School of Social Work and Social Policy

Contact Us School of Social Work & Social Policy
Room 3063, Arts Building
Trinity College Dublin
Dublin 2
Ireland

Phone: 01 896 2001

View the contact page for more contact and location information

swsp@tcd.e Gaeilge
Dr. Catherine Conlon

Dr. Catherine Conlon

Associate Professor, Social Studies

Head Of School, Sch Office - Social Work & Social Policy

Biography

I am Associate Professor Social Policy and currenly PI of HEA North South Research Programme funded project exploring Reproductive Citizenship on the island of Ireland post Repeal in the Republic and decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland, entitled ReproCit for short. My research focuses on reproduction policy and the social politics of reproduction and its effects on positionality and the gendered ordering of roles and relations and engages qualitative methodologies informed by critical, post-humanist perspectives. I publish on abortion seeking, concealing pregnancy, care and intergenerational relations and methodologies. I was PI (2019-2022) of the Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care (UnPAC) study, designated the service user data strand informing the statutory review of the Health (Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. I also served as expert academic adviser to the Independent Chair of the Review and appeared twice before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health considering the Review. I currently hold the HEA North South Research Project Award ReproCit researching how differing pathways to legalising abortion on the island of Ireland 2018-19 are shaping empirical formations of reproductive citizenship, being carried out with Dr Kate Antosik-Parsons in TCD and Dr Fiona Bloomer and Dr Emma Campbell at University of Ulster. I am highly engaged by debates and developments in methodologies for knowing the social world and qualitative methodologies in particular and my practice includes Constructivist Grounded Theory, Voice Centred Relational Methods, What's the Problem Representation (WPR) and post-humanist/post-qualitative informed creative inquiry. I was invited by Prof Kathy Charmaz to contribute exemplars of my work for the second edition of her best-selling textbook. My commitment to trans disciplinary and creative research practice saw me forge a collaboration with the wonderful 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 for Trinity College Dublin Discover Research Night 2014 (see Conlon and Rigaki, 2024). My peer reviewed publications comprise journal articles, book chapters, co-edited book and policy reports. My outputs feature across top ranking social science and inter-disciplinary journals e.g., Gender & Society, Qualitative Health Research, BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Qualitative Research indicative of their broad intellectual scope and appeal. My book chapters are published by Bloomsbury, Sage and Cork University Press. I am Sole/Senior author on 11 policy commissioned reports for: Crisis Pregnancy Agency/HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, the Department of Health, the Equality Authority, the Women's Health Council and the Combat Poverty Agency. I teach across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and supervise Masters and PhD students. Core module curricula I have designed and taught include: Regulating Reproductive Bodies (from 24/25); Introduction to Social Policy; Principles of Social Policy; Families and Society; Ageing and Intergenerational Relations; Research Design and Research Methodologies for Practitioners. I welcome inquiries and applications from PhD applicants in the areas of reproduction policy, sexual and reproductive politics, policy and rights and inter-generational relations.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • Timonen, V. and Conlon, C., Beyond Mannheim: Conceptualising how people 'talk' and 'do' generations in contemporary society, Advances in Life Course Research, 24, 2015, p1 - 9Journal Article, 2015, TARA - Full Text
  • Evangelia Rigaki creator/composer, Libretto: W.N. Herbert, Catherine Conlon, 'The Pregnant Box', Trinity College Dublin, Front Square, 2014, -Exhibition, 2014
  • Mahon, E, C.Conlon and L.Dillon , Women and Crisis Pregnancy in Ireland , Dublin , Dept of Health , 1998Report, 1998
  • 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 - 16Journal Article, 2019
  • The Fragility of Respectability for Lone Mothers in, editor(s)Quilty, A, Kennedy, S and Conlon, C , Abortion Papers Ireland Vol II, Cork, Attic/Cork University Press, 2015, pp228 - 243, [Conlon, C]Book Chapter, 2015
  • Timonen V, Foley G, Conlon C., Challenges when using Grounded Theory: A pragmatic introduction to doing GT research, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17, (1), 2018, p1 - 10Journal Article, 2018, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • 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, 2020Journal Article, 2020, TARA - Full Text
  • 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 - 959Journal Article, 2020, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • 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, 2020, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Quilty, A, Kennedy, S, Conlon, C, The Abortion Papers: Volume 2, Cork, Cork University Press, 2016, 1 - 331ppBook, 2016
  • O'Dare, CE, Timonen, V, Conlon, C, Escaping 'The Old Fogey': Doing Old Age through Intergenerational Friendship , Journal of Ageing Studies, 48, 2019, p67 - 75Journal Article, 2019
  • Carney, GM, Scharf, T, Timonen, V, Conlon, C, The Civic Culture of an Ageing State: Inferences from a Grounded Theory of Intergenerational Solidarity in Ireland, Gerontologist, 52, 2012, p143 - 143Journal Article, 2012
  • Friel, S, Conlon, C, What is the extent of Food Poverty in Ireland, European Journal of Public Health, 13, (4), 2004, p133 - 140Journal Article, 2004
  • 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 - 14Journal Article, 2020
  • 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 - 10Journal Article, 2021, 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 - 384Journal Article, 2021, URL
  • 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, p200-204Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • 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, p305-307Journal Article, 2020, DOI
