zone of the Great Famine.
Prof. Breandán Mac Suibhne, University of Galwa

16th February
Famine Migration to British North America (Canada).
Prof. Mark McGowan, University of Toronto.

Voices from the American Civil War: The stories of Ireland famine-era emigrants and the conflict that changed their lives.
Dr. Damian Shiels, Research Fellow at Northumbria University.

23rd February
The Impact of Irish Refugees in shaping Liverpool.
Emma Smith & John Maguire, Irish Liverpool Festival.

Was The Great Irish Famine an Ecological Disaster: Lessons for Policy Makers today?
Dr. Alan Fernihough, Queens University Belfast.

Further details can be found at: https://www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk/famine/

HSTM Network Ireland, online seminar series, 2 November 2022. Dr Elizabeth Crilly MSc. PGCE. MInstP, ‘Sir Hans Sloane – A modern day scientist?’

Place: Online

Date and time: 2 November 2022, 15.00-16.00 hrs (GMT)

For more details and to register please follow this link:  https://hstmnetworkireland.org/2022/10/25/hstm-seminar-series-2nd-november-2022/


Abstract: Sir Hans Sloane was a botanist and physician and famed as a collector of curiosities. He left his collection of over 71,000 items to the state for the set up of the world’s first public museum, The British Museum. The vast collection was later spilt to form the foundation of the British Library and the Natural History Museum London.  President of the Royal Society and President of the Royal College of Physicians.  And he was from Killyleagh, Co Down. N. Ireland. Yet his name is not one we are familiar with as a scientist. 

Speaker Biography: Elizabeth studied Pure and Applied Physics at Queens University Belfast, going on to study Medical Physics. She has had a successful and varied career holding a number of research positions in industry and with Aberdeen, Leeds, Hull and Cambridge Universities. She left Cambridge in 2019 after positions as Director of STEM Team East in Cambridgeshire and Board Director of the Cambridge Science Centre,  promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, to set up the Sir Hans Sloane Centre in Killyleagh, Co Down.

Robert Boyle Summer School 2022: Science and Colonialism

In the past few years many universities and other institutions have been forced to address their colonial pasts. Statues and commemorations have been particular focus. But the history of modern science is intertwined with colonisation. We believe that it timely to start a conversation in Ireland about Science and Colonialism. Join us at the 10th Robert Boyle Summer School where we will reflect on how our own experience as colonised affected our scientific development, Ireland participated in the British Empire and how this is reflected in our scientific heritage colonial legacy continues to disadvantage countries and what we need to do about it.

To encourage a return to in-person events, we are waiving the attendance fee this year. The full line up of speakers and booking information is at

http://www.robertboyle.ie/programme-summer-2022/