Professor William Smyth Office Location:First Floor, Geography Building Phone Number: +353 21 490 2517 wjs@ucc.ie

Research Interests

At the centre of my research is a seeking to understand Ireland in its many manifestations from prehistory to the present - a modest agenda, I agree ! Specifically, I use the skills and insight of the historical/cultural geographer to explore three worlds in particular. The main weight of my work is focused on reconstructing the transformation (including that of the environment) of Ireland in the so-called ‘Colonial’ period from c. 1530 onwards. A second major focus has been interpreting the social and cultural geography of 20th Century Ireland from the points of view of familism and property, changing social fields, patterns of belief, etc. More recently, my attention has shifted back - through an analysis of forenames, surnames and placenames - to early medieval Ireland. This latter research surge involves comparative library and field work right across the whole north sea Atlantic/Scandinavia settlement world. To explore recent work on the HEA funded Atlas of Irish Names project, click here.

My work on colonial/early modern Ireland involves comparative work from colonial Ulster to Virginia and right across the whole English-speaking imperial world. Likewise, the study of the social and cultural geography of 20th Century Ireland has to be understood in its wider global contexts - hence some familiarity with this most recent ‘new’ cultural geography literature is necessary. Thematically, therefore, my main interests are in cultural/historical and social/political geography but I retain an ancient interest in matters archaeological and environmental.

My regional interests lie in Ireland, North and Middle America and the North Atlantic world as a whole.

Courses Taught

GG1001 Introduction to Geography
GG2001 Practice of Geography
GG2008 Geography of Societies and Cultures
GG3001 Nature of Geography
GG3011 The Making of Modern Ireland

Recent Research Activity

Smyth, William J. 1992, "Making the Documents of Conquest Speak: The Transformation of Property, Society and Settlement in Seventeenth Century Counties Tipperary and Kilkenny" in (eds.) Silverman, M/Gulliver, P. Approaching the Past: Historical Anthropology through Irish Case Studies, Columbia University Press, New York, pp 348-409.

Smyth, William J. 1992 "Exploring the Social and Cultural Topographies of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century county Dublin" in Aalen, F.H.A./Whelan, K. (eds.) Dublin - City and County: from Prehistory to Present (Studies in honour of J.H. Andrews) Geography Publications Dublin, pp 121-179

Smyth, William J. 1993 "Social, Economic and Landscape Transformation in County Cork from the Mid Nineteenth Centuries" in O Flanagan, P and Buttimer, N (eds.) Cork: History and Society Geography Publications Dublin pp 655-698

Smyth, William J 1993 "The Making of Ireland - Agendas and Perspectives" in Graham, B.J./Proudfoot, L.J.(eds.) Cultural Geography: An Historical Geography of Ireland, Academic Press, London. 399-438

Smyth, William J.1997 "A Plurality of Irelands: Regions, Societies and Mentalities" in Graham, B.J.(ed.) In Search of Ireland": A Cultural Geography Routledge, London pp. 19-42

Smyth, William J. 1997 "Introduction: Remembering the Great Irish Famine 1845- 1851" Journal of Economic Studies, 24, 1 (Special Issue on Essays on the Irish Economy: 150 years after the Great Famine)

Smyth, William J. "The Greening of Ireland - tenant tree-planting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Irish Forestry - Journal of the Society of Irish Foresters, 54, Nos, 1 and 2 55-72

Smyth, William J. 1993 "The National, Regional and Local Dimensions of Heritage Policies" in Defining a Heritage Policy Cork pp 115-126

Smyth, William J. 1995 "The Regional Development of the Arts: Issues of Creativity, Access and Participation" in (ed.) Mulderrig, M The Regional Development of the Arts in Ireland Cork pp 32-38