Dr Jenny Butler has presented the following papers at conferences in Ireland and internationally:

 

  • Discussant at the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR) Roundtable Study of Religions and Ireland, 15 December 2023.

  • '"When the Breath of Twilight Blows to Flame the Misty Skies": Esoteric Literature and Ireland's Celtic Revival', at ESOLIT: Esotericism and Literature Network of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) Founding Conference, Zoom, 8 December 2023.

  • 'Fairy Places, Power Centres and Otherworldly Time in Contemporary Irish Pagan Rituals', at Sacred Dichotomies: Time and Space in Contemporary Pagan Rituals, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 25 November 2023.

  • 'Hi-Tech Utopias – The Raëlian Movement, Science and Spirituality', at the 20th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Academic Study of Religions (EASR)—Religions and Technologies, Vilnius, Lithuania, 4-8 September 2023.

  • 'Gender, Magic, and the Irish Revolution' at the Women in the Freedom Struggle in India and Ireland: Reformism, Nationalism and Transnationalism in Perspective Conference, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhu, India, 13-14 March 2023.

  • KEYNOTE: 'The Celtic Golden Age and Mystical Ireland: Historical Constructs and Contemporary Identities', at the Historical Fictions Research Network Conference, 17-19 February 2023.
     

  • 'Esotericism, Romantic Nationalism, and the Birth of the Irish State' at the 19th European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR)—Religions and States of Freedom, University College Cork, 27 June–1 July 2022
     
  • KEYNOTE: 'Contemporary Irish Paganism, Ritual Magic, and the Celtic Otherworld', at the 7th Art and Psyche Symposium: The Otherworld, Limerick School of Art & Design, Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), 9 April 2022
     
  • KEYNOTE: '"Dance Upon the Mountains Like a Flame": Myth, Ritual and Folklore in Contemporary Irish Paganism' at the Mythes et Folklores Celtiques dans le monde anglophone/Celtic Myths and Folklore of the English-speaking World at the University of Toulon, France, 18-19 November 2021
     
  • 'The Ever-Living Ones: Contemporary Paganism, Old Gods, and the Resilience of Tradition in Modern Ireland' at the 18th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions—Resilient Religion at The University of Pisa, 30 August-3 September 2021
     
  • KEYNOTE: 'Celtic Gods in a New Age: the Significance of Myth in the Identity, Worldview and Practice of Contemporary Irish Pagans' at the Second International Symposium and Exhibition on Mythology: Myths in the Ancient and Modern World at Ardahan University, Turkey, 8-10 June 2021
     
  • 'St Brigit's Day and the Festival of Imbolc: Themes of Regeneration and Fertility' in the SIEF Ritual Year Seasonal Webinar Series (Winter), hosted by the Estonian Literary Museum and the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies (Tartu), 1 February 2021
     
  • '‘Touching the Numinous: “Fairy Places” in Legend and Experience of the Irish Landscape' at the Putting Magic in Place Symposium at the University of Oxford, 4-7 December 2020
     
  • 'Extra-terrestrials, Revelation and Planetary Consciousness: From Zecharia Sitchin to Raëlism’, at Trans-States: The Art of Revelation, at the University of Northampton, England, 13-14 September 2019
     
  • Roundtable Discussant in ‘Plenary Session: Film Studies and Religious Studies’ at the British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR)—Visualising Cultures: Media, Religion and Technology at Leeds Trinity University, 2-4 September 2019
  • ‘Sex, Sacrifice and Secrecy: Screen Media, News Media and the Lived Realities of Pagan Practitioners’ at the British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR)—Visualising Cultures: Media, Religion and Technology at Leeds Trinity University, 2-4 September 2019
     
  • Roundtable Discussant on “Accessing Contemporary Esoteric Techniques for Altering Consciousness”, at the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE)—Western Esotericism and Consciousness: Visions, Voices, Altered States at the University of Amsterdam, 2-4 July 2019
  • “‘Away with the Fairies’: Intersections of Contemporary Paganism and Traditional Irish Culture” in the Panel “Consciousness and Communication with Non-Humans in Contemporary Esotericism”, at the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE)—Western Esotericism and Consciousness: Visions, Voices, Altered States at the University of Amsterdam, 2-4 July 2019
     
