Dr. Damien Brennan

Dr. Damien Brennan

Associate Professor, School of Nursing & Midwifery

3531896 3114http://people.tcd.ie/dbrennan

Biography

Prof Damien Brennan is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin, and elected Head of School since 2024. His academic career spans nursing and sociology, combining clinical expertise with sociological analysis to explore how societies organise, experience and reform systems of care. His research has made a significant contribution to unpacking Ireland"s historical reliance on institutional confinement, while advancing contemporary debates on care capacity within families and communities in post-institutional society. Prof Brennan"s research has attracted funding from major national organisations and has influenced academic, public and policy discourse on care provision in Ireland. With an emphasis on real world impact, Prof Brennan is a Principal Investigator on family care provision, within the longitudinal study on ageing and intellectual disabilities (IDS-Tilda https://www.tcd.ie/tcaid/research/idstilda.php). He communicates his research through media, public lectures, and policy engagement, ensuring that scholarship meaningfully shapes societal understanding and reform of care systems. Prior to entering academia, Prof Brennan practised as a psychiatric nurse and nurse tutor, gaining extensive experience across mental health and social care services both in Ireland and developing countries. Today, he leads the top nursing school in Ireland and the European Union, comprised of a multidisciplinary academic community of over 140 staff and 1,700 students. In this progressive leadership role, Prof Brennan fosters collaboration across healthcare research, education, and practice at local, national, and international levels. Prof Brennan is committed to a clear purpose - ensuring that nursing education, research and practice positively impact on people's lived experiences of birth, illness, disability, and end-of-life care.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • McCausland D., Brennan D., McCallion P. and McCarron M., Challenging community policy for people with intellectual disabilities , 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Prague, 25-28 August , 2015Conference Paper, 2015, URL
  • Moriarty E. & Brennan D, Risk and Grave Digging in Ireland: Our Traditions and Culture Your Respect Required, 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Prague, 25-28 August , 2015Conference Paper, 2015, URL
  • Brennan D, The Social Construction and Professional Defence of Categories of Mental Illness in Ireland 1800-2000, 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association , Prague, 25-28 August , 2015Conference Paper, 2015, URL
  • Brennan D., Murphy R. McCallion P. and McCarron M., Carers strategies that enable long-term and sustainable home environments for older people with an Intellectual Disability, 20 Years of Family Carer Research in Ireland, Care Alliance Ireland, Dublin , 20th November, 2015Conference Paper, 2015
  • The myth of the Irish insanity epidemic in, editor(s)Cohen , International Handbook of Critical Mental Health, Surrey, Routledge , 2017, pp133 - 140, [Brennan D.]Book Chapter, 2017
  • Murphy, R., Brennan, D., McCallion, P., McCarron, M, Questioning the feasibility of the implementation of contemporary policy in Ireland: The narratives of family caregivers supporting older people with an Intellectual Disability, IASSIDD Congress, Melbourne, Australia, 15-19 August, 2016Conference Paper, 2016, URL
  • Brennan, D., Murphy, R., McCallion, P., Griffiths, M & McCarron, M, Understanding Family Strategies that enable Long Term and Sustainable Home Environments for Older People with Intellectual Disability. Final Report - September 2016, Dublin, 2016, 1-72Report, 2016, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Murphy, R., Brennan, D., McCallion, P., McCarron, M, 'Love labour' and caring for older people with an Intellectual Disability within the family home environment', International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities World Conference, Melbourne , 15-19 August, 2016Conference Paper, 2016, URL
  • Brennan, D., Murphy, R., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M, CAREGIVING CAPACITY AND FUTURE CARE PLANNING OF FAMILY CARERS FOR OLDER PEOPLE WITH AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY IN IRELAND , 30th Sept - 1st Oct, 45 (suppl_2), 2016, ppii1 - -ii12Conference Paper, 2016, DOI
