Chris Mulhall is a lecturer at South East Technological University, where he has taught since 2001, primarily in French language, grammar and oral classes, alongside Italian and Research Methods. He holds a BA in Applied Languages (French and Italian), an MBS, and a PhD in Italian Lexicography, completed under Professor Paolo Acquaviva at NUI Dublin (2004–2009), examining idioms as a lexicographical entry in bilingual Italian-English dictionaries from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries.
His research centres on lexicography, phraseology and lexicology, particularly how bilingual dictionaries treat idioms and collocations. He has published widely in this field, presented at international conferences and symposia, and served as a reviewer for EURALEX and eLex, as well as External Examiner in Italian at Cork Institute of Technology (2014–2017). He has secured competitive funding from bodies including the Royal Irish Academy, the Irish Research Council, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and SETU, and in 2016 received the Warren N. Cordell Lexicography Fellowship from Indiana State University. From 2013 to 2017 he represented Ireland on the Management Committee of the EU COST Action IS1305 network on e-lexicography, organising its WG4 Training School on Lexicography and Lexicology at Waterford Institute of Technology in 2017.
Chris has served on several institutional committees, including the WIT Research Strategy Committee, the HR Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) Committee, and the Humanities Research Strand of the Committee for the Transition to a Technological University. From 2019 to 2022, he was Language Leader in the Department of Arts, securing Languages Connect funding for initiatives such as PicLingo, a language competition for primary schools, and leading language-promotion outreach across the South East.
Chris is a regular media contributor on language and lexicography topics writing for the Irish Times and RTÉ Brainstorm and appearing on national and regional radio stations to discuss issues of topical relevance.
From January 2014 to September 2017, Chris was a Management Committee member of EU COST Action European Network of E-Lexicography (ENEL) IS1305. In this network of over 200 participants, Chris was affiliated to Working Group (WG) 4 which focused on aspects of lexicographical and lexicological reference. During the term of the project, Chris gave presentations to other WG4 members on Aspects of Lexical Variation (Bolzano/Bozen, July 2015; Vienna, February 2015, Barcelona, March 2016) and was a co-founder of the Landlex Research Group. He contributed to Landlex presentations in Lisbon, November 2016 and Budapest, 2017 and was the organiser of the WG4 Training School on Lexicology and Lexicography held at Waterford Institute of Technology from 7-9 June 2017. In September 2017 (Leiden, The Netherlands), Chris delivered the final presentation on the output of Landlex and the sub-group of Language Variation during the closing meeting of the COST Action IS1305.
Primary School Engagement
Dr Mulhall supports primary schools across the Waterford area in introducing foreign language teaching, working under the Languages Connect Modern Languages in Primary Schools Sampler initiative. His engagement includes assisting numerous schools with funding applications to participate in the initiative and helping source language teachers for primary schools in Waterford, alongside teaching French directly in one local Waterford primary school during the 2025 and 2026 school years.
Secondary School Engagement
Dr Mulhall gives talks at second level on the French Leaving Certificate exam, with a particular focus on the use of phraseology in written production, such as essays and le journal intime. He has also spoken to second-levels students on understanding phraseology and French grammar for learners, as well as delivering standalone talks on career options relating to languages.
Journal Articles
Kosem, I., Lorentzen, H., Kallas, J., Gantar, P., & Krek, S. et al. (2019). The image of the monolingual dictionary across Europe: Results of the European survey of dictionary use and culture. International Journal of Lexicography, 33(2), 92–114. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecy022
Mulhall, C. (2018). Irish lexicography in borrowed time: The recording of Anglo-Irish borrowings in early twentieth-century Irish dictionaries (1904–1927). International Journal of Lexicography, 32(1), 214–228. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecy006
Book Chapters
Mulhall, C. (2017). Collocational patterning and Italian high frequency verbs: Corpus evidence of L1 English speakers. In E. Corino & C. Onesti (Eds.), Italiano di apprendenti: Studi a partire da VALICO e VINCA (pp. 89–101). Guerra Edizioni.
Mulhall, C. (2011). From Altieri (1749) to Zanichelli (2009): Charting the changes in lemmatization of idioms through a history of bilingual Italian-English dictionaries. In M. Adams (Ed.), Cunning passages, contrived corridors: Unexpected essays in the history of lexicography (pp. 227–250). Polimetrica.
Conference Proceedings
Alonso, A., DeCesaris, J., Galleron, I., Mulhall, C., & Williams, G. (2016). Paysage: Lexical variation in the lexis of the landscape in Romance dictionaries. Proceedings of the XVII EURALEX International Congress, 847–853.
Mulhall, C. (2014). Prendere il toro per le corna o lasciare una bocca amara? The treatment of tripartite Italian idioms in monolingual Italian and bilingual Italian-English dictionaries. Proceedings of the XVI EURALEX International Congress, 905–914. (Presented at EURALEX XVI, Bolzano/Bozen, Italy, 15–19 July 2014.)
Mulhall, C., & Ó Diollúin, S. (2014). Dearcadh na nDéise: Representations of Gaeltacht na nDéise in Dinneen's bilingual Irish-English dictionary (1927). Proceedings of the XVI EURALEX International Congress, 787–792. (Presented at EURALEX XVI, Bolzano/Bozen, Italy, 15–19 July 2014.)
Mulhall, C. (2012). Idioms as a microstructural component: A history of bilingual Italian-English dictionaries. Proceedings of the XV EURALEX International Congress, 737–742. (Presented by Prof. Carla Marello at EURALEX XV, University of Oslo, Norway, 7–11 August 2012.)
Mulhall, C. (2010). A semantic and lexical-based approach to the lemmatisation of idioms in bilingual Italian-English dictionaries. In A. Dykstra & T. Schoonheim (Eds.), Proceedings of the XIV EURALEX International Congress (pp. 1355–1371). (Presented at EURALEX XIV, