Social and Cultural Life on the Irish Border

Hastings Donnan and Kirk Simpson aconducted a two-year research project on the history of social and cultural life along the Irish border, focusing particularly on counties Armagh and Monaghan. Data are being collected through archival research, collection of life histories and contemporary survey and ethnographic research. The project began in February 2004 and extends research originally carried out along the border in an EU-funded project directed by Hastings Donnan.

Kirk Simpson graduated from Queen's University in 1998 with a BA (Hons) in Politics and Modern History. After gaining a PGCE (Politics) in 1999 at Queen's, Kirk studied for a PhD at the Graduate School of Education, QUB. He graduated in 2002 with a PhD in citizenship education in Northern Ireland. He then became a Research Fellow at the School of Anthropological Studies, QUB, working with Professor Hastings Donnan on a project on social and cultural relations along the Irish border. Kirk's research interests include citizenship and concepts of identity in Northern Ireland; qualitative methods; and the political and social history of post-partition Ireland.