Patrick McAlary, St Catharine's

Biographical Information

I am a PhD student in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic undertaking a PhD project which seeks to outline the history of Emly, a prominent ecclesiastical institution in Southern Ireland. 

I currently sit on the committee of the London Society for Medieval Studies, an affiliate of the Institute for Historical Research. Having previously served as the Co-President for the Cambridge Colloquium in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, I now act as the Editor-in-Chief of the affiliated journal, Quaestio Insularis: Selected Proceedings of the Cambridge Colloquium in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic.

Research Interests

I have a wide array of interests relating to early medieval history. I am particularly interested in Irish ecclesiastical history with a specific focus on institutional histories, and how these intersect with political and dynastic history. My interests include: abbatial succession; abbatial contention; ecclesiastic-dynastic relationships; identity construction; political history; pseudo-history; hagiography; chronicles.

Apart from medieval history, I am also interested in policy research and application. I am taking part in a collaborative initiative set up by the Cambridge University Science and Policy Exchange and Cambridgeshire County Council focusing on young people emerging from the care system and in 2021 I will be taking up a 3-month Fellowship at the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology.

Areas of Supervision

I have taught across the following papers:

• Part I Paper 1: England before the Norman Conquest
• Part I Paper 4: The Gaelic-Speaking Peoples from the Fouth Century to the Twelfth
• Part I Paper 8: Medieval Irish Language and Literature
• Part II Paper 3: Sea Kings and the Celtic Speaking World, c. 1014–1164

Selected Publications

McAlary, P., 'Early Mechanisms of Abbatial Succession: The Case of Iona (563–704)', Early Medieval Europe (forthcoming).