Celeste McNamara is a historian of early modern Europe. She specialises in early modern Italy, the history of the Catholic Church, gender, and the history of crime. She holds a PhD from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA (2013). Before coming to DCU, she taught at the State University of New York at Cortland, University of Warwick/Warwick in Venice, and the College of William and Mary. 

Dr McNamara is the author of The Bishop's Burden: Reforming the Catholic Church in Early Modern Italy (CUA Press, 2020), and a number of articles and book chapters. She is currently working on the history of the control of illicit sexuality in 16th-18th century Venice by both ecclesiastical and secular powers, with funding from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.