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Dr. Catherine Conlon

Associate Professor (Social Studies)

 conlonce@tcd.ie

 


Biography

I am Director of the BA Sociology and Social Policy and PI of the Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care Study (UnPAC) at the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin. My research focuses on the social politics of reproduction and sexuality which has generated high impact publications including lead authored articles in Gender & Society and Qualitative Research. My research areas include abortion and crisis pregnancy, sexual socialisation and inter-generational relations. My current research is a study of women's experiences of using unplanned pregnancy supports and abortion care services in Ireland since legalisation of abortion in January 2019, funded by Irish Government's Health Service Executive Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme. My research agenda displays methodological innovation and scholarly excellence and my publications span both substantive areas and methodological papers in high impact journals and edited collections. My commitment to trans disciplinary and creative research practices saw me join the Creative Arts Practice Research Theme Steering Group in TCD and a collaboration with Prof Evangelia Rigaki in the School of Music to translate material from my PhD research concerning women concealing pregnancy into an Opera Performance The Pregnant Box (Conlon and Rigaki, 2014) for Trinity College Dublin Discover Research Night 2014. I am a member of the Organising Committee of the annual Irish International Narrative Studies Conference and hosted the conference in TCD in May 2019 as part of the Irish Narrative Studies Group in collaboration with colleagues from NUI Maynooth, Dublin City University and IT Sligo. I serve on the Board of the Centre for Gender, Feminisms and Sexualities at University College Dublin I teach across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and supervise Masters and PhD students. I teach in both mediums of classroom and online education on substantive subject areas and research methodologies. Core module curricula I have designed and taught include: Introduction to Social Policy; Principles of Social Policy [online]; Families and Society; Ageing and Intergenerational Relations; Research Design and Research Methodologies for Practitioners. My research has featured in both national and international print media including the Irish Times, The London Independent and Le Monde. I have been interviewed about my research on current affairs news programmes including RTE's Morning Ireland and the Pat Kenny Show and Newstalk's The Right Hook. I have featured on TV current affairs programmes including RTE's PrimeTime and Virgin Media's Ireland AM. I welcome inquiries and applications from PhD applicants in the areas of sexuality, reproductive politics, inter-generational relations and sexual socialisation.

Research Projects

 Research with Parents
 Changing Generations

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
International Federation of Abortion and Contraception Professionals (FIAPAC) June 2022 Ongoing
British Sociological Association 2005 Ongoing
Sociological Association of Ireland 2005 Ongoing
Greene Jo, Butler Éadaoin, Conlon Catherine, Antosik-Parsons Kate, Gomperts Rebecca, Seeking online telemedicine abortion outside the jurisdiction from Ireland following implementation of telemedicine provision locally, BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, 48, (4), 2022, p259 - 266, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Spillane, A., Taylor, M., Henchion, C., Venables, R. and Conlon, C. , Early abortion care during the COVID-19 public health emergency in Ireland: Implications for law, policy, and service delivery. , International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 154, 2021, p379 - 384, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Foley G, Timonen V, Conlon C, Elliott O'Dare C., Interviewing as a vehicle for theoretical sampling in grounded theory, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 2021, p1 - 10, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Bras S., Gomperts R., Kelly M., Aiken A.R.A., Conlon C., Accessing abortion outside jurisdiction following legalisation of abortion in the Republic of Ireland, BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, 47, (3), 2021, p200 - 204, p200-204 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Sampling and conceptualization in Grounded Theory in, editor(s)Järvinen, M Mik-Meyer, N , Qualitative analysis - eight approaches , London, Sage, 2020, pp223 - 242, [Conlon, Catherine], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Conlon C, Timonen V, Elliott O'Dare C, O'Keeffe S, Foley G., Confused about theoretical sampling? Engaging theoretical sampling in diverse grounded theory studies, Qualitative Health Research, 30, (6), 2020, p947 - 959, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Elliot O'Dare, C, Timonen, V and Conlon, C., Doing' intergenerational friendship: challenging the dominance of age homophily in friendship'' , Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , 2020, p1 - 14, Notes: [DOI: 10.1017/S0714980819000618], Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Mullally A., Horgan T., Thompson M., Conlon C., Dempsey B., Higgins M.F., Working in the shadows, under the spotlight " Reflections on lessons learnt in the Republic of Ireland after the first 18"months of more liberal Abortion Care, Contraception, 102, (5), 2020, p305 - 307, p305-307 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Elliott O'Dare, C., Timonen, V. and Conlon, C., Doing intergenerational friendship: Challenging the dominance of age homophily in friendship, Canadian Journal of Aging - La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 2020, Journal Article, ACCEPTED  TARA - Full Text
Elliott O'Dare, C., Timonen, V. and Conlon, C., Intergenerational friendships of older adults: Why do we know so little about them?, Ageing & Society, 2019, p1 - 16, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
  