  • Brennan D., McCausland D., McCallion P., McCarron M.., Understanding the contributors to better integration and community participation by persons with severe and profound intellectual disability, Dublin, 2016, p1 - 13Report, 2016
  • McCausland D., McCallion, P., Brennan, D., McCarron, M, Interpersonal relationships of older adults with an intellectual disability in Ireland, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 31, (1), 2017, p140 - 153Journal Article, 2017, DOI
  • Brennan D., 'The Documentary on One - Grangegorman Personal Affects', 1st Broadcast 5 September, RTE Dublin, 2014, -Broadcast, 2014
  • Brennan, D., Murphy, R., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M, Family Strategies for Care Giving for Older People with Intellectual Disability (ID), within 'post-institutional' Ireland, 13th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Athens, Greece, 29 Aug - 1 Sept, 2017Oral Presentation, 2017, URL
  • Brennan D., Irish Insanity, Historical Development and Contemporary Social Context, Departmental Seminar, Department of Sociology, Trinity College, May, 2004Conference Paper, 2004
  • Brennan, D., Murphy, R., McCallion, P., McCarron, M, "What's going to happen when we're gone?" Family caregiving capacity for older people with an intellectual disability in Ireland, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 31, (2), 2017, p226 - 235Journal Article, 2017, DOI
  • Brennan D., Key Note - Caring Capacity in the Domestic Space: Current and Future Challenge , Irish Association of Social Workers and Social Care Ireland - National Conference, Our Lady's Hospice, Dublin, September 22nd , 2017Conference Paper, 2017
  • Brennan, D., Murphy, R., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M, Future Care Planning Amongst Parent and Sibling Carers with Ageing Family Member with an Intellectual Disability, Irish Gerontological Society - 65th Annual & Scientific Meeting, Wexford, 28th-30th September, 2017Poster, 2017, URL
  • Brennan D., Family Care Giving, International Summit on Ageing with an Intellectual Disability - Best Practices in Policies, Services and Community Supports to Advance Health and Wellbeing, Trinity College, Dublin, 20th September, 2017Conference Paper, 2017
  • Brennan, D., McCarron, M, Family Care Giving, 2017 International Summit on Ageing with an Intellectual Disability, TBSI Dublin, 20th September, 2017Oral Presentation, 2017
  • McCausland, Darren, McCallion, Philip, Brennan, Damien, McCarron, Mary, THE IMPACT OF FUNCTIONAL LIMITATION ON SOCIAL PARTICIPATION FOR OLDER PEOPLE WITH AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY IN IRELAND, Age and Ageing, 45, 2016, p7Journal Article, 2016
  • McCausland, D., Brennan, D., McCallion, P., McCarron, M., What is community?: A theoretical model of community for people with intellectual disabilities, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 60, (7-8), 2016, p798Journal Article, 2016
  • Brennan D., Key Note 'Irish Insanities Legacy and Mental Hospitals Institutional Confinement' , '​Legacies matter' Annual Conference of the Sociological Association of Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology Grangegorman, 18 & 19 May, 2018Conference Paper, 2018, URL
  • McCausland, D., McCallion, P., Brennan, D., and McCarron, M., The exercise of human rights and citizenship by older adults with an intellectual disability in Ireland, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 62, (10), 2018, p875 - 887Journal Article, 2018, URL
  • Brennan, D., Present and future sustainability of family care giving, Caregiving capacity and contemporary Irish family life Learning from the experiences of families and older people with an intellectual disability, Trinity College Dublin, 11th April, 2018Conference Paper, 2018
  • Brennan, D., McCausland, D., McCallion, P. and McCarron, My Future Care Road Map, Planning Tool Guidance Document, Trinity College Dublin, 2019, p1 - 47Report, 2019, URL
  • Brennan, D., McCausland, D., McCallion, P. and McCarron, My Future Care Road Map, Accessible Planning Tool, Trinity College Dublin, 2019, p1 - 12Report, 2019, URL
  • McCausland, Darren, Brennan, Damien, McCallion, Philip, McCarron, Mary, Balancing personal wishes and caring capacity in future planning for adults with an intellectual disability living with family carers, Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 23, (3), 2019, p413-431Journal Article, 2019, DOI
