Home › Research▻People▻Geography, Archaeology & Irish Studies

Geography, Archaeology & Irish Studies

Dr Verena Commins

B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D.

Contact Details

Lecturer Above The Bar
Centre for Irish Studies
Room 201
Martha Fox House, Distillery Rd
Central Campus
E: VERENA.COMMINS@nuigalway.ie
 
researcher
 

Biography

Dr Verena Commins is Lecturer in Irish Music Studies and Academic Coordinator of International customised programmes at the Centre for Irish Studies. She has published widely in the field of Irish music studies and was co-editor of the 2021 special issue of Ethnomusicology Ireland on `Women and Traditional/Folk Music' and the special issue of Éire-Ireland: an Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies on `Music and Ireland' (2019).

Research Interests

My research interests are in Irish traditional music, both contemporary and historical performance practices and contexts. This incorporates theoretical and conceptual approaches through the lenses of gender, regionality, tourism, the visual arts, cultural production, emigration, national identity, festival, ritual and commemoration.
 

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Women and Traditional/Folk Music'
Commins, Verena; Denvir, Síle; Monaghan, Úna; Ní Fhuartháin, Méabh; special issue editors (2021) 'Women and Traditional/Folk Music'. Ethnomusicology Ireland, 7 [Details]
(2021) '“The man and his Music”: Gender representation, cultural capital and the Irish traditional music canon'
Commins, Verena (2021) '“The man and his Music”: Gender representation, cultural capital and the Irish traditional music canon'. Ethnomusicology Ireland, :49-60 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2019) 'From Milan to Kilbaha: Bronzing Irish Traditional Music'
Commins, V (2019) 'From Milan to Kilbaha: Bronzing Irish Traditional Music'. Eire-Ireland, 54 :275-296 [Details]
(2019) 'From Milan to Kilbaha: Bronzing Irish Traditional Music'
Commins, Verena (2019) 'From Milan to Kilbaha: Bronzing Irish Traditional Music'. Eire-Ireland, 54 :275-296 [Details]
(2019) 'Notai/Notes: Music and Ireland'
Commins, V;Fhuarthain, MN (2019) 'Notai/Notes: Music and Ireland'. Eire-Ireland, 54 :10-16 [Details]
(2019) 'Notai/Notes: Music and Ireland'
Commins, V,Fhuarthain, MN (2019) 'Notai/Notes: Music and Ireland'. Eire-Ireland, 54 :10-16 [Details]
(2019) 'Nótaí/Notes: Music and Ireland: Introduction'
Commins, Verena, Ní Fhuartháin, Méabh; (2019) 'Nótaí/Notes: Music and Ireland: Introduction'. Éire-Ireland, :10-16 [Details]
(2019) 'From Milan to Kilbaha: Bronzing Irish Traditional Music'
Commins, Verena (2019) 'From Milan to Kilbaha: Bronzing Irish Traditional Music'. Éire-Ireland, 54 (1-2):275-296 [ARAN Link] [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2015) 'MUSICAL STATUES: MONUMENTALISING IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC'
Commins, V. (2015) 'MUSICAL STATUES: MONUMENTALISING IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC' In: Towards 2016: 1916 and Irish Literature, Culture & Society (Irish Studies in Europe, Volume 6). :57-68 Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2023) ''Top of the Ballard Road: piperland, always piperland, still piperland': Place attachment and learning spaces at the Willie Clancy Summer School'
Commins, Verena (2023) ''Top of the Ballard Road: piperland, always piperland, still piperland': Place attachment and learning spaces at the Willie Clancy Summer School' In: Lifeworlds: Space, Place and Irish Culture (forthcoming). Cork: Cork University Press. [Details]
(2015) 'Musical Statues: Monumentalising Irish Traditional Music'
Commins, Verena (2015) 'Musical Statues: Monumentalising Irish Traditional Music' In: Towards 2016: Old and New Irelands. Irish Studies in Europe Series: EFACIS. [Details]
(2013) 'Locating the Centre: Irish Traditional Music and Re-Traditionalisation at the Willie Clancy Summer School'
Commins, Verena (2013) 'Locating the Centre: Irish Traditional Music and Re-Traditionalisation at the Willie Clancy Summer School' In: Ordinary Irish Life: Music, Sport and Culture. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. [ARAN Link] [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2015) TOWARDS 2016: 1916 AND IRISH LITERATURE, CULTURE & SOCIETY
Commins, V (2015) MUSICAL STATUES: MONUMENTALISING IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC TOWARDS 2016: 1916 AND IRISH LITERATURE, CULTURE & SOCIETY , pp.57-68 [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2018) Economic and Social Impact Assessment: West of Ireland Creative Sector.
