New Books Network

Deirdre Flynn and Mary McGill eds., "Irish Digital Cultures: Identity, Contexts, Space" (Routledge, 2025)

Mar 22, 2026
Mary McGill, a postdoctoral researcher focused on gendered online abuse, and Deirdre Flynn, a lecturer in 21st-century literature studying precarity and migration, discuss Irish digital cultures. They talk about why the book was created, COVID’s impact on online scholarship, podcasting and influencers, Black and Asian Irish online identities, archiving and politics, and AI, algorithms, and future research directions.
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ADVICE

Create A Single Teaching Text For Emerging Fields

  • Build an accessible, multi-author volume to give students one place to start on Irish digital culture readings.
  • Mary McGill created the book because she wanted assignable, timely scholarship (e.g., Marcus Free on podcasting) for teaching.
INSIGHT

COVID Catalysed Digital Cultural Change

  • The COVID shift online accelerated cultural change and made the study of digital culture urgent.
  • Deirdre Flynn noted theatre, music and everyday practices moved online during COVID, shaping several chapters' topics.
INSIGHT

Podcasting As A Cultural Mirror

  • Podcasting reveals cultural narratives and how Irish identity is presented and contested.
  • Marcus Free's chapter analyzes Darlith Regan's An Irishman Abroad to show migration, return and Middle Ireland dynamics via podcast narratives.
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