The Department of History is a key contributor to An Foras Feasa, the research institute of the Faculty of Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy. The department promotes an ethos of support and expectation with regard to research. The department is one of the principal centres for historical research in Ireland.

• From 2001 to 2009 inclusive, approximately one hundred major theses have been successfully completed in the department, eighty of them for the PhD and the others for the MLitt (formerly MA Mode I).
• The department's taught MA programmes all require research and writing of minor theses. Guided research projects dominate the programme for the Higher Diploma in Irish History. There is a compulsory research component in the BA in Local Studies programme.
• The research specialisations of department members cover the history of Ireland and major areas of early modern and modern European, North American and world history.
• The Maynooth Libraries have significant holdings of primary and reference material for many areas of Irish, British, continental European and North American history. Proximity to Dublin and the major national repositories such as the National Library and National Archives enhances the suitability of Maynooth as a location for historical research.
• Through the nationally-funded IReL project, NUI Maynooth Library provides online access to thousands of scholarly journals, including all those of relevance to historical research.
• There is full access through the Library to EEBO and ECCO, British Parliamentary Papers since 1800, and various other key electronic databases.
• Students and staff have been very successful in winning competitive research awards. From 1999 to 2009 inclusive, forty-one students were awarded postgraduate scholarships by the IRCHSS. Currently one PhD student holds a scholarship from An Foras Feasa and two students hold the NUI Travelling Studentship. The majority of departmental staff have been awarded funding by the IRCHSS, either for Senior Research Fellowships or Research Fellowships or under the Thematic Research Projects Grants scheme. Staff and students have also received research awards from various funders in Britain, continental Europe and the USA.
• The department's weekly research seminar (Thursday evenings during teaching term) attracts distinguished speakers from Ireland and abroad, and provides research students with an opportunity to present their work.

We welcome contact, from Ireland or overseas, from anyone wishing to make enquiries about research at Maynooth and about how we might be able to facilitate them. Enquires to Professor Jacqueline Hill, or any member of the department.