Queen's University Belfast

About the project

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Social Forgetting and Protestant Re-engagements with the Irish Language in Belfast

• Social Forgetting and Protestant Re-engagements with the Irish Language in Belfast: School of Arts, English and Languages | PHD Applications are now CLOSED
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Overview

This opportunity is for a fully-funded full-time doctoral project, to be supervised by Dr Marcas Mac Coinnigh and Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín (Irish and Celtic Studies) as well as the external partner, TURAS in East Belfast. The candidate will be expected to conduct research examining Protestant re-engagements with the Irish language in Belfast, with particular attention to the work of TURAS in East Belfast. The project involves working across academia and the community/charity sector, combining oral history, demographic analysis, and archival research to assess how these re-engagements contribute to reconciliation and social change.

This PhD will investigate how members of the Protestant community in Belfast are renegotiating their relationship with the Irish language following a prolonged period of social forgetting. While the historical context of Protestant engagement with Irish in the nineteenth century–and its decline in the early twentieth century, particularly after partition–provides an essential backdrop, the central emphasis is on contemporary re-engagements. The study will examine how individuals and communities confront gaps in cultural memory, reconnect with the past, and use language to reshape cultural identity. The project has three objectives: 1. To document and analyse contemporary re-engagements with the Irish language among Protestants in Belfast, with particular attention to the partnership with TURAS in East Belfast. 2. To situate these re-engagements within the longer history of Protestant involvement with Irish (c.1800–1900), using Beiner’s concept of social forgetting as the principal framework, and to show how suppressed memories continue to shape identity. 3. To assess how these re-engagements contribute to conflict resolution, reconciliation, and social change, and to demonstrate how Irish classes and cultural initiatives in East Belfast can broaden educational access and foster inclusivity. The project is distinctive in placing Protestant re-engagements with Irish at the centre of analysis and applying memory studies to lived community practice. It will be the first sustained study to combine frameworks of cultural memory, social forgetting, and post-conflict reconciliation with empirical community research. Methodologically, it adopts a mixed approach: oral history interviews and workshops with Protestant learners and activists; quantitative analysis of census and demographic data to trace linguistic patterns and denominational identities; and archival and discourse analysis to recover the genealogy of Protestant involvement with Irish. Skills and Experience: Essential: • Experience of qualitative research methods, particularly oral history or ethnographic approaches • Strong presentation and communication skills • Advanced competence in the Irish language. Desirable: • An interest in cultural memory, identity, and post-conflict reconciliation • Awareness of/interest in community language revitalisation • Familiarity with the sociolinguistic and historical context of Irish in Belfast

Funding Information

Please use the reference AEL2026/05 in your application.

Dr Marcas Mac Coinnigh

More Information

m.maccoinnigh@qub.ac.uk

Research Profile

Full-time: 3 years

Irish & Celtic overview

In Irish and Celtic Studies you will be part of a vibrant research area that is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in Modern and medieval Irish languages, literatures, histories, linguistics, and identity. Here you will work in a dynamic and forward-looking research group that engages in cutting-edge scholarship across all periods of the Irish language, both on an individual and collaborative basis. You will be able to develop your own research potential as part of a community of research students that is driven by interdisciplinarity, collaboration and innovation in the advancement of knowledge.

Irish and Celtic Studies aims to promote and disseminate cutting-edge research across all periods of the Irish language and our research students play a full and active role in the wide range of research activities undertaken within the School.

• Irish and Celtic Studies has a strong interdisciplinary focus and is actively involved with colleagues in History, English, Politics, Creative Arts and Education. Irish and Celtic Studies at QUB ranks 4th in the UK for Research [Source: Complete University Guide 2026].
• Students have access to a range of state-of-the-art facilities including the McClay Library and the Thomas J.Moran Graduate School, and can take part in the bespoke Queen’s University Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme.
• Our programmes are delivered and supervised by internationally recognised experts in the fields of Irish language and literature.
• In REF 2021 over 99% of Queen's research environment was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.
• Irish and Celtic Studies at QUB ranks 4th in the UK for both research and student satisfaction [Source: Complete University Guide 2026].
• The cluster is recognised as a centre of excellence for research into the languages, literatures, linguistics, and cultural identity of Ireland.
• Students are integrated into a very lively, diverse and award-winning interdisciplinary research community.
• Students have access to state-of-the-art facilities including the McClay Library and will receive high quality professional training through the Thomas J.Moran Graduate School, to equip them for a wide variety of careers within and beyond academia.
• Irish and Celtic Studies is part of the Modern Languages research cluster, which provides a vibrant environment for both disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship.

