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Biography

Dr Aideen O’Leary is Lecturer and Programme Co-ordinator in Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies, and Director of the Centre for Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies, at the University of Aberdeen. She holds BA and MLitt degrees from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She has previously held appointments at University College Cork and the University of Notre Dame, USA.

Dr O'Leary's principal research interests lie in the interactions between the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon worlds and Latin literature. Publications include Trials and Translations: the Latin Origins of the Irish Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (Aberdeen, 2013), and ‘The Heretic and the Hibernophobe: Foreign Perceptions of Ireland from Antiquity to c. AD 1200’ in the Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies. She has received several external grants for individual and collaborative research, and has recently organised a series of events at Aberdeen entitled ‘Subversions of Classical Learning’.

Research Interests

My main research interests lie in the interactions between the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon worlds and Latin literature, and New Testament apocrypha.

I am happy to consider PhD research proposals in any of these areas.

Current Research

I am completing a monograph on the political, historical and religious implications of the mediaeval legend that St John the Baptist was killed by an Irish druid.

I am working on a new critical edition of Eadmer's Historia Nouorum in Anglia, 'History of Recent Events in England', a text which is essential for our understanding of England and its external relations in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

Several articles are also in press or currently in progress.

Selected Publications

Learning Old English (ed., with Zhangfeng Xu). A new multimedia edition of the University of Aberdeen language course created by the late Dr Duncan Macrae-Gibson (Aberdeen University Press, forthcoming Autumn 2019)

'Contested Consecrations and the Pursuit of Ecclesiastical Independence in Scotland and Ireland in the Early 1120s', North American Journal of Celtic Studies 2.2 (2018), 155-78

'Constructing the Magical Biography of the Irish Druid Mog Ruith', in Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time: The Occult in Pre-Modern Sciences, Medicine, Literature, Religion and Astrology, ed. Albrecht Classen (Berlin and Boston, MA,, 2017), pp. 219-29

Trials and Translations: the Latin Origins of the Irish Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, 2 vols (Aberdeen, 2013)

‘The Heretic and the Hibernophobe: Foreign Perceptions of Ireland from Antiquity to c. AD 1200’, Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies 7.1 (2013), 1-51  Available at:https://www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/content-images/JISSv7.1_sample.pdf

‘“Soldiers Strong in the Strife”: Passiones as Cynewulf’s Sources on the Apostles’, Anglo-Saxon 4 (2010), 121-43

‘Sex, Satire and Sanctity in Moriuht: a Foreigner’s View of Mediaeval Irish Penitence’, Mediaeval Scandinavia 20 (2010), 133-40

Tallaght, Bishop Mael Ruain, and the Culdees: Six Texts on Discipline and Memory (pamphlet) (Cambridge, 2008)

‘By the Bishop of Babylon? The Origins of the Collected Latin Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles’, in The Legacy of M.R. James, ed. L. Dennison (Donington: Shaun Tyas/Paul Watkins, 2002), pp. 128-38

‘Apostolic Passiones in Early Anglo-Saxon England’, in Apocryphal Texts and Traditions in Anglo-Saxon England, edd. Kathryn Powell and Donald Scragg, Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, 2 (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2003), pp. 103-19

‘Mog Ruith and Apocalypticism in Eleventh-century Ireland’, in The Individual in Celtic Literatures, ed. J.F. Nagy (Celtic Studies Association of North America Yearbook 1) (Dublin, 2001), pp. 51-60


Research Grants

Recent External Research Grants

Royal Society of Edinburgh Arts & Humanities Small Grant, 2015-16, for Druidic Apocalypse and Church Reform in Mediaeval Ireland -- research at Cambridge University Library and conference dissemination

British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Grant, 2015-17, for Druidic Apocalypse and Church Reform in Mediaeval Ireland -- research at the Warburg Institute Library, University of London, and conference dissemination

Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland Research Incentive Grant, 2016-17, for A New Critical Edition of Eadmer’s ‘History of Recent Events in England’ -- research at the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and conference dissemination

Recent Internal Research Grants

School of Language and Literature, University of Aberdeen, grant to conduct research at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, and to attend the CSANA conference at UCLA, February-March 2018

School of Language and Literature, University of Aberdeen, grant to conduct research at the Warburg Institute Library, University of London, April 2017

Santander Mobility Award, for visit to Cambridge University Library, May 2015

School of Language and Literature, University of Aberdeen, grant to conduct research at the Warburg Institute Library, University of London, April 2015

Principal’s Excellence Fund, University of Aberdeen, grant to present a paper, ‘The Druid Mog Ruith, the “Irish Apocalypse” of 1096 and the Western Church’, at the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, October 2014

School of Language and Literature, University of Aberdeen, grant to present a paper, ‘Scots, Sots and Stereotypes: Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian Encounters with Ireland’, at the Medieval Academy of America Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, and to conduct research at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, April 2014

Conference Grants for ‘Subversions of Classical Learning’ Research Theme

(Organiser, on behalf of the Sir Herbert Grierson Centre for Textual Criticism and Comparative Literary History and the Centre for Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies, University of Aberdeen)

External Grants

Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, Event Sponsorship for ‘Subversions of Classical Learning: a Conference to Commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of the Birth of Sir Herbert Grierson’, January 2016

Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, Conference Grant for symposium on ‘Reviving the Dead: Classical Imitation in Renaissance Literature’, May 2015 (collaborative application)

Internal Grants

Principal’s Interdisciplinary Fund, and Centre for Early Modern Studies, University of Aberdeen, grants for ‘Subversions of Classical Learning: a Conference to Commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of the Birth of Sir Herbert Grierson’, January 2016

