Shirley-Anne Godfrey is a PhD candidate at the O’ Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway. A Government of Ireland Research Council Scholar, she is developing theatre practices to recover the legacies of marginalised Irish women writers in relation to the plays of Lady Augusta Gregory (1852-1932) and the writings of Frances Brown (1816-1879). Other interests include Feminism and Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and Drama-in-Education.

Shirley-Anne is also a playwright and was chosen as part of the Lyric Theatre Belfast’s New Playwright’s Programme 2018/2019. Her first play Frances Brown: In My Mind’s Eye had rehearsed readings at the Lyric Theatre, and at the American Irish Historical Society, New York, at the Origins Theatre, First Irish Theatre Festival in January 2019.

Recent publication: ‘Lady Gregory’s Grania (1912) : Myth and Mythology”, eds. David Clare, Fiona Mc Donagh, and Justine Nakase. The Golden Thread: Irish Women Playwrights, Volume One (1716-1922). Liverpool University Press. 2021 (p159-173)