Irish Studies Faculty & Administration

Instructor of Communications and Media Arts

Dara Jauch holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from Dublin City University and a Higher Diploma in television and video production from Ireland’s Kerry College. Jauch works as a co-producer and editor with award-winning production companies in Dingle, producing documentaries on human rights, art, culture and music for broadcasters such as Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), BBC and TG4 (the National Irish Language Public Service Broadcaster). In addition to working in the field, Jauch has taught video production to all ages throughout her 14-year career. Jauch is a fluent Irish and German speaker and a Cork native who loves living in Dingle. 

Instructor of CIT and Irish Folklore

Billy MagFhloin has a Ph.D. in folkloristics and a Bachelor of Arts in archaeology from University College Dublin. As well as lecturing and tutoring at university level, he works with Irish television for RTÉ or TG4, but occasionally for international productions, including the BBC, PBS or the National Geographic Channel. He is also an accomplished musician and occasionally works as a tour guide in the Dingle Peninsula. MagFhloin’s scholarly interests include pre-Christian religious practices and beliefs, prehistoric archaeology and folk practices of early modern Ireland. In 2016, he published a book, Blood Rite: The Feast of St. Martin in Ireland. 

Instructor of History and Anthropology

Dáithí de Mórdha is a journalist and broadcaster at Raidió na Gaeltachta (Irish-language radio service of RTÉ) and he teaches history and archeology of Ireland and the Dingle Peninsula at SHU Dingle. He holds an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in folklore and ethnology from University College Cork. His doctorate thesis is a study of the impact RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta had on the life and especially the cultural life of the Gaeltacht communities. The story of RnaG is told in the context of folklore and ethnological studies. In 2013, he published The Great Blasket: A Photographic Portrait / An Blascaod Mór: Portráid Pictiúr with The Collins Press.

Instructor of Philosophy

Kevin J. Power, Ph.D. (University College Cork) is a Cork-born philosophy teacher and musician, now living in Castlegregory, Co. Kerry. He has lectured in the philosophy of mind, environmental ethics and philosophy of death and dying, as well as writing and delivering a unique module titled, “The Philosophy of Interdependence,” for University College Cork's Adult Continuing Education program. He also teaches bioethics at SHU’s Dingle campus. Power’s writing and music is available through his website. 

Instructor of Music

Niamh Varian-Barry holds a Master of Arts in music performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the Cork School of Music. She is a skilled orchestral and ensemble composer and arranger and has written for the Irish Chamber Orchestra. She worked with top musicians in Ireland and abroad across all genres of music with a specific interest in classical, Irish traditional music and contemporary pop and singer-songwriters. She is a member of the groundbreaking dance music project SuperCéilí and orchestra leader of the Irish Memory Orchestra and has performed in prestigious venues worldwide, including New York’s Carnegie Hall. 

Executive Director of SHU Dingle

Originally from the city of Dublin, Delaney relocated to Dingle at 23. One of Delaney’s most remarkable achievements in Ireland has been the development, as one of a team of four, of a multimillion-euro business which he sold at 36. It is still trading and continues to provide long-term sustainable employment. Since his retirement from this business, Delaney has had a distinguished career in community and business development, before taking over the general management and strategic planning of the Sacred Heart University’s Dingle Campus. 

Student Coordinator, SHU Dingle, and Instructor of Communications & Media Arts

Ciara Barrett holds a doctorate in film studies from Trinity College Dublin, which she earned in 2015. She has lectured in film studies and audio-visual culture at Trinity, Sacred Heart University in Dingle and the National University of Ireland (NUIG), now the University of Galway, where she coordinated  the BA in film studies and the MA in digital media. She has written and been published on a range of film-related topics, including performance and representation in classical Hollywood cinema, contemporary genre filmmaking and Irish animation. 

Co-Director and Academic Coordinator, SHU Dingle 

Grace Flannery, a native of Dingle, holds a Ph.D. in zoology from University College Cork. Since 2015, she has played a vital role at SHU Dingle, where her primary aim is to help American students understand and appreciate Irish culture while using education to benefit the local community. Her role extends beyond overseeing all academic and student experience aspects of the campus. She is also responsible for recruiting new academic talent, forging partnerships with local industries and Irish academic institutions, and collaborating closely with other U.S. colleges and universities to develop the diverse array of programs that SHU Dingle offers.