Dr Eve Morrison studied history at Trinity College, Dublin, receiving her BA in 2003. She continued her studies in modern Irish History as an Irish Research Council of the Humanities and Social Sciences (now IRC) postgraduate scholar at TCD, researching the Bureau of Military History, and was awarded her PhD in 2011. She is currently an IRC postdoctoral fellow at University College, Dublin, working on a critical guide to the Ernie O’Malley notebook interviews with veterans of the Irish independence struggle and civil war. She is also writing a book based on her doctoral work for Liverpool University Press.

Dr Morrison gave a paper – Students at War: the IRA in higher education, 1919-23 – at the Universities in Revolution and State Formation Conference which took place in UCD Newman House in June 2015. Her paper, along with 14 other conference papers, were recorded for podcasting by Real Smart Media and are available on History Hub (see below).

Universities in Revolution and State Formation
Organised by Dr Conor Mulvagh, Lecturer in Irish History with special responsibility for commemorations at University College Dublin, Universities in Revolution and State Formation was held in UCD Newman House on St Stephen’s Green over two days in June 2015. The conference examined the role played by universities, both their staff and students, in social, cultural and especially political change, from the early modern to the contemporary. The event was part of the UCD’s Decade of Centenaries programme and was generously funded by the Irish Research Council’s New Foundations and UCD’s Seed Funding Programme: Decade of Centenaries Internal Award Scheme 2014 and supported by UCD’s Centre for War Studies.

The conference explored how, in the early stages, universities often acted as the forum for debates and had a guiding influence on events. It examined how, despite often central involvement in revolution and state formation, students and academics – especially the latter – often subsequently act as a restraining or moderating influence on these movements.

Noted academics also discussed their personal experiences on the barricades: “By enquiring into the role of activist/witness, the conference reflected upon these more recent events and provided an open space for discussion of their successes, failures, and significance” – Dr Conor Mulvagh.

Podcasts
The conference was recorded for podcasting by Real Smart Media and these podcasts are available via History Hub’s podcast channels on Soundcloud and iTunes. Podcasts include:

• Dr Conor Mulvagh (UCD) on Indian law students in Dublin from 1913-16, including future Indian President V.V. Giri.
• Professor Emeritus Hugh Gough (UCD) on his time in Paris during ’68 protests.
• Dr Stephen Kelly (Liverpool Hope University) on the Young Irelanders and the Catholic University.
• Dr Mairéad Carew (UCD) on ‘Eoin MacNeill: Revolutionary Cultural Ideologue’.
• Dr Matthew Stout (St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra) on the formation of Northern Ireland’s cultural institutions.
• Doireann Markham (UCD) on IRA volunteers and university life in the 1920s.
• Ruairí Cullen (QUB) on history honours at the Irish universities c.1890-1910.
• Dr Sarah Campbell (Newcastle University) on Queen’s University students and revolution, 1967-1971.

Image: Inset: Eve Morrison, Background: “National University, Dublin Ireland” held by UCD Archives. Digital image: © University College Dublin, published by UCD Digital Library. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_30864.