On Friday 10th May, Dr. Rachel Murphy gave an enlightening talk on environmental history, where she examined human responses to marine resources, and linked present-day attitudes and values with those of the past through historical, literary and visual sources.

Taking the West Cork coast as a case study, Rachel showed how humanities scholars have engaged with scientists in order to come to a deeper understanding of perceptions towards, and relationships with, the Irish coastline.

Based on research conducted on the Irish Research Council-funded Deep Maps: West Cork Coastal Cultures project at University College Cork, the presentation explores the biological, cultural and historical context of the south west coast of Ireland from 1700 to 1920.

For those who were not able to make it, we have made the talk available as a podcast.

We would like to thank Rachel Murphy for her informative talk, which took place at the Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks.