Dr Patrick McAlary
Departmental and College Responsibilities
I am a Junior Research Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Historical Research, University of London.
Alongside supporting on the MPhil Text Seminar I have taught across the following papers:
- Part I Paper 1: England before the Norman Conquest
- Part I Paper 3: The Brittonic-Speaking Peoples from the Fourth Century to the Twelfth
- Part I Paper 4: The Gaelic-Speaking Peoples from the Fourth Century to the Twelfth
- Part I Paper 8: Medieval Irish Language and Literature
- Part II Paper 3: Sea Kings and the Celtic Speaking World, c. 1014–1164
- Part II Paper 3: Socio-Economic and Ecclesiastical Relations between Britain and Ireland in the Pre-Viking Era – Interaction and Exchange
I have also been a Director of Studies for Queens' College, Cambridge.
Academic Interests
I am an historian of early medieval Ireland and Britain. I am particularly interested in ecclesiastical institutions and the roles that they played in intellectual, political and ecclesiastical history – I argue that study of these institutions provides an organising principle for understanding the fragmented histories of the early Insular world.
I am particularly interested in theorising the ecclesiastical institutions as actors within their own regional environments and seek to understand how they used literature about the saints that purportedly founded them as a tool for creating coherent institutional identities as well as a vehicle for inter-institutional discourse.
Further research interests include: institutional structures and processes (like succession); ecclesiastical conflict; the development of dynastic constituencies within ecclesiastical institutions; ecclesiastical-royal relationships; the Easter Controversy; hagiography and saints; chronicles; medieval Munster.
Apart from medieval history, I am also interested in the role played by parliament and ministers as well as policy, government and academic-policy interchange. I am a Researcher at the Institute for Government and I previously undertook a Fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology where I produced peer-reviewed work on Upskilling and Retraining the Adult Workforce. At Cambridge, I also worked as a Policy Research Coordinator at the Centre for Science and Policy.
Selected Publications
Selected Academic Publications
Editing
Book Reviews
Selected Publications on Ministers, Parliament and Policy
with S. Sangha, ‘Ministers Reflect on the Treasury’, Institute for Government (2025).