  • McCausland, D., McCallion, P., Brennan, D., McCarron, M., In pursuit of meaningful occupation: Employment and occupational outcomes for older Irish adults with an intellectual disability, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, (3), 2020, p386 - 397Journal Article, 2020, DOI
  • Damien Brennan, Family Care provision for psychiatric patients in Post Institutional Ireland , Prisons Asylums Workhouses Institutions in Ireland: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland AND Queens University Belfast , Queens University Belfast, Thursday 13th to Sat, 2019Conference Paper, 2019, URL
  • Brennan, D., D'eath, M., Dunne, N., O'Donovan, M-A., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M., ). Irish Social Policy to Family Carers of Adults with an Intellectual Disability: A critical analysis, Journal of Intellectual Disability, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Timmins, F., McCausland, D., Brennan, D., Sheerin, F., Luus, R., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M., A national cohort study of spiritual and religious practices of older people with intellectual disability, A national cohort study of spiritual and religious practices of older people with intellectual disability, 28, (2), 2024, p533 - 548Journal Article, 2024, URL
  • Brennan, D., D'eath, M., McCallion, P. & McCarron, M., Health and well-being of sibling carers of adults with an intellectual disability in Ireland: Four waves of data., British Journal of Learning Disabilities., 2023Journal Article, 2023, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • The social contract of care for people with an Intellectual Disability in, editor(s)Sheerin, F. and Doyle, C. , Intellectual Disabilities: Health and Social Care Across the Lifespan, Geneva, Springer Nature, 2023, [Brennan D. & D'Eath M. ]Book Chapter, 2023
  • Brennan D., A deconstruction of its historical legacy and its continued influence on contemporary Mental Health Service Provision in Ireland, A national cohort study of spiritual and religious practices of older people with intellectual disability, 2003Journal Article, 2003, URL
  • Breslin, N., Brennan, D., Hollywood, E., Comiskey, C. and Sheerin, F., The role of Path Dependency Theory in the reproduced structures, systems and practices of the Irish Mental Health System over the last 200 years., Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2024 (THEconf2024) New Horizons in Healthcare: Global Impact, Local Relevance, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 5-7th March, 2024Meeting Abstract, 2024
  • Brennan, D., McCallion, P., McCarron, M., & D"Eath, M., Keeping it in the Family": The proposed and rejected Irish Constitutional amendment on family caregiving " Insights from the IDS-TILDA Carer"s Study, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 2025Journal Article, 2025, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Brennan, D, Long-Term Family Caregiving Sustainability with Ireland: Learning from the IDS-TILDA Carers Study. Healthcare in times of crisis: adaptive responses and global innovations., Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference, Trinity College Dublin, 5th-6th March, 2025Conference Paper, 2025
  • Brennan, D., McCallion, P., McCarron, M. and D'Eath, M, ), Keeping It in the Family: The Proposed and Rejected Irish Constitutional Amendment on Family Caregiving"Insights From the IDS-TILDA Carer Study, British Journal of Learning Disabilities., https://doi.org/10.1, 2025Journal Article, 2025
  • Brennan, D., McCallion, P., McCarron, M., & D"Eath, M, "Keeping it in the Family": The proposed and rejected Irish Constitutional amendment on family caregiving " Insights from the IDS-TILDA Carer"s Study., Transforming Care Conference, Helsinki, Finland, June 25-27th 2025, 2025Conference Paper, 2025
  • Brennan D., Historical Methodology and Mental Illness in Ireland: Revisionism, Insanity and Opportunity, Sociological Association of Ireland: 31st Annual Conference: Sligo: April, 2006Conference Paper, 2006
  • Brennan D., Mental Health Nursing in Ireland: Lessons for the Past; Challenges for the Future Key, Annual Conference of the Association of Irish Mental Health Nurse Managers, Mayo, April, 2006Conference Paper, 2006
