Hilary Bishop

Fulbright All Disciplines Scholar Award - NYU

Hilary Bishop will be based at Glucksman Ireland House, New York University where she will be working with Irish and Irish Americans to record their narratives in relation to the living heritage associated with Ireland’s Mass paths. Mass paths are an intimate part of the Irish landscape and provide a tangible link to Irish history and heritage, yet they have no official definition, status or protection. Many are being lost due to house building, infrastructure projects or changing farming practices. Bishop aims to find new innovative ways of measuring and managing living heritage that can support future policy making and better protect these historic pathways. 

Bishop has secured a reputation as a leading practitioner in her field, recognised through Chartered Geographer status awarded by the Royal Geographical Society and she is also listed on the directory of experts of the British Association of Irish Studies. Her research into Catholic Mass sites and Mass paths in Ireland has provided one of the most comprehensive and multidimensional critical analyses of their significance in the retention of Catholic identity. 

Bishop is most proud of her public website www.findamassrock.com which provides a free community resource and lists many of the Mass sites that she has visited and researched. She is most excited about the opportunities that the Fulbright offers to immerse herself in the culture that New York has to offer and plans to make an initial beeline to Central Park which was modelled on a park in Birkenhead where she was born.