Of Crows, Eels, and Abbots: Transqueer Spirituality on the Irish Landscape

Happening On 11/03/2026

The next presentation in the Study of Religions Research Seminar Series takes place on Wednesday 11 March 2026 from 6-7pm on MS Teams with Cedar Monroe.

Shapeshifting, between genders (rarely) and between species (more commonly), is a re-occuring theme in Irish folklore and mythology. Goddesses become crows, an abbot falls asleep and wakes up as a woman, and bulls hold conversations with the otherworld, while river goddesses become sea monsters. How can this motif of shapeshifting reflect a pre-capitalist and pre-dualistic understanding of relationship to each other and the land? And how do queer and trans people see themselves and their connection to land in these stories? In anti-colonial and trans ecological frameworks, this concept of shapeshifting can blur the boundaries of the modern Cartesian division between human/nature, as well as the gender binary. We will explore some of these stories, using Charlene Spretnak's concepts of ecological postmodernism, reconnecting with "the knowing body, the creative cosmos, the complex sense of place" in queer perspective. 

Cedar James Monroe is a PhD student and assistant lecturer at University College Cork in the Study of Religions Department. For his PhD, he is designing a creative participatory action project entitled “‘We Only Want the Earth’: Transqueer Spirituality in an Age of Ecological Crisis.” This project will partner with several queer and trans organizations in Cork City, proposing to use walks along the River Lee and readings of Irish folklore to reflect on the trans experience and trans relationship with the other-than-human world. Cedar has a BA in cultural studies from Evergreen State College, and an MDiv in liberation theology from Episcopal Divinity School, with fifteen years experience advocating alongside people experiencing homelessness and incarceration in the United States. He studied Indigenous ethics and language at Vancouver School of Theology before coming to UCC. He is also an author and artist, spiritual director, and organizer. 

All Welcome to Join Us on Teams. Please contact Dr Jenny Butler for more information on j.butler@ucc.ie