  • Brennan D., A Sociology of Madness, Insanity and Mental Illness in Ireland 1800-2000, Departmental Seminar, Department of Sociology, University of Tasmania, 6th September, 2005Conference Paper, 2005
  • Brennan D., Irish Insanity: Social Trajectory and Institutional Responses, Irish / Australian Public Lecture Series, University of Melbourne, 30th August, 2005Conference Paper, 2005
  • Brennan D., Expressions of Intolerance to Perceived Difference Within Routinised Nursing Practice, International History of Nursing Conference, University of Melbourne, 25-27th August, 2005Conference Paper, 2005
  • Brennan D., The Law and Mental Illness in Ireland: Intervention or Instigation, 6th Annual International Research Conference, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: Dublin, 3rd November, 2005Conference Paper, 2005
  • Brennan D., 2005 The Historical Trajectory of Mental Nursing in Ireland, Irish Nursing History Society, Dublin, 24th November, 2005Conference Paper, 2005
  • Brennan D., Asylums, Insanity, Grand Narratives and the Problem of the 'Irish Case', Annual International Research Conference, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, November, 2007Conference Paper, 2007
  • Horan, P., Mooney, B., Coughlan, M., Huntley-Moore, S., & Brennan, D., 'Poster Presentations: An Approach to Assessing 1st Year Undergraduate Nursing Students understanding of Sociological subject matter in an Irish Context, Inaugural International Colloquium on University Teaching and Learning at the Centre for Teaching & Learning University College Dublin, Dublin, June, 2007Poster, 2007
  • Horan, P., Mooney, B., Coughlan, M., Huntley-Moore, S., & Brennan, D., 'An Evaluation of Poster Presentations as an Approach to Assessing 1st Year Undergraduate Nursing Students understanding of Sociological subject matter in an Irish Context, 1st International Conference on "Building and Promoting Excellence in Practice" Department of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway , 2nd April, 2007Poster, 2007
  • Horan, P., Coughlan, M., Huntley Moore, S., Brennan, D., & Mooney, B., Group Poster Presentations: An Approach to Assessing Undergraduate Nursing Students understanding of Sociology, 4th - 6th September, NET 2007 Conference - 18th Annual International Participative Conference. Fitzwilliam College - University of Cambridge UK, Cambridge , 2007Conference Paper, 2007
  • Brennan D., Irish Asylums and the Migration of Professional Practice, 9th Annual International Research Conference, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College, Dublin, November , 2008Conference Paper, 2008
  • Brennan D., A Sociology of Insanity The Problem of the 'Irish Case', Seminar, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, March , 2009Invited Talk, 2009
  • Brennan D., The social construction of 'woman's work': Work status and its impact on recruitment, retention and job satisfaction in nursing, Journal of Nurse Management, 13, (4), 2005, p282-285Journal Article, 2005, DOI
  • Brennan D., Legislation and Professional Practice: Responding to or Constructing Mental Illness in Ireland?, 29th Annual International Nursing & Midwifery Research Conference, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland , February, 2010Conference Paper, 2010
  • Brennan D., Irish Mental Health Nursing: Professional Trajectory and Challenges to Contemporary Practice , International Research Conference, University College Cork, October, 2009Conference Paper, 2009
  • Brennan. M, Brennan D., Pathways to Mental Health Care - Methodological Considerations, The 6th Mixed Methods International Conference. , The School of Healthcare, University of Leeds and Department of Health, Behaviour, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Baltimore, July , 2010Conference Paper, 2010
  • Brennan. D., Brennan. M., Are our prisons becoming twenty-first Century asylums for the mentally ill?, Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place, 17th November 2010, 2010Invited Talk, 2010
  • Brennan. D., Transcendent diagnostic categories of mental illness in Ireland, 1800 to 2010., Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, 24th February 2011, 2011Conference Paper, 2011
  • Brennan. D., Brennan. M., 'From Patient to Prisoner: The Criminalisation of Mental Illness in Ireland', 3rd International Nursing and Midwifery Conference, National University of Ireland Galway, 4th & 5th April 2011, 2011, pp4 - 5Conference Paper, 2011
