Senia Pašeta, Burns Scholar Fall 2026: “From Suffrage to Sisterhood: A History of Feminism in Modern Ireland”

Feminist ideas seem to have had a profound impact on the evolution of modern Ireland, especially in recent decades when a number of restrictions on women's personal and public lives were removed. Yet, feminist demands and the women who articulated them were considered to be in conflict with the traditions and institutions of Ireland for most of the country’s history. What has changed? Can we trace continuity as well as transformation within the Irish feminist movement since its emergence in the nineteenth century? This lecture will explore these questions, considering how uniquely Irish circumstances and international influences helped to shape the Irish feminist movement. Burns Library will host a complimentary reception beginning at 5:00pm, with Prof. Pašeta’s lecture to follow at 6:00pm. All are welcome. Senia Pašeta is Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and the Fall 2026 Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies. The author of numerous books and essays on the history of feminism, censorship and nationalism in Ireland, including Irish Nationalist Women, 1900-1918 (Cambridge, 2013), she is presently completing an expansive survey of women’s multifaceted political activism, Political Women in Ireland, 1880-1918 (Oxford, 2027). She is also working on a history of feminism in modern Ireland for the Royal Irish Academy and co-editing a Handbook of Women’s Suffrage in the United Kingdom for Routledge. For further background on Professor Pašeta and her Burns Visiting Scholar residency, please visit the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies web page.