HistoryHub
Connecting past and present
Dr Síobhra Aiken’s talk, which was recorded at the Mícheál Ó Cléirigh seminar series in UCD School of History on November 10 2023, was entitled: ‘”Éire Saor agus Gaelach?”: The Military Service Pensions Collection and the Irish language’. It is now available to podcast on History Hub.
In this episode of History Hub’s podcast series, a recording of a paper by Dr Síobhra Aiken from Queen’s University Belfast.
The paper was part of UCD School of History’s Mícheál Ó Cléirigh seminar series, in collaboration with the UCD Decade of Centenaries project ‘Everyday Life In The Irish Revolution’ which is run by UCD’s Dr Fionnuala Walsh.
Dr Aiken’s talk, which was recorded on November 10 2023, was entitled: ‘”Éire Saor agus Gaelach?”: The Military Service Pensions Collection and the Irish language’.
Síobhra Aiken joined the Department of Irish and Celtic Studies at Queen’s University Belfast in 2021. She graduated with a PhD in 2020 from the Centre for Irish Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway. Her doctoral dissertation was awarded the Adele Dalsimer Prize by the American Conference for Irish Studies in 2021.
Her first monograph, Spiritual Wounds: Trauma, Testimony and the Irish Civil War, was published in 2022 by Irish Academic Press. The book featured in the Times Literary Supplement‘s books of 2022 and was awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books in Language and Culture 2022 by the American Conference of Irish Studies (ACIS). Spiritual Wounds was also awarded the 2023 Whitfield prize from the Royal Historical Society; the Whitfield prize is awarded annually to the best first book in British or Irish history and is described as ‘one of the most sought after book prizes for early career historians’.
This extensive collection of pension and medal applications from veterans of the revolutionary period, and the administration and legislation files linked to the Pensions Board, comprise a unique and excellent resource for genealogists, students and academics alike. These files give unprecedented insight into this period and those involved.
Explore the Military Service Pensions Collection.
The History Hub podcast series features recordings of interviews, talks and research papers by historians on a variety of topics, across all time periods, from early Christian Ireland to contemporary Europe. The History Hub podcast series is available on Spotify, Apple and Soundcloud.
Since 2011, researchers from a range of disciplines including History, Irish, English, Archaeology and Art History, have presented papers at Tudor and Stuart Ireland conferences. History Hub, in association with Real Smart Media, has produced more than 320 podcasts from these conferences.
UCD offers a variety of study options and entry pathways, ranging from full-time degrees to short-term courses for pure interest. Lifelong Learning offers all adult learners the opportunity to explore a subject of their choice without the pressure of an examination. Open Learning is a flexible way of studying history part-time at UCD. Explore your UCD History options for the coming year.
LGBT Activism in Ireland, 1973-2023: Looking Back, Going Forward is a UCD project which comprised of two workshops which were organised by Dr Mary McAuliffe (Director, UCD Gender Studies), in partnership with the National LGBT Federation (NXF), and funded by a Research Ireland New Foundations award.
The workshops – History of LGBT Activism in Ireland and Where We’re Going – Backlash, Solidarity, and Mobilising took place in UCD Humanities Institute in April 2025. Podcasts from the workshops are now available on History Hub.
Holocaust Education Ireland’s Holocaust Memorial Lecture for 2025 was given by Prof. Anthony McElligott from University of Limerick. A podcast of his lecture – “Surviving Liberation: Jewish Camp Survivors 1945-1948” – is now available on History Hub.