Collins, P., Murtagh, A., Breen, B., Commins, V. (2018) Economic and Social Impact Assessment: West of Ireland Creative Sector. Whitaker Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway. [Details]
(2018) Economic and Social Impact Assessment: North East Iceland Creative Sector.
Collins, P., Murtagh, A., Breen, B., Commins, V. (2018) Economic and Social Impact Assessment: North East Iceland Creative Sector. Whitaker Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway. [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
(2016) 'Éamonn Ceannt: the 'union' piper'
Commins, Verena (2016) 'Éamonn Ceannt: the 'union' piper' Sound Post, 14 (4) :8-9. [Details]
(2016) '‘The crustiest and most personally unbiddable of instruments’: Éamonn Ceannt and the pipes'
Commins, Verena (2016) '‘The crustiest and most personally unbiddable of instruments’: Éamonn Ceannt and the pipes' An Píobaire, 12 (2) :19-22. [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2008) 'A Journey of Found and Lost’: The Concept of East Galway Regional Style in Irish Traditional Music'
Commins, Verena (2008) 'A Journey of Found and Lost’: The Concept of East Galway Regional Style in Irish Traditional Music' Béascna - Journal of Folklore and Ethnology, . [ARAN Link] [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
(2021) ICTM-Ireland/SMI Joint Conference,
Verena Commins and Méabh Ni Fhuartháin (2021) Portraits of Authenticity: Irish Traditional Music and Recent Documentary Film. [Oral Presentation], ICTM-Ireland/SMI Joint Conference, Trinity College Dublin/online , 01-MAY-21. [Details]
(2021) ACIS: Heritage, Healing and Home,
Verena Commins and Méabh Ni Fhuartháin (2021) The Rights of Man: Ageing Masculinities, Authenticity and Place in Irish Traditional Music on Screen. [Oral Presentation], ACIS: Heritage, Healing and Home, Derry/online , 18-JUN-21. [Details]
(2022) ICTM Ireland,
Verena Commins (2022) Outsiders to the tradition: Irish traditional music muralscapes. [Oral Presentation], ICTM Ireland, Dundalk IT/online , 18-FEB-22. [Details]
(2022) As I Roved Out: Traditional Songs, Singers and Collections of Britain, Ireland and Beyond,
Verena Commins (2022) Commemorating Ireland¿s song tradition. [Oral Presentation], As I Roved Out: Traditional Songs, Singers and Collections of Britain, Ireland and Beyond, IWMAD, University of Limerick , 10-JUN-22. [Details]
(2019) What is it to dwell?”: Home(s) in Irish Studies, Third Galway Conference of Irish Studies,
Commins, Verena (2019) ‘A woman’s place is in the home: music-making and the domestic space’. [Oral Presentation], What is it to dwell?”: Home(s) in Irish Studies, Third Galway Conference of Irish Studies, NUI Galway , 04-JUN-19. [Details]
(2019) Women and Irish traditional/folk music,
Commins, Verena (2019) 'The man and his music': Gender representation and the Irish traditional music cannon. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Women and Irish traditional/folk music, NUI Galway , 09-FEB-19 - 09-FEB-19. [Details]
(2017) Vaka Seminar on Folk music Festivals,
Commins, Verena (2017) The Willie Clancy Summer School 1973-2013. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Vaka Seminar on Folk music Festivals, Akureyri, Iceland , 24-MAY-17 - 24-MAY-17. [Details]
(2015) Irish Studies Lecture Series,
Commins, Verena (2015) Performing place: Irish traditional music and re-traditionalisation at the Willie Clancy Summer School. [Invited Lecture], Irish Studies Lecture Series, St John Fisher University, NY , 03-NOV-15 - 03-NOV-15. [Details]
(2016) 'To trouble the living stream’: 1916-2016, Lectures in the Library,,
Commins, Verena (2016) ‘Ireland over all’, Éamonn Ceannt: A musical rebellion?. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], 'To trouble the living stream’: 1916-2016, Lectures in the Library,, Galway City Library , 01-MAR-16 - 01-MAR-16. [Details]
(2016) Ceannt Symposium,
Commins, Verena (2016) Éamonn Ceannt, the Irish piper’. [Invited Lecture], Ceannt Symposium, Ballymoe, Co. Galway , 08-MAY-16 - 08-MAY-16. [Details]
(2016) The Galway Sessions seminar series,
Commins, Verena (2016) Éamonn Ceannt: A piper rising. [Invited Lecture], The Galway Sessions seminar series, Galway City Museum , 16-JUN-16 - 16-JUN-16. [Details]
(2016) Farming and Country Life, 1916,
Verena Commins (2016) 1916: the musical aesthetics of rebellion. [Conference Paper], Farming and Country Life, 1916, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway , 11-JUN-16 - 11-JUN-16. [Details]

