Lecturer and 2nd Year Manager

12 Rhetoric House
Tel: +353 1 708 6024
E-mail: ronan.foley@nuim.ie

Office Hours

Biography

I have been a lecturer at NUI Maynooth since 2003 and teach courses on GIS and Medical/Health Geographies. I have a particular interest in GIS and its applicability within health and social care settings, as my Ph.D. from the University of Brighton (2000) investigated the use of GIS in the planning of services for carers of children with disabilities. I received earlier degrees/diplomas from UCC and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. At NUI Maynooth, I am a Research Associate of NIRSA, the NCG, the Centre for Health GeoInformatics (CHG) and AIRO. Prior to my arrival at Maynooth, I was a technician, teacher and researcher in the School of the Environment at the University of Brighton from 1988-2003. I have been involved in a diverse range of research and consultancy projects allied to health, social and economic analysis in both Ireland and the UK. Most recently I have been researching on the subject of therapeutic landscapes and in particular relationships between water, health and place at a range of settings including wells, baths and spas.

Research Interests

Health Geographies, GIS, Informal Carers, Therapeutic Landscapes, Spatial Data, Accessibility.

Funded Research, Grants and Awards

A geography of health inequalities: researching mortality and premature mortality within Ireland (Partner). Lead Agency: Centre for Health GeoInformatics, NCG - NUI Maynooth. September 2010 - September 2012. Funder: Health Research Board (HRB).

Resource Allocation in the Irish Health Services (Partner). Lead Agency: School of Public Health and Population Sciences, UCD. November 2006 - February 2009 Funder: Health Research Board (HRB).

Urban-Environment Cluster Project 3: Moland Modelling (Partner). Lead Agency: Urban Institute of Ireland, UCD. Funder: Environmental Protection Agency. 2006-2009.

Modelling All-Ireland Hospital Accessibility: Pilot study. (PI). Lead Agency: NCG-NUI Maynooth. Funder: Centre for Cross-Border Studies (CCBS). 2007-2008.

Development of a Local Poverty Index (Co-Partner). Lead Agency: Trutz Haase Consultants. Funder: Combat Poverty Agency. 2006-2007.

Identifying Proofs of Concept for New Small Areas for Ireland (PI). Lead Agency: NIRSA-NUI Maynooth. Funder: Central Statistics Office, Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government, and Ordnance Survey Ireland. 2004 -2005.

Mapping Mental Health Advocacy Needs for London (Co-Partner). Lead Agency: Hazel Platzer (Independent Health Consultant). Funder: NHS Executive London. 2001-2002.

Recent Publications

Foley, R., Wheeler, A. and Kearns, R. (2011) Selling the Colonial Spa Town: The Contested Therapeutic Landscapes of Lisdoonvarna and Te Aroha. Irish Geography, 44, 2-3, 151-172.

González, A., Gilmer, A., Foley, R., Sweeney, J. and Fry, J. (2011) Applying Geographic Information Systems to Support Strategic Environmental Assessment: Opportunities and Limitations in the Context of Irish Land use Plans. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 31, 368-381.

Foley, R. (2011)  Performing Health in Place: The Holy Well as a Therapeutic Assemblage, Health & Place, 17, 2, 470-479.

Foley, R. and Sweeney, J (2010) Introduction to Dublin 2026: The Future Urban Environment. Journal of Irish Urban Studies, 7 to 9, 1-3.

Foley, R. (2010) Healing Waters: Therapeutic Landscapes in Historic and Contemporary Ireland. Farnham, Ashgate.

Foley, R. (2009) Integrated Spatial Data Infrastructures. In Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.) International Encyclopaedia of Human Geography, Volume V. Oxford, Elsevier, pp. 507-511.

Foley, R., Charlton, M. and Fotheringham, A.S. (2009) GIS in Health & Social Care Planning. In Bavaud, F. and Mager, C. (eds.) Handbook of Theoretical and Quantitative Geography, Lausanne, UNIL-FGSE, 73-115.

González, A., Gilmer, A., Foley, R., Sweeney, J. and Fry, J. (2009) Developing and Applying a Participative Web-based GIS for Integration of Public Perceptions into Strategic Environmental Assessment. In Mount, N. J., Harvey, G. L., Aplin, P. and Priestnall, G. (eds.) Representing, Modeling and Visualizing the Natural Environment: Innovations in GIS 13, CRC Press: Florida, 117-136.

Foley, R. (2008) The Geography of Informal Care in Ireland, 2002-2006. Irish Geography, 41, 3, 261-278.