  • Timmins, F. and Brennan, D. , Nursing in the Academy and Changing Institutional Identities. , NET 2011 22nd International Participative Conference for Education in Health Care. , Churchill College, University of Cambridge. UK (, 6-9th September 2011, 2011, pp59 - 62Conference Paper, 2011
  • Brennan D., From Madness to Badness to Madness and Back Again: Mental Illness and Criminalisation in Ireland, European Sociological Association 10th Conference 'Social Relations in Turbulent Times', Geneva, 7-10 September, 2011, 2011, pp152 - 153Conference Paper, 2011
  • Brennan D., Telling stories about ourselves": Historical Methodology and the Creation of Mental Health Nursing Narratives, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 18, (8), 2011, p657 - 663Journal Article, 2011, DOI
  • A Theoretical Exploration of Institution-based Mental Health Care in Ireland in, editor(s)Pauline M. Prior , Asylums, Mental Health Care and the Irish, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 2012, pp287 - 315, [Damien Brennan]Book Chapter, 2012
  • Brennan D., A Consideration of the Social Trajectory of Psychiatric Nursing in Ireland, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 11, (4), 2004, p497-501Journal Article, 2004, DOI
  • Brennan D., The Special Olympics, a not so quiet revolution - Discourses of Emancipation and Liberation at the Summer Games Ireland 2003, The Frontline of Learning Disability, 59, 2004, p0-0Journal Article, 2004
  • Brennan D., 2002 TCD as a Multicultural University, the challenges - a paper presented by Damien Brennan, School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, TCD Launch of the HEEU Report by the Minister of Education and Science: Trinity College, Dublin November 2002., 2002Report, 2002
  • Brennan D., The Location Irish Psychiatric Nursing within the Developmental Trajectory of the Irish Mental Health System, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 5th Annual International Research Conference, Dublin, November, 2004Conference Paper, 2004
  • Brennan D., The Location of Irish Insanity , Sociological Association of Ireland: 31st Annual Conference, Athlone, May, 2004Conference Paper, 2004
  • Brennan D., The "Common Sense" of Compliance -Nurses Participation in Institutionalisation In Ireland, 1st International Conference on Nursing & Midwifery in the Third Reich, University of Limerick, June, 2004Conference Paper, 2004
  • Brennan D., The Development of Public Health Nurses as Advanced Nurse Practitioners - Expert Panel, Annual Conference of Irish Public Health Nurses, Athlone, May, 2004Conference Paper, 2004
  • Brennan D., The Social Context of Psychiatric Nursing in Ireland: A Critical Consideration of the Dynamic Relationship between Psychiatric Nursing, the Asylum System and Irish Society, School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, Trinity College Dublin: 4th Annual International Research Conference, Dublin, November, 2003Conference Paper, 2003
  • Brennan D., A Consideration of the Contribution of Sociology in Ireland to the Understanding of the Development and Contemporary Existence of the Irish Asylum System, Mental Health Services and Mental Health Social Policies, Sociological Association of Ireland: 30th Annual Conference, Cavan, Ireland, April, 2003Conference Paper, 2003
  • Brennan D. & Timmins F., Changing institutional identities and the student nurse, Nurse Education Today, 32, (7), 2012, p747 - 751Journal Article, 2012, DOI
  • Brennan D., A Sociological Analysis of the Economics of Irish Insanity, Sociological Association of Ireland: 39th Annual Conference, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, 12-13 May, 2012Conference Paper, 2012
  • Moriarty E. & Brennan, D., "Digging For Our Own": The professionalisation of grave digging in rural Ireland, Sociological Association of Ireland: 40th Annual Conference, Athlone, 10-12 May , 2013Conference Paper, 2013
  • Brennan D., Brennan, M. & Rogan M., Mind the Gap: Mental Health and Prison Policy in Ireland, North-South Criminology Conference, University College Cork, 20-21 May, 2013Conference Paper, 2013
  • Brennan D., Irish Insanity 1800:2000, Oxon: UK and New York: USA & Canada, Routledge, 2014Book, 2014
  • Damien Brennan, Brennan, M. & Rogan M.,, Mind the Gap: Mental Health and Prison Policy in Ireland, North-South Criminology Conference, University College Cork, 20-21 May,, 2013Conference Paper, 2013