  • 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 - 266Journal Article, 2022, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Pregnant Box: What Happens When Opera Enacts an Embodied Analysis of Concealing Pregnancy in, editor(s)Helen Kara , The Bloomsbury Handbook of Creative Research Methods, London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2023, [Catherine Conlon and Evangelia Rigaki]Book Chapter, 2023, TARA - Full Text
  • Flynn, S.,Caffrey, L.,Antosik-Parsons, K.,Whiting, S., Byrne, J. and Conlon, C., New-Materialist Bricolage: Presenting an Ontological Position for Qualitative Internet-Based Research, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 28, (2), 2025, p179 - 192Journal Article, 2025, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Áine B. Mannion and Catherine Conlon, The vagina problem: a step too far in parent"child sex communication with young children, Sex Education, 25, (3), 2025, p1 - 14, p376-389Journal Article, 2025, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Timonen V, Foley G, Conlon C., Quality in qualitative research: a relational process, Qualitative Research Journal, 2025Journal Article, 2025, DOI
  • What is the Future of Institutional Aged Care in China? A Systematic Review of the Attitudes of Chinese People toward Institutional Aged Care in, editor(s)Wu, J and Liupp, C , Aged Care in Context and Across Disciplines: China and Nordic Regions in Focus, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024, pp16 - 32, [Wenyu Li, Catherine Elliott O"Dare and Catherine Conlon]Book Chapter, 2024
  • Petautschnig C., Timonen V., Elliott O'Dare C., Conlon C., "I'm Going to Put on Bright Clothes now" The Process and Social Dimensions of Resilience Among Older Adults, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 2025, p1 - 25, p1-25Journal Article, 2025, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Conlon C., Antosik-Parsons K., Butler E., Experiences of the Irish model of community medical abortion: adherence to self-managed, people-centred abortion care, Irish Political Studies, 40, (1), 2025, p6 - 28, p6-28Journal Article, 2025, DOI
  • Variants of abortion exceptionalism: mapping adherence to healthcare standards in high-income countries in, editor(s)Zagel, H. , Reproduction Policy in the Twenty-First Century, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2024, pp86 - 101, pp86-101 , [Conlon C.]Book Chapter, 2024, DOI
  • Timonen, V., Scharf, T., Conlon, C. and Carney, G., Intergenerational solidarity and justice in Ireland: Towards a new national dialogue, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 10, (3), 2012, p317 - 321Journal Article, 2012
  • Timonen, Virpi, Conlon, Catherine, Scharf, Thomas and Carney, Gemma, Family, state, class and solidarity: Re-conceptualising intergenerational solidarity through the Grounded Theory approach, European Journal of Ageing, 10, (3), 2013, p171 - 179Journal Article, 2013, TARA - Full Text
  • Conlon, C., Carney, G., Timonen, V. and Scharf, T., 'Emergent Reconstruction' in Grounded Theory: Learning from Team-Based Interview Research, Qualitative Research, 15, (1), 2015, p39 - 56Journal Article, 2015, TARA - Full Text
  • Conlon, C., Timonen, V., Scharf, T. and Carney, G., Consumption of care and intergenerational relations in the Irish context, Families, Relationships and Societies, 3, (1), 2014, p139 - 142(4)Journal Article, 2014, TARA - Full Text
  • Carney, G., Scharf, T., Timonen, V. and Conlon, C., 'Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt': Solidarity between generations in the Irish crisis, Critical Social Policy, 34, 2014, p312 - 332Journal Article, 2014, TARA - Full Text
  • Conlon, C., Timonen, V., Carney, G. and Scharf, T., Women (re-)negotiating care across family generations: Intersections of gender and socioeconomic status, Gender & Society, 28, (5), 2014, p729 - 751Journal Article, 2014, TARA - Full Text
  • 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, 2012Report
  • Conlon, C, Concealed Pregnancy: A case-study approach from an Irish setting, Dublin, August, 2006, p1 - 204Report, URL
  • Friel, S, Conlon, C, Policy Response to Food Poverty in Ireland , Dublin, Saint Vincent dePaul, April, 2004, p1 - 154Report
  • Conlon, C, Mixed Methods research of Crisis Pregnancy Counselling and Support Services, 12, Dublin, Crisis Pregnancy Agency , January, 2005, p1 - 126Report
  • 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 - 193Report
  • Conlon, C, Women- The Picture of Health: A Review of Research on Women's Health in Ireland, Dublin, The Women's Health Council, 1999, p1 - 88Report
  • 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, 2009Report
  • Barry, U, Tiernan, S, Conlon, C, Work-Life Balance: The Irish National Report, 5, 2, Dublin, UCD School of Social Justice, March, 2005, p1 - 34Report, URL
  • Parsons, S, O'Connor, J, Conlon, C, A Whole New World: a Feminist Model of Community and Lifelong Learning , Dublin, Women's Education Research and Resource Centre, 2004Book
  • Conlon, C, Supporting Parents Communicating with Children Aged 4-9 Years about Relationships, Sexuality and Growing Up, 27, Dublin, HSE, January, 2018, p1 - 112Report, URL
  • 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, 2006Working Paper, URL
  • Barry, U, Conlon, C, O' Conor, J, "Making work pay" : debates from a gender perspective - the Irish national report, 2004Working Paper, URL
  • Barry, U, Conlon, C, Gender equality perspective on Ireland's National Employment Action Plan 2004, 2004Working Paper, URL
  • Friel, S, Conlon, C, Poster Topic: Social and Socio-Demographic Inequalities: What is the extent of food poverty in Ireland?, European Journal of Public Health, 13, 2003Journal Article
  • O'Dare, CE, Timonen, V, Conlon, C, Forum Article Intergenerational Friendship: Challenging the Dominance of Age Homophily in Friendship, Ageing and Society, 2017, p1 - 16Journal Article
  • 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
  • Barry, U, Conlon, C, Murphy, S, Gender Impact Assessment , Dublin, Gender and Employment Research Network, 2000Report
  • Conlon, Catherine, Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care (UnPAC) Study, Health Service Executive, Dublin, July, 2022, p1 - 298Report, TARA - Full Text
  • Mahon, E., Conlon C., Dillon L., Women and Crisis Pregnancy, Dublin, Stationery Office, 1998Book
  • 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, TARA - Full Text