Book Review

  Year Publication
(2022) Review of `The Forde Collection: Irish Traditional Music from the Forde Manuscripts' Eds. Nicholas Carolan and Caitlín Uí Éigeartaigh.
Verena Commins (2022) Review of `The Forde Collection: Irish Traditional Music from the Forde Manuscripts' Eds. Nicholas Carolan and Caitlín Uí Éigeartaigh. Book Review [Details]

Conference Paper

  Year Publication
(2008) Modelling the sustainability of Irish agriculture. Paper presented at the European Association of Agricultural Economists Seminar 'Modelling of Agricultural and Rural Development Policies'.
Dillon, E, Hennessy, T, Hynes, S, Commins, V (2008) Modelling the sustainability of Irish agriculture. Paper presented at the European Association of Agricultural Economists Seminar 'Modelling of Agricultural and Rural Development Policies'. Seville, Spain: Conference Paper [Details]
(2008) Assessing the sustainability of Irish agriculture (1996-2005). Paper presented at the Agricultural Economics Society 82nd Annual Conference.
Dillon, E, Hennessy, T, Hynes, S, Commins, V (2008) Assessing the sustainability of Irish agriculture (1996-2005). Paper presented at the Agricultural Economics Society 82nd Annual Conference. Circencester, England: Conference Paper [Details]

Encyclopedia Entry

  Year Publication
(2023) 'Commemoration' In: Fintan Vallely (ed.) The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. 3rd ed (forthcoming).
Verena Commins (2023) 'Commemoration' In: Fintan Vallely (ed.) The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. 3rd ed (forthcoming). Encyclopedia Entry [Details]
(2011) Various articles. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music.
Commins, Verena (2011) Various articles. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. Cork: Cork University Press Encyclopedia Entry [Details]
(2003) Various articles. The Encyclopaedia of Ireland.
Commins, Verena (2003) Various articles. The Encyclopaedia of Ireland. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Encyclopedia Entry [Details]
(1999) Various articles. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music.
Commins, Verena (1999) Various articles. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. Cork: Cork University Press Encyclopedia Entry [Details]

Teaching Interests

Below are some of the modules that I teach, coordinate, designed, teach into or have previously taught:
  • IS2102 Festival, Ritual, Commemoration
  • IS1100 Music and Emigration 
  • IS1105/6 Imagining modern Ireland (co-taught interdisciplinary module)
  • AR6110: Investigating Landscapes
  • MU1101 Traditional Music in Ireland, 1792 to the new millennium
  • MU2104 Power Hierarchies and Irish Traditional Music
  • IS6106 Tuning the Archive
  • IS122 An introduction to Irish music and dance from 1893
  • Dissertation Workshop Series: MA in Irish Studies
  • DT205 Traditional arts: Festival and Celebration
  • IS302 Irish Studies independent research project
  • SS122 Negotiating identities through Irish music and dance (Irish Studies Summer School)