Susan Galavan is a qualified architect and holds a first class Masters degree from University College Dublin and a PhD in architectural history from Trinity College Dublin. Her doctorate was a multidisciplinary examination of Dublin’s Victorian domestic architecture, funded by a three-year scholarship from the Irish Research Council. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Architecture, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Galavan's presentation of histories is mediated through portraits and other illustrations... The familiar becomes extraordinary. Descriptions of materials and stone-quarrying, along with readings of brilliant masters and doctoral research give the reader access to highly specialised knowledge. Ellen Rowley, History Ireland Aside from the architectural evolution that Galavan traces, there is an interesting analysis of how domestic space reflected the lifestyle and aspirations of Dublin's Victorian Upper-Middle classes. She demonstrates how the internal layout articulates the relationship between master and servant, male and female, adult and child. Deirdre Conroy, Irish Arts Review