News and Stories

Call for Proposals: Ernie O’Malley Family Research Grants

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Letters from the Ernie O’Malley Papers to Chester C. Davis, Helen Hooker’s lawyer, from 1953. Helen Hooker was an artist and Ernie’s wife.

Timeline and Contacts

Deadline: Friday, May 2, 2025, at 5:00 PM, EST for Fall 2025/Spring/Summer 2026 Fellowships

Awards Notification: Monday, June 2nd, 2025

Grant Period Start Date: Recipients may select visits that will be conducted sometime between September 2, 2025, and December 12, 2025, or February 3, 2026, and August 15, 2026. All fellowship terms are subject to change depending on University policies related to public health closures. NYU Libraries will work with fellowship recipients to advise on adjusting schedules based on University or NYU Special Collections closures.

Contacts:
Nicholas Wolf, NYU Libraries, nicholas.wolf@nyu.edu
Shannon O’Neill, Tamiment-Wagner Collections, NYU Libraries, smo224@nyu.edu

Overview

The New York University Division of Libraries and Glucksman Ireland House, the Center for Irish and Irish American Studies at NYU, are pleased to announce the opening of our annual application period for Ernie O'Malley Family Research Grants. These grants are meant to facilitate travel to New York City to enable scholars to conduct short-term archival research in the Archives of Irish America at the NYU Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. While applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that engage directly with the O’Malley Family Papers, they are also permitted to submit proposals that explore key themes found within the O’Malley Family Papers through other holdings in the Archives of Irish America. Examples of such themes might include (but are not limited to) Irish nationalism and republicanism, Irish American organizational life in New York in the later 20th century, photography, art, folklore, and contemporaneous Irish Independence and Civil War era personal papers.

Grants will be made at one of two levels described below, ranging from $500 to $3,000, for research stays of one to three or more weeks in length (note that NYU cannot provide housing or office space). Residential Grant recipients are expected to present on the progress of their research at an informal seminar at Glucksman Ireland House. Further information about the O'Malley Papers can be found in the online finding aids for the Ernie O'Malley Papers, AIA 060, and the Cormac K. H. O'Malley Papers, AIA 019. Collections within the broader collecting area of the Archives of Irish American can be consulted through the NYU Special Collections archival collections search portal.

Grant Start Terms and Access to the Collections

Successful applicants will be required to create an NYU Special Collections researcher account, and will be subject to NYU Visitors Guidelines. Successful applicants must be in compliance with NYU public health policies and procedures as noted in the Visitors Guidelines, and will be sponsored for building access by NYU Special Collections staff.

Successful applicants may conduct their research period any time between September 3, 2025, and December 12, 2025, OR February 1, 2026, and August 15, 2026. 

NYU Special Collections is open Mondays-Fridays, from 10-5pm. Research appointments are subject to periodic reading room closures for construction and a project underway to digitize portions of the O’Malley collection. Researchers are advised to confirm ahead of time regarding availability of particular documents.

Exploratory Grant

This grant is designed for researchers who are interested in conducting exploratory research in the collections of the Archives of Irish America over a brief period—one week or more—in order to assess and become familiar with the available materials in preparation for more substantive future research. Scholars at all stages of their career who have reached the postgraduate stage (graduate student, postdoctoral researchers, faculty or post-PhD equivalent) are encouraged to apply. Although funding will be available for a one-week time frame, applicants are welcome to propose a longer visit supported by funds other than those provided by the grant.

Residential Research Grant

This grant category is open to scholars who are interested in conducting more sustained research in the Archives of Irish America at NYU. These grants fund approximately three weeks of research in New York, and may be supplemented if the scholar wishes by external funds to extend the term of stay. Scholars at all stages of their career who have reached the postgraduate stage (graduate student, postdoctoral researchers, faculty or post-PhD equivalent) are encouraged to apply. Holders of the Residential Research Grant are expected to present their research and findings at a Glucksman Ireland House/NYU Libraries O’Malley research seminar. Recipients of a previous Exploratory Grant are eligible to apply for the Residential Research Grant.

How to Apply

Applications should include all of the following:

1. A project proposal describing your broad research agenda, a preliminary description of the sources in the collection you wish to explore and how they might aid your research questions, the length of stay you intend to dedicate to your visit, and an estimate of the date when you would arrive. This proposal should not be longer than two single-spaced pages. Indicate whether you are applying for a Residential or an Exploratory grant.
2. A curriculum vitae.
3. A narrative budget document listing your estimated travel and accommodation expenses in the range of $500 and $3,000.
4. A letter of support from a colleague affiliated with a scholarly or research institution who can speak to the merits and potential of your research project.
5. To apply, place all documents in an online hosted location (e.g. a Google Drive or Dropbox folder) and send the link by email to Shannon O’Neill, smo224@nyu.edu AND Nicholas Wolf, nicholas.wolf@nyu.edu. Use the subject line “O’Malley Family Research Grant Application.”

Collection Strengths

The Archives of Irish America is unique in its direct focus on the Irish experience in America, with additional strengths in Irish American involvement in the labor movement in New York City and Irish American culture and society. Its holdings demonstrate strengths in topics such as activities related to immigration issues, support for Irish Republicanism, music and other aspects of popular culture, and Irish cultural organizations based in the New York City area. Applicants are encouraged to view NYU Libraries’ guide to the Archives of Irish America.

The papers of Ernie O’Malley and Cormac O’Malley contain wide-ranging material on a number of subjects, reflecting the eventful life of Ernie O’Malley (1897-1957) himself and the lives of his family and contacts on both sides of the Atlantic. The collection includes original writings, correspondence, early drafts of published works, legal and financial records, material related to art and art history, documentation related to Irish revolutionary history, the Irish American community of the latter half of the twentieth century, and the politics of Northern Ireland. The collection presents a tremendous opportunity for researchers seeking new views of twentieth century history.

Researchers are welcome to propose topics for research that make use of any aspect of the collection. Some suggested subjects and document references from the Ernie O’Malley Papers include:

Folklore and Literature

• Ernie O’Malley's poetry
  (see Box 1, folders 28-63; Box 2, folder 3)
• Revolutionary Ballads
  (see Box 2, folders 52-58; Box 11, folders 4, 17 and 21; Box 12, folder 2; Box 40, folder 27)
• Irish Folklore and Proverbs
  (see Box 10, folder 27; Box 11, folders 2, 3, 5, 9, and 11; Box 12, folder 4A and 10; Box 12, folders 10, 18, and 20; Box 15, folders 17-19, and 24; Box 16, folder 1)
• Ernie O’Malley’s memoirs and fiction
  (see Box 1, 2, and 40)

History

• Irish early twentieth-century revolutionary history, including interviews and letters
  (see Box 13, folders 14, 16A, and 16B; Box 14, folder 24; Box 15, folders 10-11; Box 16, folders 5A-B)

Art

• Irish modern art at its inception and interviews with modern artists, 1930-1945
  (see Box 14, folder 9; Box 20, folder 19; Box 21, folders 12 and 13; Box 21, folders 17, and 19-20)