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Niamh Pattwell is Associate Professor and Head of School at the School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin. She holds a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and has been a faculty member at UCD since 2004, progressing from Lecturer in Old and Middle English to her current role. Her academic leadership extends to curriculum development, postgraduate teaching, and serving on university committees, including the Board of Trustees for UCD Volunteer Overseas. Her educational background includes a BA, H.Dip.Ed., H.Dip.T.Rel.Ed., and MA from University College Cork, and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin. She taught secondary school in Co. Wexford and Co. Cork before transitioning to higher education, holding teaching fellowships at Queen’s University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin. Niamh Pattwell's research focuses on the circulation and transmission of vernacular religious prose in the late Middle Ages. She has developed expertise in codicology, palaeography, and manuscript fragment studies, particularly through her work with Marsh's Library and the Index of Middle English Prose at Trinity College Dublin. Her scholarship explores the production, readership, and theological context of both orthodox and Wycliffite texts. Her recent publications show a consistent focus on Middle English religious prose, manuscript provenance, and the material culture of books. She has contributed to the Year's Work in English Studies and published on fragments, personal notebooks, and devotional texts, reflecting a deep engagement with the material and spiritual dimensions of medieval manuscripts. National Digital Learning Resources Award (2012) Broad Curriculum Post-doctoral Teaching Fellow, Trinity College Dublin (2003–2004) Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences Postgraduate Scholarship (1999–2002) Niamh Pattwell has successfully supervised postgraduate students to MA and PhD completion and has led curriculum innovation at UCD, including the development of research-based modules on medieval manuscript fragments. She has secured internal research grants such as the HoS Research Support Scheme and has been actively involved in organizing major academic events, including the Early Book Society Biennial Conference in 2019 and 2023. Her teaching includes modules on King Arthur, medieval literature, and animal narratives, emphasizing student engagement with primary texts. She collaborates with institutions such as Marsh's Library and Trinity College Dublin and has contributed to public engagement through radio appearances and public lectures. Her work bridges academic research, teaching innovation, and cultural heritage preservation.

• Medieval English Literature
• Middle English Religious Prose
• Vernacular Religious Writings
• +12 more

Rebecca Stephenson is an Associate Professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin (UCD), where she specializes in early medieval English literature, with a focus on the interplay between Latin and English during the Anglo-Saxon period. Her research explores monastic identity, the Benedictine Reform, and the literary and linguistic dynamics of Old English and Latin texts. Her research interests include Early Medieval English Studies, Anglo-Saxon Literature, Old English, Medieval Literature, Latin and English Linguistic Interactions, Benedictine Reform, Monastic Identity, Hermeneutic Style, Gender Studies in Medieval Literature, Manuscript Studies, Science and Literature in Anglo-Saxon England, Computistics, Spiritual Warfare in Medieval Texts, Feminist Approaches to Medieval Studies, and Textual Identity . She has published extensively on these topics, with a major monograph titled The Politics of Language: Byrhtferth, Ælfric, and the Multilingual Identity of the Benedictine Reform , and is currently working on a new book project, Writing Poetry in the Stars: Interactions between Science and Literature in Anglo-Saxon England . Her recent scholarly output reveals a strong trend in analyzing the intersections of science, religion, and literature in the early medieval period, particularly through computistics, liturgical practices, and allegorical interpretations. She frequently examines how monastic communities used language and textual practices to define identity, especially in opposition to secular clergy. Her work also reflects a growing engagement with feminist perspectives in medieval studies. Teaching Award - Top teaching contribution in the English Department (2013) Tommy and Mary Barham Endowed Professorship in English (2013) Teaching Award - Top teaching contribution in the English Department (2012) Research Award - Top research contribution in the English department (2011) Teaching Award - Top teaching contribution in the English Department (2011) Research Award - Top research contribution in the English department (2010) Rebecca Stephenson has been actively involved in teaching and curriculum development, coordinating modules such as Advanced Old & Middle English , Reading Medieval Literature , and Apocalypse Then: Old English Literature . She has received significant grant funding, including support for an international conference on Conflicting Chronologies in the Pre-modern World and a research network trip to Toronto under the Science of Apocalypse grant. She is also an active member of professional associations such as the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists and the Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland. Her editorial work includes co-editing volumes like Feminist Approaches to Early Medieval English Studies and Textual Identities in Early Medieval England . She leads and contributes to interdisciplinary research initiatives, often bridging literature, history, science, and gender studies. Her lab or research group is not explicitly named, but her collaborative projects and conference organization indicate leadership in a vibrant scholarly community focused on early medieval England.

• Early Medieval English Studies
• Anglo-Saxon Literature
• Old English
• +12 more