About

Abigail Keaney is a political science and global affairs major assisting Professor Brian Ó Conchubhair in his work on Irish language and literature. She supports his research on the contemporary and historic linguistic and cultural politics of Northern Ireland, specifically the conception of a post-Brexit Northern Ireland. She has also assisted with work on anthologies of medieval Irish poetry and Irish short stories. Her senior thesis focuses on Northern Irish national identity, both its development and its trajectory after Brexit. 

Keaney spent the summer of 2022 in Dublin, Ireland as a research intern with the Royal Irish Academy and the Keough-Naughton Institute’s ARINS Project. In the spring of 2023, she received a Kellogg conference grant to present at the Celtic Students Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Her presentation focused on the role of a specific pressure group in the passage of the 2022 Identity and Language Act for Northern Ireland, which gave the Irish language official status in the region. She hopes to write her Irish Studies capstone on these themes, looking at the connection between grassroots activism and minority language rights. 

Senior Thesis: (working title) "More than a province, less than a state...at least a people": An Exploration of Northern Irish National Identity

Adviser
Brian Ó Conchubhair
Major(s)
Global Affairs
Political Science
Abigail Keaney '24 and Brian ÓConchubhai
Feature

Understanding Identity, Learning Political Advocacy, and Becoming Increasingly at Home in Academia through Kellogg ISP

Feb 2, 2024

If you were just walking by the residence hall, you’d never know that Abigail Keaney ’24 (global affairs and political science) keeps 100 books stashed under the bed in her room. She’s had them since her sophomore year, when she had to find storage space for a collection given to her by Kellogg Faculty Fellow Brian Ó Conchubhair, who became her mentor through the Kellogg International Scholars Program (ISP).