  • “‘Till the Stars had Run Away and the Shadows Eaten the Moon’: Druids’ and Witches’ Engagement with Irish History, Folklore, and Ideas of Celticity”, at the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR)—Continuations and Disruptions Conference at the University of Tartu, Estonia, 25-29 June 2019
     
  • “‘To the Waters and the Wild’: The Significance of Water in Contemporary Irish Pagan Cosmology and Practice”, at the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC)—Religion/Water/Climate: Changing Cultures and Landscapes Conference, held at University College Cork, Ireland, 13-16 June 2019.
  • Roundtable Discussant during the International Workshop 'Dynamics of Place: Conceptions of Sacred Space and Materiality in Japan and Ireland', Co-Organised by the Study of Religions Department, UCC and the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, held at University College Cork, 27 May 2019
     
  • 'Identity Politics and Power Play at the "Holiest Mountain in Ireland"', at the Society for the Anthropology of Religion (SAR)—Politics of Religious Knowledge and Ignorance Conference at Victoria College, University of Toronto, 21-23 May 2019
     
  • 'Brigid’s Way: Goddess, Saint and the Narration of Religious Heritages on an Irish Pilgrim Path', at the 14th international SIEF (Societé Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore) Congress—Track Changes: Reflecting on a Transforming World at the University of Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 14-17 April 2019
     
  • 'Contemporary Paganism and the Festival of Samhain', at the Irish Network for the Study of Esotericism and Paganism—Magic(k) and Festivals Conference at University College Cork, 26 October 2018
     
  • 'Green Magic and the Green Man: Contemporary Eco-Paganism and Holistic Cosmology', at Eco-Cosmology, Sustainability and a Spirit of Resilience Conference—Anthropological Association of Ireland Conference at University College Cork, 20-21 September 2018
     
  • 'Alcoholic Drinks in Irish Culture' at the III International Field Ethnographic Symposium ‘An Hour with Kvass’: Drinks in the Culture of the Peoples of the Urals and Volga Region at the Ludorvay Museum, Udmurtia, Russia on 18-20 September 2018
     
  • 'Goddesses, Saints and Fairies: Re-Storying and Symbolic Boundaries of Ireland’s Sacred Landscapes' at Borders and Boundaries: 'Religion’'on the Periphery—Joint Conference between the British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR) and the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR), Queen’s University, Belfast, 3-5 September 2018
     
  • 'Disciplinary Approaches to the Study of the "Supernatural"—Report on Current Research Projects’ at Exploring the Hermetic Future III, a research seminar organised by the Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam, held at Domaine de Taurenne, Aups, France, 28-30 July 2018
     
  • 'Entering the Magic Mists: Irish Contemporary Paganism, Celticity and Indigeneity' at 16th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR)—Multiple Religious Identities in Bern, Switzerland on 17-21 June 2018
  • ‘Fairies, Forts, and Farmlands: Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Sense of Place, and Sustainable Living’ at the First Marginalised and Endangered Worldviews Study Centre (MEWSC) Winter School—Endangered Cultures and Sustainability  at the Indira Ghandi Tribal University (IGTU) in Amarkantak, India on 8-12 January 2018
     
  • ‘Guardians of the Earth: Contemporary Paganism, Sacred Landscape and Environmental Activism’ presented at the First Marginalised and Endangered Worldviews Study Centre (MEWSC) Winter School—Endangered Cultures and Sustainability at the Indira Ghandi Tribal University (IGTU) in Amarkantak, India on 8-12 January 2018
     
  • ‘Imagination, Creative Expression and Religious Traditions of Contemporary Pagans in Ireland’ in the ‘Imagination, Knowledge and Religious Traditions Panel’ of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) Annual Conference—‘Communicating Religion’, held at the University of Leuven, Belgium, from 18-21 September 2017
     
  • ‘Contemporary Pagan Migrants and the Utilisation of Myth in Creating a Sense of Place’ presented at the Sixth Annual Conference of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions—'Religion, Myth and Migration', held at Waterford Institute of Technology on 16 June 2017
     
