I am an internationally recognised scholar in the field of modern Irish social history, particularly in the fields of gender history, feminist history, the history of childhood and youth and child welfare. Focusing on historically marginalised groups, my research has advanced the history of child welfare, poverty, gender and class in modern Ireland and made a significant contribution to the field nationally and internationally. My research has had an impact in traditional academic and non-traditional contexts, including in my role as a Public historian and contributor to Public policies. To date, my research has been cited in the New York Times, CNN, BBC Womens Hour and other international media outlets. These pieces have drawn on my expertise of the mother and baby institutions in Ireland and particularly the Tuam Oral History Project, for which I am the Co-PI. In 2021 I appeared on the Late Late Show discussing the success of the Old Ireland in Colour Series. In 2020, my co-authored volume with Professor John Breslin Old Ireland in Colour (Merrion Press, 2020) won the An Post Book Award for Best Irish Published Book. Our second volume in the series - Old Ireland in Colour 2 (Merrion Press, 2021) was the best selling Irish published hardbook non-fiction book in 2021 and our third volume was published in Oct 2023. I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society and and co-director of the Irish Center for the Histories of Labour and Class. Aside from my teaching and research, I am the Chair of the Irish History Students Association (IHSA) and past President of the Womens History Association of Ireland.

Since 2024, I am Vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the CASSCS and in June 2025 I was elected the Vice-President Elect of the Society for the History of Childhood and Youth (SHCY).

The history of gender in Ireland and Britain. The history of child protection and child welfare, social history of Britain and Ireland from the nineteenth century, history of family, history of childhood and more recently, the history of youth and youth culture.Historyof socialcareinstitutionsin Irelandandthehistoryofdomesticviolence.