Cormac Ó Gráda (born 1945) is an Irish

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

and professor emeritus of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. His research has focused on the economic history of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Irish demographic changes, the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger ( ), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact o ...

(as well as other

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

s), and the

history of the Jews in Ireland The history of the Jews in Ireland extends for more than a millennium. The Jewish community in Ireland has always been small in numbers in modern history, not exceeding 5,500 since at least 1891. Middle Ages through 16th century The earliest ...

Life and career

After getting his undergraduate degree at the

, Ó Gráda got his Ph.D. in

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1973, where he wrote his dissertation on the Irish economy before and after the Great Famine. He described his early academic career as being "a kind of jack-of-all-trades economic historian of Ireland". He credits fellow economist Joel Mokyr, whom he met in 1977 through Michael Edelstein, his graduate thesis advisor at Columbia, as the "greatest influence" his academic work. Mokyr also sharpened his interest in the

, which "led eventually to the study of famines elsewhere". He is a member of the Cliometric Society, the

Economic History Society The Economic History Society (EHS) is a learned society that was established at the London School of Economics in 1926 to support the research and teaching of economic history in the United Kingdom and internationally. The society also acts as a ...

, the European Historical Economics Society, the Irish Economic and Social History Society, and the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. He has served on the editorial boards of ''

Journal of Economic History ''The Journal of Economic History'' is an academic journal of economic history which has been published since 1941. Many of its articles are quantitative, often following the formal approaches that have been called ''cliometrics'' or the '' new ...

'', '' Explorations in Economic History'', and the '' Agricultural History Review'', and is a former coeditor for the '' European Review of Economic History''. He is the President of the

Economic History Association The Economic History Association (EHA) was founded in 1940 to "encourage and promote teaching, research, and publication on every phase of economic history and to help preserve and administer materials for research in economic history". It publi ...

. In fall 2007, he was a member at Princeton's

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

as a member of the School of Historical Studies. In 2010, he won a Gold Medal from the

, of which he has been a member since 1994. He has been a visiting professor to a number of universities around the world, including the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

, the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. In 2019,

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

awarded him with an honorary doctorate.

Publications

Ó Gráda is a prolific writer. He has written and published seven books in addition to numerous journal articles and collaborations, with over 100 academic papers available online. He has contributed to the "Irish Economy" blog, where he commented on the Irish financial crisis. Earlier in 2008, he gave an open verdict on the future of the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

economy that was about to wind down. He was also interviewed in an ''In Our Time'' (BBC) discussion programme on the Great Irish Famine in April 2019.

Books

* * * * * * * The American Conference for Irish Studies awarded the James S. Donnelly, Sr. Prize to two of his books, ''Black '47 and Beyond'' (1999) and ''Jewish Ireland in the Age of Joyce'' (2006).

Journal articles

* , with * * *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:OGrada, Cormac Irish economic historians Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Academics of University College Dublin 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians 1945 births Living people Revisionist historians (Ireland) Members of the Royal Irish Academy Alumni of University College Dublin Institute for Advanced Study faculty Presidents of the Economic History Association Place of birth missing (living people)

Life and career

Publications

Books

Journal articles

See also

Notes