Mary C. Kelly
Professor of History
EDUCATION
- B.A. (Hons.): History/English. National University of Ireland, Galway, 1988
- M.A. (1st Class): Modern Irish History. National University of Ireland, Galway, 1988
- Ph.D. Modern American History. Maxwell School (History), Syracuse University, 1997
COURSES TAUGHT
- Modern U.S. Surveys
- American Intellectual & Cultural History
- American Immigrant History
- American/European Gender History
- Modern Ireland/Modern European Survey
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND AREAS
- Modern Irish-America: Famine-1920s
- Irish-American Cultural & Intellectual
- Irish-American Identity
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- American Association of University Women
- American Conference for Irish Studies
- American Historical Association
- Charitable Irish Society (Boston)
- New England Historical Association
- Organization of American Historians
- EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
- American Conference for Irish Studies (regional/national)
- Organization of American Historians
- New England Women in Higher Education Leadership
- American Conference for Irish Studies (regional/national)
- Organization of American Historians
- New England Historical Association
- New England Women in Higher Education Leadership
- FPU Faculty Research Grants: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and previously
- FPU Faculty Development Grants (annual)
- RFF President, June 2021-
- RFF Vice-President, Fall 2018-
- Global Irish Studies Certificate Coordinator, 2021-
- FPU 5-Year Strategic Plan: Goal 3 Committee; Summer 2019-
- History Club Advisor 2012-
HONORS AND AWARDS
- 2019, 2017, 2012, 2011, 2009: FPU Faculty Appreciation Awards
- 2016: City of Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Ambassador Award
- 2014: Keene State College President’s Outstanding Women of NH Award
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Books
Editor: Navigating Historical Crosscurrents in the Irish Atlantic: Essays for Catherine B. Shannon, Cork University Press, 2022.
Ireland’s Great Famine in Irish-American History: Enshrining a Fateful Memory. 2014; Rowman & Littlefield. Paperback ed. 2016.
The Shamrock and the Lily: The New York Irish and the Creation of a Transatlantic Identity, 1845-1921. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2005.
Book Chapters/Articles
"Spiritual heirs of the great Protestants who gave their lives for Ireland: Expanding Irish-American Nationalist Landscapes, 1919-1922.” Journal of American Ethnic History vol. 40, no. 4 (Summer 2021): pp. 5-40.
“The Hand of Friendship: Protestants, Irish Americans and 1916-era Nationalism.” Chapter in Ireland’s Allies: America and the 1916 Easter Rising, ed. Miriam Nyhan Grey. Dublin: UCD Press, 2016: 218-227.
“Great Famine, The.” Entry in Edward J. Blum, ed. America in the World, 1776 to the Present: A Supplement to the Dictionary of American History. 2 vols. Farmington Hills, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2016.
“The Tip: Shoe Shops, American Dreams and the Ultimate Irish-American Hard Luck Story,” with Bill Brennan. Studies in Arts and Humanities, vol. 1, no. 2 (2015): 68-82.
“Coarse Cloth and Clerical Tailoring: Negotiating Boston Irish Cultural Imperatives in the Famine Era”. Irish Studies Review 23, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 135-153.
Book Reviews
The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine, by Cian T. McMahon. Choice (American Library Association), fall 2021; and Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2022.
Under the Starry Flag: How a Band of Irish Americans Joined the Fenian Revolt and Sparked a Crisis of Citizenship, by Lucy E. Salyer. Journal of American Ethnic History 40, no. 1 (2020): 92-94.
Rebels on the Niagara: The Fenian Invasion of Canada, by Lawrence E. Cline, and Shades of Green: Irish Regiments, American Soldiers, and Local Communities in the Civil War Era, by Ryan W. Keating. Double review, American Historical Review 124, no. 5 (Dec. 2019): 1899-1901.
Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and the Making of Irish America, by John Loughery. Journal of American History, 106, no. 1 (June 2019): 172–173.
Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America, by William B. Kurtz. Journal of Southern History LXXXIII, no. 1 (Feb. 2017): 187-188.
Compassionate Stranger: Asenath Nicholson and the Great Irish Famine, by Maureen O’Rourke Murphy. New Hibernia Review 19, no. 4 (Winter/Geimhreadh 2015): 150-152.
Who’s Your Paddy? Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity, by Jennifer Nugent Duffy. American Historical Review 119, no. 5 (Dec. 2014): 1739-1740.
Between Raid and Rebellion: The Irish in Buffalo and Toronto, 1867-1916, by William Jenkins. Journal of American History 101, no. 2 (2014): 607-608.
Conference Papers/Keynotes/Invited Talks
New Hampshire Humanities “Humanities To Go” Program Speaker: Ireland’s Great Famine in Irish-American History, and Book group host
Contributor, The Hunger: The Story of the Irish Famine documentary film; aired on national TV network RTÉ One (Ireland) November 30th and December 7th, 2020; forthcoming PBS, 2022.
Paper: “Keeping his Friends close: Dev and his Protestant Squad: 1919-21.” NE-ACIS Regional Conference, October 17, 2019.
Lecture: “Ireland’s Great Famine in Irish-American History.” Cathedral of the Pines, Rindge, NH; June 12, 2019.
Presentation: “Fateful History, Inexorable Memory: The Famine’s Irish-American Legacy.” New Hampshire Humanities Council, May 17, 2019.
Paper: “Not Strange Bedfellows: Boston Irish Nationalist Strains, 1919-1920.” ACIS National Conference, March 21, 2019.
Panelist: “What Were They Thinking? Irish-American Intellectual Strains 1919-1922.” Global Irish Diaspora Congress, UCD, Dublin; 15-19 August, 2017.
Keynote: “Irish-America & the 1916 Years.” Irish Cultural Center of Western Massachusetts, October 30, 2016.
Panel Chair and presenter: “BFFs or Frenemies? The Protestant Friends of Ireland post-1916.” Celtic Studies Northeast Popular/American Culture Association Conference, Keene State College, NH; October 22, 2016.
Invited presenter: “The Hand of Friendship: Protestants, Irish Americans & 1916-era Nationalism.” NYU Ireland House 1916 Forum “Independent Spirit,” April 22, 2016.
Paper, “Confounding Crusaders: The Protestant Friends of Ireland in post-1916 Irish-American Diaspora Nationalism,” ACIS, University of Notre Dame, March 31, 2016.
“From the Famine to the Rising.” Conversation with Author series, Holyoke Public Library, Holyoke, MA. March 19, 2016.