  • Brennan D. & Brennan M., From Asylums to Hospitals to Prisons: Mental Illness in Ireland, Shifting Locations of Intervention, 19th International Network for Psychiatric Nursing Research Conference , Warwick Arts Centre, the University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL United Kingdom , 5th -6th September , 2013Conference Paper, 2013
  • Brennan D, Mental Hospitals in Ireland: An Uncomfortable History of Now, School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College 15th Healthcare Interdisciplinary Research Conference , Trinity College, 6th-7th November , 2013Conference Paper, 2013
  • Mental Hospital Institutionalisation and Deinstitutionalisation in Ireland in, editor(s)Higgins and Mc Daid , Mental Health In Ireland: Policy, Practice and Law, Dublin, Gill and Macmillian, 2014, pp11 - 23, [D Brennan]Book Chapter, 2014
  • RTE / Mary Raftery, 'Behind the Walls', Ireland, RTE, 2009, -Broadcast, 2009, URL
  • Mental illness and the Criminalisation Process in, editor(s)Healy et al , The Routledge Handbook of Irish Criminology, Oxon: UK, Routledge , 2016, [Brennan D.]Book Chapter, 2016
  • TG4 / Blinder Films, 'An Irish State of Mind', 2014, -Broadcast, 2014
  • Brennan D, The Institutional Responses to Emotional Life in Ireland, Merriman Summer School , Ennis, 16th August, 2014Conference Paper, 2014
  • Irish Independent - Nicola Anderson, 'People with intellectual disability in limbo as families shun talks on future Irish', Irish Independent, Dublin , 2017, -Broadcast, URL
  • Irish Examiner - Catherine Shanahan & Noel Baker, 'No care plans for special needs elderly', Irish Examiner Thursday, June 16, 2016, -Broadcast, URL
  • McCarron, M., Mc Causland D., Wormald, A., McGlinchey, E., MacGiolla Phadraig, C., Brennan, D., and Burke, EA, Longitudinal Dynamics in the Ageing of People with an Intellectual Disability: Evidence from IDS-TILDA, Data and Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Dec 8th 2023, 2023, IDS-TILDA and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and YouthInvited Talk
  • O'Neill J, Brennan D, Women through an Irish lens: influences on the embodied experience of reproductive life, Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference (THEconf2025) Student Colloquium, Trinity College Dublin, 4th March 2025, 2025Conference Paper
  • Brennan, D., McIlgorm, M., Kenna, R., Reflections of the Role of Senior Leadership, #THEConf25, School of Nursing & Midwifery, 24 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2, 5th & 6th March 2025, 2025Conference Paper
  • RTE, 'Marian Finucane - Sunday Morning Radio', RTE, Ireland, 2013, -Broadcast, URL
  • News Talk - George Hook, 'The Right Hook', 2013, -Broadcast, URL
  • Brennan D., Irish Insanity: The excessive use of Mental Hospitals in Ireland, Trinity College, 24th October, 2013, School of Nursing and Midwifery "Tell me about public lecture series"Invited Talk
  • Irish Times - Jo Humphreys, 'Professional and local interests had stake in keeping asylums, says major study', Ireland, Irish Times, 2013, - 5Broadcast, URL
  • Irish Times - Fintan O Toll, 'Time for State to acknowledge great wrong of Irish mental hospital system', Ireland, Irish Times, 2013, -Broadcast, URL
  • Damien Brennan, Mental Health and Happiness in Ireland, Trinity Week Symposium , Trinity College , 9th April, 2014, Trinity CollegeInvited Talk
  • Damien Brennan, 'Time for Those Damaged by the Asylum System to Tell Their Stories', Irish Independent , 2014, -Broadcast, URL

Research Expertise

Prof Brennan"s research agenda has attracted funding from bodies such as the Irish Research Council, the National Disability Authority, the Irish Penal Reform Trust and the Department of Health and Children. Prof Brennan held roles of PI, Co-Researcher and project manager to these funded research initiatives, which has resulted in quality outputs in academic journals, book chapters and a sole authored book. Prof Brennan also acts as a 'public intellectual', disseminating research through TV Documentaries, National Radio, Print Media, Key Note Addresses and Public Lectures. His work is an established point of reference which both informs and shapes national discourse concerning 'Contexts of Care Provision in Ireland'. Prof Brennan"s research publications and outputs address some uncomfortable aspects of Ireland"s past use of institutional