González, A., Gilmer, A., Foley, R., Sweeney, J. and Fry, J. (2008) Technology-aided Participative Methods in Environmental Assessment: An International Perspective. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 32, 4, 303-316.

Foley, R., Charlton, M. and Clarke, P. (2008) Surveying the Sickbeds: Initial Steps Towards Modelling All-Ireland Hospital Accessibility. The Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland, 3, 66-79.

Gleeson, J., Kitchin, R., Bartley, B., Driscoll, J., Foley, R., Fotheringham, A.S. and Lloyd, C. (2008) The Atlas of the Island of Ireland: Mapping Social and Economic Change, Maynooth, AIRO-ICLRD.

Walsh, J., Foley, R., Kavanagh, A., McElwain, A. (2007) Origins, Destinations & Catchments: Mapping Travel to Work in Ireland in 2002. Journal of the Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland, Volume XXXV, 1-58.

Foley, R. and Platzer, H. (2007) Place and Provision: Mapping Mental Health Advocacy Services in London. Social Science & Medicine, 64, 3, 617-632.

Kalogirou, S. and Foley, R. (2006) Health, Place & Hanly: Modelling Accessibility to Hospitals in Ireland. Irish Geography, 39, 1, 52-68.

Foley, R. (2002). 'Assessing the applicability of GIS in a health and social care setting: planning services for informal carers in East Sussex, England'. Social Science & Medicine, 55, 1, 79-96.

Recent Conference Papers and Invited Presentations

A Reservoir to Boot ... Body-Water engagements, swimming and wellbeing. Association of American Geographers Annual Conference 2012, New York, Feb. 28th, 2012.

Holy Wells: Healing Waters. In the Group Exhibition, SURFACE TENSION: The Future of Water, curated by Ralph Borland, Michael John Gorman, Bruce Misstear and Jane Withers. Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, October 21st, 2011 to January 20th, 2012.

Indigenous Narratives of Health: (Re)Placing Folk Medicine within Irish Health Histories. 14th International Symposium in Medical Geography, Durham, England, July 10th – 15th, 2011.

Deep Mappings of Spirituality: Energy, Reach and Place. AHRC-ESRC Religion & Society Workshop: New Spiritualities, University of Glasgow, May 11th.

Sex and the Spa: Liminality at the Watering-Place. Conference of Irish Geographers 2011, Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick, May 6th to 8th.

Small Health Pilgrimages: Holy Well Practices & Performances. AHRC-ESRC Workshop: Spaces of Renewal: Defining the sacred in the leisure - tourism - heritage - pilgrimage nexus. University of the West of England, Bristol, Jan 13th, 2011

A Place Apart: Affect and Therapeutic Encounters with Water. Royal Geographical Society - Institute of British Geographers Annual Conference 2010, London, September 1st - 3rd, 2010.

Geography and Resource Allocation Models: Issues for the development of an Irish Model. Towards a Resource Allocation Model for Primary, Continuing and Community Care in the Health Services. Joint Report Launch by Health Research Board/Dublin City University, Dublin, Jan 25th, 2010.

Representing the ‘Other’: Critical Aspects of Census Data Classification. 16th European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography, NUI Maynooth, September 4th – 8th, 2009.

Embodiment, Performance and Narrative at the Holy Well. 13th International Symposium in Medical Geography, Hamilton, Canada, July 12th – 17th, 2009.

To Heal or to Pamper? Re-selling and Re-telling the Spa. Association of American Geographers Annual Conference 2008, Boston, USA, April 15th-19th, 2008.

Crossing Borders and Boundaries: Modelling All-Ireland Changing Hospital Accessibility. 15th European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography, Montreaux, Switzerland, September 7th – 11th, 2007. (With Charlton, M.)

Modelling Commuting Catchments in Ireland: A Hierarchical Approach using GIS. GIS Research UK Conference 2007, NUI Maynooth, April 11th – 13th, 2007. (With Meredith, D., Charlton, M. and Walsh, J.).

Commodifying Healthy Places: The Spa Town as a Therapeutic Landscape. 12th International Symposium in Medical Geography, Bonn, Germany, July 9th-13th, 2007.

Equitable Access to Carer’s Services: Mapping the Geographies of Informal Care in Ireland. Association of American Geographers Annual Conference 2007, San Francisco, USA, April 16th – 21st 2007.

External Assignments

Research Visitor, School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Sciences, University of Auckland, November 2008- March 2009.