  • ‘Croagh Patrick Mountain as a Site of Cultural Hybridity and Religious Syncretism’ presented at the 11th Conference of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC)–‘Mountains and Sacred Landscapes’, held at The New School, New York City, 20-23 April, 2017
     
  • ‘Beyond Bordered Lands: Contemporary Paganism, Spiritual Unity and Conceptualisations of Geo-Physical Space’ presented at Borders/Debordering: Towards a New World Culture of Hospitality, held at Hotel Špik, Gozd Martuljek, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on 30 June to 3 July 2016
     
  • ‘Revolution in the Academy: Challenging the Scientific (Rationalistic) Paradigm in the Study of Religions’ presented at theFifth Annual Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions Conference—Revolution and Religion, held at University College Cork on 16-17 June 2016
     
  • ‘Tattoos as Talismans: Magic in the Flesh’ presented at the 9th International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) Charms, Charmers and Charming Conference – Tradition and Innovation, co-hosted by UCC’s Department of Study of Religions, Department of Early and Medieval Irish and Department of Folklore and Ethnology, held at University College Cork on 6-8 May 2016
     
  • ‘Scientific Rationalism, Cultural Cannibalism, and the Case of Irish Fairy Beliefs’ presented at the 10th Anniversary Conference – ‘Religion, Science and the Future’ – of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC), January 14-17, 2016
     
  • 'Cunning Folk in the Irish Context: Wise Women, Fairy Doctors and the Consequences of Contact with the Otherworld' presented at The Traditional Cosmology Society Conference—Shamanism and Cunning Folk: Traditional and Modern Perspectives, held at Edinburgh College of Art on 31 October 2015
     
  • ‘Irish Fairy Beliefs and Folk Religion’ presented in the ‘Research Slam’ section of the Fourth Annual Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR) Conference—The Study of Religions in Ireland: People, Places, Projects, held at Trinity College Dublin on 11 May 2015
     
  • ‘Divine Encounters: Contemporary Pagan Artwork, Liminal Spaces, and the Creative Process’ presented at the Annual Anthropological Association of Ireland Conference 2015—Permanence & Transition: Anthropological Perspectives, held at University College Cork, Ireland, 6-7 March 2015
     
  • ‘Remembering the Ancestors in Contemporary Paganism’ presented at the Third Annual ISASR Conference—Religion and Remembering, held at Union Theological College, Belfast in collaboration with Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 23-24 May 2014
     
  • ‘Folklore and Madness: Traditional Beliefs and Contemporary Popular Conceptions of Madness in the Irish Context’ presented at the Meanings of Madness: Critical and Creative Perspectives Conference, held at University College Cork, Ireland, 13-14 November 2013
     
  • ‘Fairy Trees and Holy Wells as Sites of Nexus between Different Popular Religious Traditions’ presented at the ISASR Conference 2013–Ireland, America and Transnationalism: Studying Religions in a Globalized World, held at The Clinton Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland, 10-12 May 2013
     
  • ‘Researching Irish Neo-Paganism: Exploring Issues of Ethnographic Practice, Spiritual Experience Narrative and Religious Worldview’ presented at the ISASR Conference 2012–Emerging Perspectives: Religions and Ireland, held at the Study of Religions Department, University College Cork, Ireland, 25-26 May 2012
     
  • ‘Irish Neo-Paganism: Worldview and Identity’ presented at Alternative Spiritualities, the New Age and New Religious Movements in Ireland: an Interdisciplinary Conference, held at the NUI (National University of Ireland) Maynooth, Ireland, 30-31 October 2009
     
  • ‘Masks and Processions in the Traditional Irish Ritual Year’ presented at The Power of the Mask Conference, the fifth conference of the Societé Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF) Ritual Year Working Group, held at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2-6 July 2009
     
  • ‘The Neo-Pagan Ritual Year and Gender’ presented at The Ritual Year and Gender Conference, the fourth conference of the SIEF Ritual Year Working Group, hosted by The Department of Folklore and Ethnology, University College Cork, Ireland, 22-26 June 2008
     
  • ‘Celticity as a Cultural Resource in Irish Neo-Paganism’ presented in the ‘Locating Celticity Panel’ at the 9th SIEF Congress Transcending ‘European Heritages’: Liberating the Ethnological Imagination, hosted by the University of Ulster, held in Derry, Northern Ireland, 16-20 June 2008
     
