Christine Casey named 2024 ‘Researcher of the Year’ (IRC legacy Awards)
Posted on: 17 January 2025
Trinity’s Professor Christine Casey has been named as Researcher of the Year as part of the Irish Research Council legacy awards.
An architectural and craft history expert, Christine is an international authority on the City of Dublin and on the early modern interior in Europe, Britain and Ireland.
The awards, announced today by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland, celebrate Irish Research Council-funded researchers who have made highly significant and valuable contributions to knowledge, society, culture and innovation.
Responding to the award, Christine Casey, Professor of Architectural History at Trinity’s School of Histories and Humanities, said:
In addition to Professor Casey’s success, Trinity researcher Daniel Gilligan was awarded the Eda Sagarra Medal of Excellence for being the top-ranked postgraduate researcher in the AHSS category, whose project examines Private Wrongs and Constitutional Order: A Theory of Constitutional Horizontality.
Daniel Gilligan, from Trinity’s School of Law, said:
“I’m really delighted — and very surprised — to have received this award. There is so much great work being done by postgraduate researchers in the Arts and Humanities, in Trinity and elsewhere, so I am humbled to be recognised. It is a great vote of confidence in the work I’m doing.”
Commenting on the successes of Trinity researchers in the awards Dr Linda Doyle, Provost and President of Trinity College Dublin said:
"I want to congratulate the Trinity researchers recognised in this year's awards and I’m delighted that Christine Casey has been named Researcher of the Year. Christine is not only a world-class researcher but also an outstanding teacher. Her passion shines through in all she does in the Department of History of Art and Architecture.
"I also want to congratulate Daniel Gilligan who has won the Eda Sagarra Medal of Excellence. Eda Sagarra is a Fellow Emeritus here in Trinity and it is marvellous to see her name associated with this award and to see Daniel receiving it now for postgraduate scholarship in our School of Law."
The Dean of Research, Prof. Sinéad Ryan, added:
“I offer my warm congratulations to Professor Christine Casey on this Researcher of the Year award. It is a recognition of the excellence of her research, a body of work which offers us the possibility of a new way of seeing the built environment around us in Ireland. This award also underlines the importance of funding and enabling research in all disciplines as well as supporting collaboration across different fields, something we hope to see continued in Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland’s plans for the future.
“The award to Dr Daniel Gilligan of the Eda Sagarra Medal of Excellence also shows how essential it is to support research across the entire career span. It is particularly pleasing to see Trinity researchers at all career stages recognised and commended in these awards, and I extend my sincere congratulations to them all.”
Meanwhile, three Trinity researchers featured in the highly commended lists of the Researcher of the Year awards: Professor Seamus Martin, School of Genetics and Microbiology; Dr Mary Canavan, School of Biochemistry and Immunology; and Dr Esther Murphy, School of Engineering.
Professor Seamus Martin, School of Genetics, who was highly commended in the Researcher of the Year category, said:
"I am delighted that our work exploring how cell death shapes inflammation has been highly commended by Research Ireland/Irish Research Council. My laboratory has been investigating the intricacies of how cells in our bodies die in a 'programmed' manner for many years and this has been a fascinating journey. Programmed cell death is a highly regulated process—with over 50 genes that play a role in this—and plays a vital role in keeping our tissues healthy by eliminating aged, infected, dysfunctional and pre-cancerous cells.
"I have been incredibly fortunate to have had so many very talented PhD students and post-doctoral scientists working in my laboratory at Trinity College over the past 25 years, who have conducted stellar research in this area, and many have gone on to set up their own laboratories in Ireland and beyond. I am also very grateful to the Irish Research Council, as well as The European Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland, for the support of our research work."
Dr Esther Murphy, School of Engineering and the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre, who was highly commended in the Impact Award category for her work in improving education and employment pathways for people living with intellectual disabilities (ID) via her IRC funded inclusive research work and her Digi-ID EU interdisciplinary research and innovation programme.
As part of this project, which has secured €3 million in funding and established an in-kind partnership with Microsoft, Esther founded new Trinity spinout DigiAcademy Technology. DigiAcademy is unlocking new talent and transforming education and employment pathways via its digital skills and work-ready training accessible platform that was co-designed by people with ID, and health, education and employer stakeholders.
“I am very proud to have been highly commended in this category, and particularly so because the success of the Digi-ID project and DigiAcademy is driven by the co-design approach with people with intellectual disabilities. We have hired 14 people with intellectual disabilities and 10 have trained as our first DigiAcademy peer teachers, which has helped the more than 1,000 individuals involved in the programme in Ireland and beyond to date to adopt a ‘see it, to be it’ ethos. We are constantly inspired by the people we are supporting and working with and it is wonderful to see the work is continuing to deliver major social, economic, education and access impact for people with ID in Ireland and further afield.”
Dr Mary Canavan, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, was highly commended in the Early Career Researcher of the Year category.
“I am delighted and deeply honoured to receive this commendation award from Research Ireland/Irish Research Council. This recognition is a reflection of the collaborative efforts and support of my talented colleagues and the wider research community.
"I look forward to continuing our collective work in advancing immunology and making meaningful scientific contributions together.”
Finally, 16 Trinity researchers and members of staff were honoured in the 'Research Ally (IRC legacy) Prizes'. Research Ally prizes are awarded to mark the crucial role played by higher education personnel in supporting the academic research community across all career levels.
- Prof. Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy
- Prof. Frédérique Vallières, School of Psychology
- Prof. Conor Mc Guckin, School of Education
- Dr Christine Casey, School of Histories and Humanities
- Dr Meg Ryan, School of Psychology and School of Medicine
- Dr James Hadley, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies
- Dr Hannes Opelz, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies
- Prof. Martine Smith, Dean of Graduate Studies
- Dr Raquel Harper, Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water
- Prof. Lorna Carson, School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences
- Dr Muhammad Ali, School of Engineering
- Prof. Deirdre Ahern, School of Law
- Dr Shuo Yin, School of Engineering
- Dr Garret. E O'Donnell, School of Engineering
- Gerard Byrne, School of Engineering
- Sarah Cunningham, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy