Aviv Corrigan awarded NUI Mansion House Prize in Irish History 2022

The School of History is delighted to share the news that Aviv Corrigan, who graduated in 2022, has been awarded the NUI Mansion House Prize in Irish History for her paper on the experiences of Irish migrants in post-war Britain.‘The image of 1950s and 1960s Irish emigrants in Britain as exiles prevails in the Irish collective memory, portraying them as living a liminal existence. But the emigrant’s experience’, Aviv Corrigan argues, ‘is too personal to generalise. Although shared experiences exist and trends are indisputable, the emigrant’s own agency in their British exploits must be considered. Investigating this topic through the lens of British and Irish attitudes to Irish migrants, class and gender, and assimilation, reveals the various factors involved. The concept that Irish migrants were predisposed to live in a liminal ‘middle-nation’ is disputed, exposing the importance of migrant assimilation and agency.’ ‘Engaging with the arguments of Kathleen Paul and Enda Delaney Aviv asked whether Irish emigrants really occupied an ‘uncertain middle ground’ in 1950s and 1960s Britain’, said Irial Glynn, who teaches the module on Irish migrant experiences after 1945. ‘It was a highly original paper that would not have looked out of place in an established academic journal. It included an impressive theoretical discussion and engaged expertly with the historiography on immigration to Britain, the Irish in Britain vis-à-vis other immigrant groups, and the significance of class and gender in the assimilation of immigrants. The continual discussion of Irish emigrants’ temporality and liminality was captivating, evoked with a range of primary and secondary sources, including cultural sources, such as songs from the Clancy brothers and poems from Seamus Heaney.’  This is the third year in succession that a student from the School has won the most important student prize in Irish history. ‘These prizes’, William Mulligan, head of the School of History, says, ‘reflect the depth of expertise and excellent teaching of Irish history in the School. Over the course of the History degree, students benefit from a wide range of modules in Irish history, providing the basis for more intensive research in their final year.’