  • ‘Neo-Paganism as a Life-embracing Spirituality’ presented at Challenging Cultures of Death: Mercy Not Sacrifice, a conference hosted by the Institute for Feminism and Religion, held at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, 2-4 November 2007
     
  • ‘Fairy Trees and Sacred Groves: Trees in Neo-Pagan Worldview and Ritual Practice’ presented at Trees in Legend and Tradition, English Folklore Society Conference, held at The Weald and Downland Folk Museum, Singleton, East Sussex, England, 1-2September 2007
     
  • ‘History of Neo-Paganism and Neo-Pagan Reinterpretations of History’ presented at The Ritual Year and History Conference, the third conference of the SIEF Ritual Year Working Group, held in Strážnice, Czech Republic, 25-29May 2007
     
  • ‘Neo-Pagan Charms’ presented at the Charms, Charmers and Charming Conference, hosted by the Pécs Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pécs, Hungary, 11-13 May 2007
     
  • ‘Neo-Pagan Celebrations of the Festival of Samhain’ presented at the International Conference on Halloween, hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, 31 October-1 November 2006
     
  • ‘Neo-Pagan Celebrations of the Summer Solstice’ presented at The Ritual Year and Ritual Diversity Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 7-11 June 2006
     
  • ‘Irish Witchcraft and Paganism in Contemporary Media’ presented at the Charming and Crafty: Witchcraft and Paganism in Contemporary Media Conference, held at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 18-21 May 2006
     
  • ‘Personal Spiritual Narratives of Irish Neo-Pagans’ presented at the 14th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR), held in Tartu, Estonia, 26-31July 2005
     
  • ‘Celtic Legends and the Irish Neo-Pagan Community’ presented at The 5th Celtic-Nordic-Baltic Folklore Symposium on Folk Legends, at The University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, 15-18June 2005
     
  • ‘The Neo-Pagan Ritual Year’ presented at The Ritual Year Conference organised by The Traditional Cosmology Society, held at The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 7 July 2004
     
  • ‘Expressions of the Sacred in Contemporary Pagan Culture in Ireland’ presented in Round-Table Discussion No. 3: Sacred Basis of Creativity and Process of Creation of the Sacral at Sacral Through the Eyes of the ‘Lay’ and the ‘Initiated’: Congress on Shamanism and other Fields Exploring the Sacred, hosted by The Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and held in Moscow and the Moscow region, Russia, 20-30 June 2004
     
  • ‘Neo-Paganism and the Domain of Alternative Healing in Contemporary Ireland’ presented at ASANAS (Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies) Goes Mainstream? Conference, held at the University of Wolverhampton, England, UK, 21 May 2004
     
  • ‘Ireland’s Neo-Pagan Community: Worldview and Ritual’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference, hosted by the ‘Belief Beyond Boundaries Research Group’ of the Department of Religious Studies of the Open University in Milton Keynes, England, UK, 30 May-1 June 2003
     
  • ‘The Imaginaire of Neo-Pagan Discourse: Perceptions of Landscape’ presented at the Language, Literature and the Imaginaire Conference, XII UCC School of Languages and Literature Annual Conference on Cross-Currents in Literature, Film and the Visual Arts, University College Cork, Ireland, 2-4 May 2003
     
  • ‘Neo-Pagan Ritual Practice in Ireland as Cultural Process’ presented at From Vernacular Religion to Contemporary Spirituality: Locating Religion in European Ethnology, hosted by the Religious Studies Department of the Open University, Milton Keynes, England, UK, 10-11 January 2003
     
  • ‘Ireland’s Sacred Landscape: Neo-Pagan Worldview and the Ritual Utilisation of Heritage Sites’ presented at Ireland’s Heritages: Critical Perspectives on Consumption, Method and Memory held at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in Castlebar, Mayo, Ireland, 18-20 October 2002
     
  • ‘Irish Neo-Pagan Ritual Practice: Visual Representations of Culture and Creative Expressions of Identity’ presented at the Communicating Cultures Seminar held at The University of Ulster Belfast campus, Northern Ireland, 20-22 June 2002

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