Course content

PhD Opportunities PhD opportunities are available in: - Trauma and emigration - Fictionalised testimony - Language politics - Memory Studies - Sociolinguistics - Medieval Irish language and literature - Historical linguistics - Lexicography and - Dialectology - Onomastics - Language politics - Proverbs and Phraseology - Language and identity in Ireland and Scotland

Research Success Irish and Celtic Studies at QUB ranks 4th in the UK for both research and student satisfaction [Source: Complete University Guide 2026].

Introduction Doctoral graduates in Irish typically go on to hold posts in academia, the media, government, translation and in Irish language development. Recent graduates have taken up posts in the European Commission, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, University College Dublin, University College Cork, New York City University and the Department for Communities (formerly DCAL).

Dr Marcas Mac Coinnigh Senior Lecturer SAEL Email: m.maccoinnigh@qub.ac.uk

Dr Síobhra Aiken Lecturer SAEL Email: S.Aiken@qub.ac.uk

Professor Greg Toner Professor SAEL Email: g.toner@qub.ac.uk

Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín Professor SAEL Email: M.Omainnin@qub.ac.uk

Assessment processes for the Research Degree differ from taught degrees. Students will be expected to present drafts of their work at regular intervals to their supervisor who will provide written and oral feedback; a formal assessment process takes place annually. This Annual Progress Review requires students to present their work in writing and orally to a panel of academics from within the School. Successful completion of this process will allow students to register for the next academic year. The final assessment of the doctoral degree is both oral and written. Students will submit their thesis to an internal and external examining team who will review the written thesis before inviting the student to orally defend their work at a Viva Voce.

Supervisors will offer feedback on draft work at regular intervals throughout the period of registration on the degree.

Full-time PhD students will have access to a shared office space.

Entrance requirements

Graduate A 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University. While a Master’s degree (or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University) is not essential, it is desirable and applicants without this qualification will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

For information on international qualification equivalents, please check the specific information for your country .

Evidence of an IELTS score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component is required. Taken within the last 2 years.

International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: www.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs .

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

Tuition Fees

Northern Ireland (NI) 1 | TBC

Republic of Ireland (ROI) 2 | TBC

England, Scotland or Wales (GB) 1 | TBC

EU Other 3 | £23,600

International | £23,600

1 EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled or pre-settled status, are expected to be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident, however this is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly Student Fees Regulations. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB are expected to be charged the GB fee, however this is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly student fees Regulations.

2 It is expected that EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI will be eligible for NI tuition fees. The tuition fee set out above is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly student fees Regulations.

3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.

All tuition fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. All fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

More information on postgraduate tuition fees .

Irish & Celtic costs

There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.

Additional course costs

Depending on the programme of study, there may also be other extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies . Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £100 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges. Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen. There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, and library fines. In undertaking a research project students may incur costs associated with transport and/or materials, and there will also be additional costs for printing and binding the thesis. There may also be individually tailored research project expenses and students should consult directly with the School for further information.

Some research programmes incur an additional annual charge on top of the tuition fees, often referred to as a bench fee. Bench fees are charged when a programme (or a specific project) incurs extra costs such as those involved with specialist laboratory or field work. If you are required to pay bench fees they will be detailed on your offer letter. If you have any questions about Bench Fees these should be raised with your School at the application stage. Please note that, if you are being funded you will need to ensure your sponsor is aware of and has agreed to fund these additional costs before accepting your place.

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How to Apply

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