Alumnus Researches Irish Folklore for Harvard

Degrees in history and education lead to a career researching Irish literature

Sacred Heart University alumnus Patrick Mahoney ’11, ’12 MAT is translating and transcribing Irish folklore into English as part of his new, remote, research job with Harvard University.

Originally from an Irish-American family in Hartford, Mahoney, 32, lives in County Louth, Ireland. The new job opportunity came to him through Harvard’s department of Celtic languages and literatures, where he is part of a research team under the direction of professor Natasha Sumner. Mahoney’s duties include analyzing stories and tales of the Fionn cycle (Irish myths which date to as early as the seventh century) and tracking how they were retold and remembered in Irish folk memory through the 19th and 20th centuries.

“I love working with languages,” Mahoney said. “In an increasingly globalized society, I think languages are a reminder of the deep connection between place, identity and how we perceive the world.”

Mahoney’s love for history, literature and languages blossomed when he studied in SHU’s College of Arts & Sciences, thanks to faculty members’ support and a job in campus operations.

“I definitely always had a passion for history and literature,” Mahoney said. “But history professor John Roney really took me under his wing and just helped nurture my interest in different topics, including Irish studies.”

Roney, along with professors Jennifer McLaughlin, Greg Viggiano and Charlotte Gradie, took an interest in Mahoney’s studies and learned what made him tick.

“While Patrick took history courses I taught, it was his follow-up outside the classroom that made all the difference,” Roney said. “He came to see me many times with questions about Irish history, and we developed a regular correspondence as well over all things Irish.” 

During the summers, while Mahoney was working for SHU’s campus operations―a job that entailed making repairs in residence halls and doing a lot of painting―Mahoney learned his boss, a native of Belfast, Ireland, spoke fluent Irish. This piqued Mahoney’s preexisting interest in the language. As someone with Irish roots, he grew up listening to relatives and family friends speak Irish. He thought if he learned the language, it would deepen his connection to his background and offer more opportunities in his historical studies. Mahoney started receiving daily language lessons from his boss before work started.

“It was a really profound experience,” Mahoney said. “The language opened up a whole new world for me.”

Mahoney went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in history and his master’s in teaching at SHU. During his undergraduate years, he enjoyed living on campus and getting involved in student life. He ran track, spent time in some of SHU’s multicultural clubs, participated in Habitat for Humanity and even started a Celtic club.

"By the second year, there were 50 members in the club who organized some really fun St. Patrick’s Day events,” Roney said.

After Mahoney completed his master’s degree program, he spent a year at the Centre for Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway, before returning to SHU to teach history and common core classes that asked students deep questions, such as what it means to be human and what it means to form a more just society for the common good.

He said those lessons and philosophical questions are present in his Harvard research work as he explores Irish myth and folklore. “It’s ultimately about understanding people at the human level,” Mahoney said. “It’s about exploring the emotions, relationships and conflicts that define the human experience across space and time.”

Mahoney taught for a few years at SHU before enrolling in a doctorate program in history and culture at Drew University in New Jersey. He submitted his dissertation titled “The Fenian Empire: Irish Nationalism and American Expansion (1865-1871)” this month.

“Getting my Ph.D. was something I always aspired to,” he said. “When I was teaching at SHU, I loved my job and I loved interacting with students, but I realized I couldn’t do it long-term without my doctorate.”

During his final year in the doctoral program, Mahoney applied and was accepted to be a Fulbright Scholar through the Irish Fulbright Commission. He spent the year-long fellowship at the National University of Ireland Galway researching the life of writer Eoin Ua Cathail, an Irish emigrant who came to the United States in the 1860s. Mahoney translated Ua Cathail’s writings, which vary from the mundane to the fantastical, for the book, Recovering an Irish Voice from the American Frontier: The Prose Writings of Eoin Ua Cathail, published in May.

He said he was thrilled when he learned author, professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard White agreed to write the foreword for the book. According to the publisher, University of North Texas, the bilingual compilation of stories is based on Ua Cathail’s experiences in the American West and Midwest. “The author draws on the popular American Dime Novel genre to offer unique reflections on 19th century American life,” it notes.

Mahoney also wrote a chapter in Roney’s forthcoming book, Sea, Land, and Spirit: Coastal Environments in the West of Ireland. It is edited by Roney and Mark Beekey, SHU’s acting dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and is published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Mahoney’s chapter is titled “‘One banished man who dead alive remains’: Transatlantic Trajectories of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa’s ‘Jillen Andy.’” The book will be available next year.

“Patrick and I continued our friendship as he worked through his doctoral studies at Drew and his Fulbright studies,” Roney said. “I have been really happy to follow Patrick’s progress and hopefully have helped him make solid choices to get to where he is today. There is no doubt I am so very proud of his achievements.”