The Editors: Judith Harford is Director of Teaching and Learning at the School of Education, University College Dublin. Her research interests are gender and education, history of education and teacher education policy.Claire Rush is a graduate from the School of History and Anthropology, Queen’s University Belfast. Her research interests are gender history, oral history and history of education.

«Women had to struggle to gain access to university education in Ireland, as elsewhere. At what stage did their presence significantly impact upon the patriarchal character of university life? The scholarly and richly detailed essays in this volume begin to answer this question, and throw light upon the complex relationships between religion, class and gender politics in the history of university education in Ireland.» (Professor Carol Dyhouse, University of Sussex)«The editors have produced an invaluable work. All of the authors are leading authorities in their respective fields. Consequently, not only do they provide fascinating accounts and insights, they also raise many vital questions which still need to be addressed. It is most definitely worth reading.» (Professor Tom O’Donoghue, The University of Western Australia)«This is a stimulating collection of essays on a number of aspects of the history of women’s education in Ireland. It adds greatly to existing research as well as shedding new light on many important and surprisingly unexplored areas. Highly recommended.» (Dr Senia Paseta, St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)«‘Have Women Made a Difference?’ is a challenging and stimulating book, a reminder in the context of our current challenges that women have survived and prospered in the third-level sector since their entry. A comprehensive and fascinating read, the book makes a very important contribution to scholarship on education and gender in the history of modern Ireland.» (Jennifer Redmond, Gender and Education)

• Contents: Mary O’Dowd: Foreword – Judith Harford/Claire Rush: Introduction – Judith Harford: Women and the Irish University Question – Claire Rush: Women Who Made a Difference: The Belfast Ladies’ Institute, 1867-1897 – Susan M. Parkes: A Danger to the Men? Women in Trinity College Dublin in the First Decade, 1904-1914 – Jennifer FitzGerald: ‘The Queen’s Girl’: Helen Waddell and Women at Queen’s University Belfast, 1908-1920 – Phyllis Gaffney: ‘Assistant Something-or-Other in the New University’: Life and Letters of Mary Kate O’Kelly, 1878-1934 – Margaret Mac Curtain: The 1940s: Women Academics at University College Cork – Pat O’Connor: Gender and Organisational Culture at Senior Management Level: Limits and Possibilities for Change – Martin S. McNamara/Gerard M. Fealy: ‘A Little Nurse Running around College’: Legitimating Nursing in the Irish Academy – Martina McKnight/Myrtle Hill: ‘Doing Academia’ in Queen’s University Belfast: Gendered Experiences, Perceptions and Strategies.