Barry Monahan

I completed my BA in Drama & Theatre Studies (with French) at Trinity College Dublin, and followed this with an MA in Film Studies in University College Dublin. This led me back to Trinity where I combined my research areas of theatre and film with a PhD project that concentrated on the relationship between the Abbey Theatre and cinema from the beginning of the sound period until the 1960s. Subsequently my focus has been on Irish and other nations’ films and filmmakers, which I approach from historical, aesthetic and theoretical angles. In my monographs The Films of Lenny Abrahamson: A Filmmaking of Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2018) and Hands on Film: Actants, Aesthetics, Affects (Amsterdam University Press, 2022), I have aimed to integrate innovative ways of thinking about film conceptually and stylistically, with a pedagogical sensitivity to the inquisitive reader.

I frequently contribute to regional, national and international cinema-related cultural events that have included public interviews with filmmakers, writers and performers, themed seminars, Q&A sessions, and panel discussions in a variety of institutions. These include (or have included) the Schull Fastnet International Film Festival, the Cork International Film Festival, the Cork Indie Film Festival, the Irish Film Institute, the Queen's Film Theatre (Belfast) the Rome Ireland Film Festival, and the Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival in Mexico.

Recently I worked with Crónán Ó Doibhlin (Interim University Librarian/Head of Collections) on the acquisition for University College Cork of the Richard Harris Archive. This wonderful cache of materials will provide a fascinating resource for researchers and enthusiasts interested in exploring the life and legacy of the internationally renowned writer and performer.