Mary C. Kelly

Professor of History

Affiliation

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

kellymc@franklinpierce.edu

Phone

(603) 899-4392

ACADEMIC PROGRAM(S)

History
Global Irish Studies Certificate

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

HS132: Reel History: American Stories on Film
HS200: Who’s Who in American History
HS203: War & Peace in Modern America:1877-1945
HS204: U.S. History Since 1945
HS206: Protest in America
HS210: Sports Cultures and American History
HS228: Witches: Witch-Hunts in Early Modern Transatlantic History
HS229: Thrones & Drones: Modern European History
HS246: Multimedia History
HS275: History Workshop
HS314: American Immigrant History
HS322: American Gender History
HS323: The Big Idea: American Intellectual History
HS337: Nazi Germany
HS340: Ireland Since 1500
HS341: American Women’s History
HS410: History Research Seminar
HS491: Field-based Experience in History

RESEARCH INTERESTS AND AREAS

Modern U.S. Surveys
American Intellectual & Cultural History
American Immigrant History
American Gender History
Modern Ireland
Early Modern and Modern European History
Modern Irish-America: Famine-1920s
Irish-American Cultural & Intellectual history
Irish-American Identity

My research focuses on 19th and early 20th century Irish-American immigrant and settlement history, with particular attention to New York and Boston. I have published on Irish Famine impact and memory in the U.S., and will soon embark on new research on post-Famine Boston Irish culture.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

American Historical Association
American Conference for Irish Studies
American Federation of Teachers-NH
American Association of University Women
Charitable Irish Society (Boston)
Organization of American Historians
Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Honorary lifetime membership)

New Hampshire Humanities “Humanities To Go” Program Speaker: "Ireland’s Great Famine in Irish-American History" and “Soldiers of Destiny: Ireland’s Struggle for Independence.”
NHH-Humanities-To-Go Book group host; various titles
NHH Big Read Book Group Host, Fall 2023; selected book: The Bear
Panel Chair and presenter, “Co- and Extra-Curricular Adventures in Irish Studies Programs.” New England-American Conference for Irish Studies, Boston College, October 2023
Invited talk on Navigating Historical Crosscurrents in the Irish Atlantic: Irish Studies Department, Boston College, September 21, 2022
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; PBS, 2022.

FPU Faculty Research Grants: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and previously
FPU Faculty Development Grants (annual)

Book manuscript reviewer, McGill University Press, 2023
Book manuscript reviewer, Yale University Press, 2022
Expert opinion, St. Patrick’s Day in America: Audacy radio & podcasting; March 16, 2022.
Expert opinion, St. Patrick’s Day in America: lawnstarter.com;
https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/most-irish-cities-in-america/#expert=mary-ckelly; March 16, 2022.

Book Reviews:
Review for Irish Literary Supplement, forthcoming, 2025
Ambush at Central Park: When the IRA Came to New York, by Mark Bulik. Choice (ALS) 2023.
The Beat Cop: Chicago’s Chief O’Neill and the Creation of Irish Music, by Michael O’Malley. Journal of Social History (November 2023); https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shad077.
The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine, by Cian T. McMahon. Choice (ALS), fall 2021; also reviewed for Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2022.

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
2001-2002, FPC Faculty of the Year

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

"How Remembering the Famine Shaped Irish American Identity." Chapter in Routledge Handbook of Irish America. Eds. Cian T. McMahon & Kate Costello-Sullivan. New York: Routledge, 2024.

"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.

Book Reviews

Review for Irish Literary Supplement, forthcoming, 2025

Ambush at Central Park: When the IRA Came to New York, by Mark Bulik. Choice (ALS) 2023.

The Beat Cop: Chicago’s Chief O’Neill and the Creation of Irish Music, by Michael O’Malley. Journal of Social History (November 2023); https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shad077.

The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine, by Cian T. McMahon. Choice (ALS), fall 2021; also reviewed for Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2022.

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.