Cormac Ó Gráda (born 1945) is an Irish

economic historian Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

and professor emeritus of

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

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. His research has focused on the economic history of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Irish demographic changes, the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...

(as well as other

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

s), and the

history of the Jews in Ireland The history of the Jews in Ireland extends back several centuries. Although the Jewish community in Ireland has always been small in numbers (not exceeding 5,500 since at least 1891), it is well established and has generally been well-accept ...

Life and career

After getting his undergraduate degree at the

, Ó Gráda got his Ph.D. in

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

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 Joel Mokyr (born 26 July 1946) is a Netherlands-born American-Israeli economic historian. He is a professor of economics and history at Northwestern University, where he has taught since 1974; in 1994 he was named the Robert H. Strotz Professor o ...

, 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 Cliometrics (, also ), sometimes called new economic history or econometric history, is the systematic application of economic theory, econometric techniques, and other formal or mathematical methods to the study of history (especially social and e ...

, 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; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

. 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 economi ...

'', ''

Explorations in Economic History ''Explorations in Economic History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of quantitative economic history. It follows the quantitative or formal approaches that have been called cliometrics or the new economic history, applied to any place and ti ...

'', and the ''

Agricultural History Review The ''Agricultural History Review. A Journal of Agricultural and Rural History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the British Agricultural History Society. It was established in 1953. See also * Agriculture in the Un ...

'', and is a former coeditor for the ''

European Review of Economic History The ''European Review of Economic History'' is an international peer-reviewed academic journal published three times per year. It was formerly edited by Cambridge University Press and is currently edited by Oxford University Press. It is edited i ...

''. 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 Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

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

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 Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. In 2019,

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

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 The post-2008 Irish economic downturn in the Republic of Ireland, coincided with a series of banking scandals, followed the 1990s and 2000s Celtic Tiger period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment, a subsequent pr ...

. Earlier in 2008, he gave an open verdict on the future of the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) 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. ...

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 Economic historians Columbia University 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