Irish Centre for Social Gerontology

Aim

The aim of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) is particularly focused on supporting the voice of marginalised groups of the older population, and integrating these perspectives into research and public policy design and development.

How we fit with ILAS?

The Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) conducts research on ageing and the life course that responds to gaps in scientific knowledge, policy and practice, while promoting the diversity of ageing experiences. It endeavours to inform a holistic understanding of later life in public policy, and has a particular focus on supporting the voice of older adult groups who can experience marginalisation and exclusion. With a strong focus on life-course methodological approaches, ICSG utilises a range of qualitative, mixed-method and participatory techniques in its research programmes. As such, ICSG’s work strongly aligns with the mission and ethos of ILAS, and the Institute has provided an important home for the centre as a means of elevating and scaling up its activities. As one of the founding ILAS centres, the ICSG has benefited from the development of the Institute and the increased capacity on life-course research, and community engagement that it has supported. ILAS has also provided a valuable multidisciplinary ecosystem, which has fostered deeper collaborations and more in-depth explorations of questions that cross-cut different groups, and different life stages.

Director

Prof. Kieran Walsh | Irish Centre for Social Gerontology

Kieran Walsh is Professor of Ageing & Public Policy and Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG), National University of Ireland Galway. Kieran has extensive experience in ageing and public policy and interdisciplinary social gerontology research and has published extensively within the field of ageing. Before taking up the role of Director of the ICSG, he served as Project Director of Project Lifecourse within the Institute for Lifecourse and Society, a €1.5 million three-year programme of work dedicated to capturing the subjective realities of children and youth, older people and people with disabilities in their neighbourhoods and communities. He is currently the Interim Director of the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS).