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August 26, 2024 -- Mary Murphy, Professor of Political Science, Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences.

Mary C. Murphy
Director, Irish Institute
murp@bc.edu

Mary C. Murphy joined Boston College in Fall 2024. She is a Full Professor in the Political Science Faculty and Director of the Irish Institute at Boston College. Her latest book, co-authored with Jonathan Evershed, A Troubled Constitutional Future: Northern Ireland after Brexit, Agenda/Columbia University Press 2022, won the UACES Best Book Prize in 2023. Mary is also the author of two other monographs on Northern Ireland and the EU, and has guest edited special issues of Irish Political Studies, Administration and Irish Studies in International Affairs (forthcoming). Her work has been published in leading academic journals including The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, International Political Science Review and Territory, Politics, Governance.听

Before joining Boston College, Professor Murphy was Head of the Department of Government and Politics at University College Cork, Ireland. She is the former President of the Irish Association for Contemporary European Studies and has twice been awarded an Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Chair award. She was previously a Fulbright-Schuman scholar and has won the Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI) Teaching and Learning Prize. Professor Murphy is a member of Ireland鈥檚 All-Island Women鈥檚 Forum and has held fellowships with the University of Edinburgh, University of Surrey and Canterbury Christ Church University.

Kate Shamon-Rushford
Kate Shamon-Rushford
 Administrative and Events Assistant
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Kate Shamon-Rushford

Kate Shamon-Rushford

Administrative and Events Assistant

Kate Shamon-Rushford, Administrative and Events Assistant at the Irish Institute at Boston College, is a graduate of Skidmore College with extensive experience in events, communications, and community engagement. She also comes from a family with deep, multigenerational ties to Boston College.

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Ellie Atkins
Ellie Atkins
 Emerging Scholar
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Ellie Atkins

Ellie Atkins

Emerging Scholar

Ellie Atkins '26 is majoring in Political Science with a minor in History. Her research interests focus on the intersection of gender and conflict, peace processes, and Irish immigration. As the Irish Institute鈥檚 Emerging Scholar, she researches the experiences of vulnerable Irish immigrants in the United States amid changing political climates. Beyond her work at the Institute, she has served as a Legislative Intern for Massachusetts State Representative Amy Sangiolo and as a Research Fellow for Boston College鈥檚 Political Violence Project.

Her senior honors thesis examines how varying levels of women鈥檚 participation in rebel movements influence public, media, and state perceptions of those groups.
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