Centre for Early Modern Studies, and School of Language and Literature,, University of Aberdeen, grants for symposium on ‘Reviving the Dead: Classical Imitation in Renaissance Literature’, May 2015

School of Language and Literature, University of Aberdeen, grant for workshop on ‘Satirical Voices: (Re)Imagining Satire from Antiquity to the Present’, May 2014

Teaching Responsibilities

Courses I taught in Spring 2018:

Old Gaelic language (contd)

Modern Irish language (contd)

'The Celts, their Neighbours, and the Classical World' (new Level 2 course)

'Arthur and Finn, Beowulf and Alfred The Great: History, Law and Literature in The Early Medieval North' (co-ordinator of Level 1 course)

Courses I am teaching in Autumn 2019:

Old English language

Mediaeval Welsh language

Modern Irish language

'Arthur in Mediaeval Celtic and Scandinavian Literature'

'Barbarians, Romans, Gods and Warriors' (co-ordinator of Level 1 course)

External Responsibilities

Member of the Board of Celtic Studies (Scotland)

Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Celtic Studies

Admin Responsibilities

Programme Co-ordinator (Discipline Leader), Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies, 2012-present

Director, Centre for Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies, 2014-present

School of Language and Literature Committees, 2012-present: Research Committee (to 2017, and 2019), Teaching and Learning Committee, Postgraduate Committee (2012-2016), and Impact Committee

School of Language and Literature Retention Officer (2013-2016)

Impact Activities

‘Great Aberdonians’ (speaker on the Aberdonian History of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Studies), University of Aberdeen May Festival 2016

‘Humans, Vegans or Robots? Satirical Views of Humanity in Film and Literature’ (event organiser, and contributor on ancient Roman satire), ‘Skeptics in the Pub’, Being Human: A Festival of the Humanities, November 2014

‘The Poet, the Druid and the Professor: a Research Showcase in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Studies’ (event organiser, and contributor on Druidic Apocalypse project), University of Aberdeen May Festival 2014

‘Viking Tea Break’ (contributor on the effects of Vikings on Ireland), University of Aberdeen May Festival 2013

Degree Programme Brochures

MA (undergraduate) programme:

Celtic_and_Anglo-Saxon_Studies_details_2018.docx

MLitt (taught postgraduate) programme for 2015-16:

MLitt_Celtic__Anglo-Saxon_Studies_2015-16_Summary.docx

Recent Research Presentations

'Edmund Spenser’s Interpretation of Medieval Irish History in A View of the Present State of Ireland, Celtic Studies Association of North America Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, March 2018

'Canterbury’s Relations with Scotland and Ireland in Eadmer’s Historia Nouorum in Anglia', Irish Conference of Medievalists, Maynooth University, June 2017

‘The Druid Mog Ruith, the ‘Apocalypse’ of 1096 and the Transformation of Irish Christianity’, Celtic Studies Association of North America Conference, Vancouver, April 2017

‘Anselm, Eadmer, and Ireland: Supremacy and Reform in the Anglo-Norman World’, Eccclesiastical History Society Conference, University of Edinburgh, July 2016

‘Constructing the Magical Biography of the Irish Druid Mog Ruith’, ‘Magic and the Magician in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern World’ Conference, University of Arizona, April 2016

‘The Druid Mog Ruith, the ‘Apocalypse’ of 1096 and the Transformation of Irish Christianity’, University of California Conference on Celtic Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, March 2016

‘The Druid Mog Ruith, the Irish “Apocalypse” of 1096 and the Western Fringe’, Arizona Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Interdisciplinary Conference, Arizona State University, February 2016

‘Scots, Sots and Stereotypes: Foreign Perceptions of Ireland in the Middle Ages’, International Congress on Celtic Studies, University of Glasgow, July 2015

‘Druidic Apocalypse, Political Dynamics and Gregorian Reform in Eleventh-century Ireland’, International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 2015

‘The Druid Mog Ruith, the “Apocalypse” of 1096, and the Religious Transformation of Ireland’. Invited presentation, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, & Celtic Research Seminar, Cambridge, May 2015

‘Gregorian Reform in Ireland? The Druid Mog Ruith, the “Irish Apocalypse” of 1096 and the Western Church’, Crossing Borders in the Insular Middle Ages Conference, Philipps-Universität, Marburg, April 2015

‘The Druid Mog Ruith, the "Irish Apocalypse" of 1096 and Canterbury’, Medieval Association of the Midwest 30th Anniversary Conference, Madrid, January 2015  [Paper delivered at Iglesia de San Quirce, Segovia -- Real Academia de Historia y Arte de San Quirce]

'The Druid Mog Ruith, the “Irish Apocalypse” of 1096 and the Western Church’, Harvard Celtic Colloquium, October 2014

‘Devotion to St Andrew in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England’, Ecclesiastical History Society Conference, University of Sheffield, July 2014

‘Druidic Apocalypse and Church Reform in Mediaeval Ireland’, ‘Fall Narratives: an Interdisciplinary Perspective’ International Conference, University of Aberdeen, June 2014

‘Reflections and Reversals of Persius in Eleventh-century Normandy’, Sir Herbert Grierson Centre for Textual Criticism and Comparative Literary History/Centre for Celtic Studies Workshop on ‘Satirical Voices: (Re-)imagining Satire from Antiquity to the Present’, University of Aberdeen, May 2014

‘Scots, Sots and Stereotypes: Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian Encounters with Ireland’, Medieval Academy Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, April 2014

‘Druidic Apocalypse and Church Reform in Mediaeval Ireland’, ‘Fall Narratives’ Workshop, University of Aberdeen, March 2014

‘Promiscuity and Penance in Moriuht: a Norman View of Mediaeval Irish Mores’, Sex and Sexuality in Celtic Cultures Conference, University of Edinburgh, November 2013