Prof. Paul O'Leary, BA, PhD (Wales), FLSW, FRhist, is the Sir John Williams Professor of Welsh History. He is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a specialist in the history of 19th and early twentieth-century Wales, especially its social and cultural histories. Among other topics, he has written on Irish migration, the history of minority ethnic groups, on urban history and the history of sport. He is currently interested in the international dimensions to the history of Wales by exploring relationships with Ireland, analyzing the impact of imperialism on Welsh life and by studying French-language interpretations of 19th century Wales. He was co-manager of the AHRC-funded Ireland-Wales International Research Network and is co-editor (post-1700) of the Welsh History Review. He is author of: Claiming the Streets: Processions and Urban Culture in South Wales, c.1830-1880 (2012); Immigration and Integration: the Irish in Wales, 1798-1922 (2000); Ffrainc a Chymru, 1830-1880: Dehongliadau Ffrengig o Genedl Ddi-wladwriaeth (2015); co-editor of A Tolerant Nation? Revisiting Ethnic Diversity in a Devolved Wales (2015); and co-editor of the Welsh History Review.

PhD Supervision:

Prof. O'Learyl has extensive experience of postgraduate supervision, having supervised successfully more than thirty postgraduate dissertations on a wide variety of topics in the social, cultural and political history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly in relation to the histories of Wales and the British Isles. The topics studied include aspects of urban history, the history of minority ethnic groups, religious history, political cultures, the history of policing, Chartism and aspects of the comparative histories of Wales, Ireland and France. He is happy to discuss proposals for future research projects.