Eva Ó Cathaoir moved from Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany, to Ireland on winning an Irish government scholarship to continue her studies at Trinity College Dublin. A historian and promoter of Irish heritage, she specializes in nineteenth-century history and has been published widely on the Poor Law, the Famine and the Fenian movement. Her works include A Portrait of Bray (1998) and contributions to Enniscorthy: A History, edited by Colm Tóibín (2010). She also contributed to the History and Society series (Geography Publications, 1994–2008) with chapters on counties Wicklow, Carlow and Clare.