care settings, while also impacting the capacity for care provision within contemporary Irish society. In the course of addressing these substantive societal issues, he has mapped an institutional social process spanning some two-hundred years, illustrating that Ireland had the highest level of mental hospital residency internationally. This was prolonged, detailed, hard-won, and at times `unpopular" research, culminating in his sole authored book Irish Insanity 1800-2000 (2014). He has contributed widely as a public intellectual, placing his findings firmly within the public and political domains, for example working with the late Mary Raftery on the RTE investigative documentary Behind the Walls. The impact of Prof Brennan"s book Irish Insanity 1800-2000 and subsequent media traction, had the effect of opening up new academic challenges within the `post-institutional landscape", specifically, regarding the capacity of contemporary society to provide care within the home/domestic setting, in fields such as mental health, intellectual disability and ageing. Tangible examples of his sustained impact in defining and progressing this field include; his role as Co-applicant and Core Team Member of the HRB funded longitudinal study IDS-TILDA (2010-To Date); his research report Understanding Family Strategies that enable Long Term and Sustainable Home Environments for Older People with Intellectual Disability (2016), funded by the NDA; and his subsequent (2018) IRC funded research A participatory action research study to enhance long term care planning for older people with an Intellectual Disability in Ireland and their families. Building on this research agenda, new research objectives are formulated, for example his current leadership of an IRC funded research collaboration with the Family Careers Ireland which is examining the Social Contract for Care Provision in Ireland (2020-2022).

  • Title
    The development of measurements of caring capacity in domestic / home settings
    Summary
    To provide conceptual capacity and a methodological approach to enable the measurement of caring capacity within home / domestic / family settings
    Funding Agency
    Enterprise Ireland
    Date From
    November 2017
    Date To
    July 2018
  • Title
    The Social Contract for Care Provision in Ireland
    Summary
    This research initiative entails a collaborative research process with Family Carers Ireland with the aim of establishing conceptual clarity regarding the social contract for care giving within domestic settings in Ireland.
    Funding Agency
    IRC
    Date From
    2021
    Date To
    2022
  • Title
    Learning Innovation Research Call
    Summary
  • Title
    IDS-TILDA Longitudinal Study on Ageing and Intellectual Disabilities
    Summary
    Co-applicant to the IDS-TILDA (Wave 5). This is a longitudinal study researching ageing in Ireland among people with an intellectual disability aged 40 and over.
    Funding Agency
    HRB
    Date From
    2022
    Date To
    2026

History, Heritage and Archaeology, Social policy, Curriculum and pedagogy, Mental health nursing, Sociology of health, Medicine, nursing and health curriculum and pedagogy, Social psychology, Development studies, Medical, health and life sciences, Sociology of family and relationships, Sociological methodology and research methods, Humanities and the arts, Mental health services, Psychology of ageing, Humanities and social sciences curriculum and pedagogy (excl. economics, business and management), Aged health care, Clinical and health psychology, Public policy, Sociology of inequalities, Disability Studies, Health policy, Family care, Decision making, Social Care, Housing policy, Health Sciences, Health psychology, Care,

Recognition

  • Masters in Arts (j.o.), Trinity College November 2006
  • International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (UK): MEMBER To Date
  • Nursing and Midwifery Board Ireland (Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hÉireann: REGISTERED NURSE TUTOR To Date
  • European Sociological Association (Paris): MEMBER To Date
  • Nursing and Midwifery Board Ireland (Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hÉireann): REGISTERED PSYCHIATRIC NURSE To Date
  • Sociological Association of Ireland (SAI): MEMBER To Date
  • Project Lead | Collaborative project with Family Carers Ireland, funded by the IRC 2021-2022