• Women's history
• Abortion politics
• Everyday lives
• State building
• History of Cumann na nGaedheal / Fine Gael
• Election history

Having completed her BA (2003) and PhD in history (2007) at University College Dublin, Ciara worked there for six years before relocating to the University of Hertfordshire in 2013. Since then she has been promoted to the position of Reader in History, and she has also served as Head of History and, most recently, Associate Dean of the School of Humanities.

She has published extensively on the transformation of independent Ireland. Her major works include The Cosgrave Party: a History of Cumann na nGaedheal, 1923-1933 (2010) and A Just Society for Ireland? 1964-1987 (2013). Most recently she co-authored Saving the State: Fine Gael from Collins to Varadkar with political journalist Stephen Collins. 

She has two strands of research interest. She is fascinated by the political transformation of independent Ireland (with a particular interest in the history of the Cumann na nGaedheal / Fine Gael party), and she is also intrigued by the gendered experience of everyday life.

Her work has received considerable external recognition, and she has been funded by the Irish Research Council, the ESRC, the AHRC, and other bodies. Her research has also attracted significant media interest, and she appears fairly regularly in Irish print and broadcast media.

Her commitment to excellence in learning and teaching was acknowledged in her successful application to become a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2014, and in her advancement to Senior Fellow in 2018. The latter recognises effective and significant impact on students in a sphere of influence wider than her own classroom.