Dr Helen O'Shea

Professional biography

My research interests include comparative decolonisation, insurgency and counter-insurgency in the British Empire, the British colonial legal service and modern Irish history in transnational and comparative contexts. My first book was published in 2015 under the title Ireland and the End of the British Empire: The Republic and Its Role in the Cyprus Emergency and was reprinted in paperback in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing. It has since been updated and translated into Greek and published by Aigaion (Nicosia, 2023) and a recent appraisal of it can be found in the Cyprus Review. My current research explores the history of emergency law and order in the post-WW2 British Empire and its impact on civil liberties. Within the OU's research clusters, I'm a member of the Centre for the History of Crime, Policing and Justice and the Centre for Empire and Postcolonial Studies.

Lately, I've also been revisiting the history of women's work in Scotland, which I first became interested in when working for the National Union of Students in Scotland, prior to entering academia. Along with fellow colleagues at the Open University in Scotland, I've collaborated with the STUC on an OpenLearn project around these issues entitled Women and Workplace Struggles: Scotland 1900-2022 and was one of the academic leads for the BBC Scotland three-part series Women Who Changed Modern Scotland  presented by Kirsty Wark which first aired in February 2023. Building on several of the themes raised in this series, I've guest-edited the latest edition of Scottish Affairs ahead of International Women's Day 2024 with Prof. Kim Barker. 

Over the years I've taught on several modules encompassing Irish, British and imperial history and continue to teach on A225 (The British Isles and the Modern World, 1789-1914). One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is the opportunity to transfer this knowledge through BBC-Open University co-productions. Alongside Prof. Gerry Mooney and Dr Dan Taylor, I was an OU-nominated academic on Union, a four-part BBC2 series presented by Professor David Olusoga which aired in October 2023. 

In the field of HE policy, I'm interested in issues of student access, retention and progression in the context of higher education and under-represented adult learners, especially unpaid carers.

Modern Irish and British History

The Twentieth Century British Empire

Recent Knowledge Exchange Activities

OU Panel Member, along with Prof. Gerry Mooney and Dr Dan Taylor, at the PolicyWISE launch event with Professor David Olusoga (Westminster, 15 November 2023)

OU Panel Member with Kirsty Wark and Gabriella Bennett (National Museum of Scotland, 7 February 2023)

Recent Media & Blogs

International Women’s Day: We’ve had our fill of hashtags (Edinburgh University Press Blog, 6 March 2024) (with Kim Barker)

'The Progress Made by Women Requires Constant Nurturing' (The Scotsman, 7 March 2023).

'The Kaye Adams Programme', BBC Radio Scotland, 23 February 2023.

Committee Membership

Open History Society Edinburgh

Project member of the OpenLearn 'Women and Workplace Struggles: Scotland 1900-2022' project in collaboration with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC)