Personal profile
Biography
Dr Méabh Ní Fhuartháin is a lecturer at the Centre for Irish Studies, University of Galway, specializing in Irish Music and Dance Studies and also is Director of Undergraduate Programmes in Irish Studies. Most recently, Méabh has published a monograph, Heading to the Fleadh: Festival, Cultural Revival and Traditional Music, 1951-1969. She has contributed articles and reviews to a wide variety of journals and was also a subject editor in Popular Music for the landmark Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland (UCD Press, 2013). She co-edited a special issue of Éire-Ireland: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies, titled Nótaí-Notes: Music and Ireland (2019) and the special issue Women and Traditional/Folk Music in Ethnomusicology Ireland (2021). Méabh is particularly interested in the institutionalisation of musical revival in Ireland during the twentieth century, music and migration, gender and popular music studies. Published articles/chapters include work on the commemorative representations of Ireland through music; pop music and emigration; masculinities and Irish popular music; dance genealogies in Galway and the institutionalisation of traditional music and dance in Ireland. A contributor to national media as a cultural critic, Méabh currently sits on the national board of Music Generation, Ireland's national music education programme.
Research Interests
I research, present and publish work in these areas of interest: traditional Irish music studies; emigration and Irish music; popular music and Ireland; cultural revivalism; performance studies; gender and music in Ireland; and musical theatre.
Teaching Interests
Below are some of the modules I currently deliver at the University of Galway. Over the course of my career, I have devised and taught modules at undergraduate and gradute level in addition to designing full programme curricula. My teaching has included modules in ethnomusicology, performance theory, musicology, popular music and a wide range of Irish music and dance related courses. Current courses are listed below:
- IS1100 Emigration and Irish music
- IS2105 Popular musics, cultural identities and Ireland
- IS1105/6 Imagining modern Ireland (co-taught interdisciplinary module)
- IS2100 Music, gender and Ireland
- IS3101 Topics in Irish Music Studies
- IS3103 Independent research project in Irish Studies
- EN1101 Literature in the social world (Contributing lecturer)
Education/Academic qualification
B.A., BMus., MA.,PhD
External positions
Member of National Board, Music Generation
2023 → 2029
Accepting PhD Students
- Accepting PhD Students
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 4 Quality Education
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SDG 5 Gender Equality
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SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
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Heading to the Fleadh: Festival, Cultural Revival and Irish Traditional Music, 1951-1969
Ní Fhuartháin, M., 1 Nov 2024, 262 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
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'Are You Heading to the Fleadh? The Story of the Very First Fleadh'
Ní Fhuartháin, M., 31 Jul 2025Research output: Other contribution (Published) › Other contribution
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Book review: Collector Networks and Silent Sources of Irish Traditional Music
Ní Fhuartháin, M., Apr 2025, In: The Journal of Music.Research output: Contribution to a Journal (Peer & Non Peer) › Review article
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'Drawn from Tradition; Shaped by Memories'
Ní Fhuartháin, M., 10 Dec 2025, Journal of Music.Research output: Other contribution (Published) › Electronic Articles
Open Access -
Theatre review: Karan Casey’s Revolutionary Women
Ní Fhuartháin, M., Feb 2025, In: The Journal of Music.Research output: Contribution to a Journal (Peer & Non Peer) › Review article
Activities
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“Heading to the Fleadh: Developing a model in the 1950s”
Ní Fhuartháin, M. (Speaker)
24 Nov 2025Activity: Talk or presentation (Unpublished) › Invited Talk
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‘Folk and popular, political intersections: Sounds of Ireland in the new millennium’
Ní Fhuartháin, M. (Keynote speaker)
1 Oct 2025Activity: Talk or presentation (Unpublished) › Invited Talk
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Irish Music and Migration
Ní Fhuartháin, M. (Speaker)
26 Sep 2025Activity: Talk or presentation (Unpublished) › Invited Talk
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Anna Falkenau, GOI Taighde Éireann Post-Doctoral Fellow
Ní Fhuartháin, M. (Mentor)
1 Sep 2025 → 31 Aug 2026Activity: Other › Postgraduates Supervised
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Telling Stories and Fleadh Archives
Ní Fhuartháin, M. (Invited Speaker)
7 Aug 2025Activity: Talk or presentation (Unpublished) › Invited Talk