Research Expertise

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.

  • Title
    Changing Generations
    Summary
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow on Changing Generations research project. Atlantic Philanthropies funded inter-Institutional project involving Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre, School of Social Work and Social Policy, TCD (Prof Virpi Timonen (PI) and Dr Catherine Conlon) and Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, NUI Galway (Prof Tom Scharf (PI) and Dr Gemma Carney). The project explored intergenerational solidarity in Ireland through Constructivist Grounded Theory methods using 100 qualitative interviews with women and men aged 18-102. Prof Kathy Charmaz who pioneered the method was International Adviser to the project. I lead authored three of the six peer reviewed publications generated by this project to date.
    Funding Agency
    Atlantic Philanthropies
    Date From
    July 2011
    Date To
    July 2013
  • Title
    Research with Parents
    Summary
    Commissioned by the Health Service Executive (HSE) Crisis Pregnancy Programme, this project explores how parents of children aged 4-9 communicate with their children regarding the body, relationships and sexuality. The project employs Constructivist Grounded Theory principles using focus group interviews in a project intended to inform the commissioning body in developing policies and initiatives promoting positive sexual health and well-being.
    Funding Agency
    Health Service Executive (HSE) Crisis Pregnancy Programme
    Date From
    December 2013
    Date To
    April 2015

Other social sciences, Other health sciences, Sociology and related studies,

Recognition

  • Crisis Pregnancy Agency Phd Scholarship 2007-2010
  • UCD Ad Astra Doctoral Research Scholarship 2006-2010
  • International Federation of Abortion and Contraception Professionals (FIAPAC) Ongoing
  • British Sociological Association Ongoing
  • Sociological Association of Ireland Ongoing