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Conlon, Catherine, Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care (UnPAC) Study, Health Service Executive, Dublin, July, 2022, p1 - 298, Report, PUBLISHED
Conlon, C, Supporting Parents Communicating with Children Aged 4-9 Years about Relationships, Sexuality and Growing Up, 27, Dublin, HSE, January, 2018, p1 - 112, Report, PUBLISHED
O'Dare, CE, Timonen, V, Conlon, C, Forum Article Intergenerational Friendship: Challenging the Dominance of Age Homophily in Friendship, Ageing and Society, 2017, p1 - 16, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
The Fragility of Respectability of Lone Mothers in, editor(s)Quilty, A, Kennedy, S, Conlon, C , The Abortion Papers Ireland: Volume 2, Cork, Attic Press, 2015, pp228 - 243, [Conlon, C], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Scharf, T., Timonen, V., Conlon, C. and Carney, G., Changing Generations - Findings from new research on intergenerational relations in Ireland, Dublin and Galway, Trinity College Dublin and National University of Ireland Galway, April, 2013, 20 pp., Report, PUBLISHED
Conlon, C, O'Connor, J and Ni Cathain, S, Attitudes to Fertility, Sexual Health and Motherhood amongst a Sample of Migrant Women Living in Ireland, Dublin, Crisis Pregnancy Agency, 2012, Report, PUBLISHED
Conlon, C, The situation concerning homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in Ireland: Sociological Country Report, Dublin, Publisher European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, March, 2009, Report, PUBLISHED
Walsh, J, Conlon, C, FitzPatrick, B, Hansson, U, Enabling Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Individuals to access their Rights under Equality Law, Belfast, The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland And The Equality Authority, November, 2007, p1 - 193, Report, PUBLISHED
Conlon, C, Concealed Pregnancy: A case-study approach from an Irish setting, Dublin, August, 2006, p1 - 204, Report, PUBLISHED
Barry, U, Conlon, C, Murphy, S, National expert assessment of the gender perspective in the National Report on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006 - The Irish National Report, 2006, Working Paper, PUBLISHED

  

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Awards and Honours

Award Date
UCD Ad Astra Doctoral Research Scholarship 2006-2010
Crisis Pregnancy Agency Phd Scholarship 2007-2010

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

My research focuses on the social politics of reproduction and stands out for advanced application of qualitative methodologies. I am the leading expert on understanding how regulating abortion shapes experiences of seeking and accessing abortion care which I am currently applying to advance the concept of reproductive citizenship. In 2022 I was awarded a HEA North-South Research Programme Project Award to apply my novel conceptualisation of Reproductive Citizenship empirically on a comparative all-Island basis. My articulation of reproductive citizenship earned me an invitation from University of Newcastle to join an international research consortium addressing the place of reproductive justice in the just transition. We are one of nine consortia shortlisted by the British Academy for three Global Convening Programme 2023 awards. My research is strongly impacting national reproductive health policy. The HSE commissioned me to study service user experiences of newly legalised abortion healthcare during 2019-2021 with findings informing service planning and implementation. The Department of Health designated this study the service user data strand informing the 2022 statutory review of legislation regulating abortion. In February 2022 I was appointed Expert Academic Advisor to the Independent Chair of the Review by the Department of Health. My research is generating a steep citations trajectory, high impact publications, competitive research awards, invitations to collaborate in international consortia, translation into policy and media and excellent potential. I have been awarded over €500,000 in grants since entering post in 2015 as well as a Provosts Project Award 2021. My outputs feature across top ranking social science and inter-disciplinary journals e.g., Qualitative Research (IF: 3.14), Qualitative Health Research (IF: 3.0) and Gender & Society (IF: 2.8), indicative of their broad intellectual scope and appeal. My citations are rising steeply: a 5-fold increase on Google Scholar citations between 2017 and 2022 brings my h-index to 14.