ABSTRACT
This chapter includes an overview of qualitative nursing and midwifery research undertaken in the Irish Republic over the past 20 years. The Republic of Ireland includes the 26 counties of Ireland and does not include the six counties of Northern Ireland which are governed by the United Kingdom. It is worth noting that midwifery is considered a distinct discipline in Ireland and it is therefore necessary to include it as a separate search in order to capture midwifery research in the literature review of qualitative nursing and midwifery research undertaken in Ireland over the past 20 years, which is included in this chapter. Nursing research in Ireland is still comparatively new, with little nursing research activity evident in the country prior to the early 1990s. However, pioneers of nursing research worked hard to establish nursing inquiry from the 1970s and saw the fruition of their vision in the development and rapid growth of nursing research production over the past 15 years. Despite the impact of the global recession on Ireland, Irish nursing research is well placed to contribute to nursing science in the coming decades.
