Call for Papers

Irish Women & Gains from the Medieval to the Modern

The next annual conference of the Women’s History Association of Ireland will be held at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, 29-30 May 2026. We are delighted that our keynote speaker will be Professor Sarah Richardson (University of Glasgow & Chair of the Women's History Network, UK).

Building on last year’s successful conference on women’s experiences of ‘loss’, this year we invite papers that consider the theme of GAINS.

The conference welcomes papers that consider the types of gains that women have made and endured, as well as how women navigated these transitions in their everyday lives. Papers may include, but are not restricted, to the following themes:

·  Family roles and responsibilities

·  Life cycle transitions

·  Work and employment

·  Skills, training and education

·  Rights, both civil and political

·  Forms of independence

·  Inheritance and property

·  Identity

·  Freedom and opportunity

Please submit an abstract (up to 300 words), together with your name and affiliation to whai2026conference@gmail.com by 30 January 2026.

We hope to support the participation of unwaged and ECR speakers, especially those without access to funding. If you wish to be considered for a bursary, please indicate in your abstract submission.

Organising Committee

Leanne Calvert (University of Limerick) and Martin Walsh (University of Limerick & Mary Immaculate College, Limerick)