Maureen Wall

Maureen Wall (née McGeehin, 1918 – June 1972) was an Irish historian with a focus on the 18th century. She is regarded as pioneer of modern studies of the Penal Laws in Ireland.[1]

Maureen Wall
Born	1918 Dublin
Died	June 1972
Occupation	writer, Historian
Nationality	Irish
Period	18th century
Genre	History

Life and work

Born Maureen McGeehin in County Donegal, Wall became the leading authority on Irish history in the 18th century.[2]

Wall was educated in the Irish speaking boarding school in Falcarragh. She trained as a primary teacher in Carysfort College before going on to get a degree at night. She was also a member of the local Gaelic League. In 1944 Wall contracted TB which meant she spent significant time in hospitals in Dún Laoghaire and Switzerland. This ill health eventually forced her to leave teaching. She took a position in the Folk Commission where she met her husband, the Commission librarian Tom Wall.[3]

She married in 1954 and through her thesis supervisor had taken a position in the Irish History department. Wall eventually become one of the most respected lecturers at University College Dublin. Her career in terms of titles had been varied as Dudley Edwards had been determined to have her in the department and used what ever job title was available to ensure she was employed. She launched the Dublin Historical Association pamphlets in 1961 with her work on the Penal Laws. Through this she won the National University of Ireland historical prize.[3][4] Her interpretation of various Irish events became the standard interpretation for years.[5]

Wall is remembered by a medal which is awarded to History students for obtaining first place in the second year history exam in UCD. These awards have been endowed by her friends.

Bibliography

• The Irish struggle, 1916-1926 edited by Desmond Williams. -Chapter /Partition : the Ulster question (1916-1926)
• Maureen Wall (1967). The Penal Laws, 1691-1760. Dublin Historical Association.
• Maureen Wall; Gerard O'Brien; Tom Dunne (1952). Catholic Ireland in the Eighteenth Century: Collected Essays of Maureen Wall. Geography Publications. ISBN 978-0-906602-10-2.
• A Glimpse of Town and Country in Eighteenth-Century Ireland, 1971, by Wall, Maureen & Simms, J. G.
• The Rise of a Catholic Middle Class in Eighteenth-Century Ireland, Irish Historical Studies, 1958, Cambridge University Press

References

1. "Maureen Wall". Ricorso. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
2. Maurice R. O'Connell (24 November 2010). Irish Politics and Social Conflict in the Age of the American Revolution. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 126–. ISBN 0-8122-0097-7.
3. Angela Bourke (2002). The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. NYU Press. pp. 678–. ISBN 978-0-8147-9907-9.
4. Hugh F. Kearney (1 April 2007). Ireland: Contested Ideas of Nationalism and History. NYU Press. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-0-8147-4930-2.
5. Alvin Jackson (27 March 2014). The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History. OUP Oxford. pp. 561–. ISBN 978-0-19-166760-2.

Further reading

• Maureen Wall, Catholic Ireland in the Eighteenth Century
• N. Smith (30 August 2006). A 'Manly Study'?: Irish Women Historians 1868-1949. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 191–. ISBN 978-0-230-59648-1.
• Language Change and the Evolution of Religion, Community, and Culture in Ireland, 1800--1900. ProQuest. 2008. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-0-549-80295-2.
• David George Boyce (1996). The Making of Modern Irish History: Revisionism and the Revisionist Controversy. Psychology Press. pp. 30–. ISBN 978-0-415-12171-2.
• S. J. Connolly (2 July 1992). Religion, Law, and Power : The Making of Protestant Ireland 1660-1760: The Making of Protestant Ireland 1660-1760. Clarendon Press. pp. 308–. ISBN 978-0-19-159179-2.
• Oliver Rafferty (1994). Catholicism in Ulster, 1603-1983: An Interpretative History. Univ of South Carolina Press. pp. 57–. ISBN 978-1-57003-025-3.
• Peter Clark; British Academy (2001). Two Capitals: London and Dublin, 1500-1840. British Academy. pp. 164–. ISBN 978-0-19-726247-4.