Maynooth University has welcomed Dr David Doyle as a lecturer in its Department of Law.

The law lecturer, who is currently working on a book about capital punishment in post-independence Ireland, joined the university late last year.

Dr Doyle read History and Politics at University College Dublin where he graduated with BA and MA degrees, before completing his doctorate and a Bachelor of Laws degree (with first class honours) at the National University of Ireland Galway.

A previous recipient of an IRCHSS doctoral scholarship, his PhD thesis,Sexual Crime and the Formulation of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935, investigated the incidence and prosecution of reported child sex crimes in the State’s early history and provides critical analysis of the law governing child sexual abuse in twentieth century Ireland.

In 2010, Dr Doyle returned to UCD where was awarded a highly competitive IRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011), an IRC New Ideas Award (2011), an IRC New Foundations Award (2012) and an IRC Research and Networking Grant (2012) to further his research on capital punishment in twentieth century Ireland.

In 2013, Dr Doyle was awarded a prestigious IRC (Marie-Curie Co-Fund) International Career Development Fellowship, which was hosted by the Centre for Criminology at the Oxford Faculty of Law.

His research interests include capital punishment, corporate manslaughter, criminal justice history, human trafficking and sexual offences.