Dr Malachy O'Neill

Dr Malachy Ó Néill completed his BA and PhD at Ulster University and was Head of Irish in St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt before returning to the University in 2008 as Lecturer in modern Irish. He was appointed as the inaugural Head of School of Irish Language and Literature in 2012 and has led the subject in achieving 100% overall satisfaction in the NSS in recent years. He has also played a key role across the University in developing employability as a key component of the student experience and was awarded the Students’ Union prize for excellence in Employability and Placement Support earlier this year.

Malachy has an excellent track record in community engagement and leads a number of widening access programmes including ‘Irish in the Club’ (with Ulster GAA) and ‘Irish for All’ (with East Belfast Mission). He has played a pivotal role in establishing an Irish Studies Summer School for international students since 2013, developing the provision to incorporate International Business and Engineering in recent years.

His research focuses on the Ó Néill dynasty and he hosted an international conference at Magee in March this year to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. He is a member of the Review Board of the Irish Language Standard (Irish Government), a former editor of the An tUltach journal and was founding chairperson of Gaelscoil Eoghain, Cookstown. He enjoys close ties with the Donegal Gaeltacht and spent many years in Machaire Rabhartaigh and Gaoth Dobhair facilitating courses for teenagers and adult learners of Irish.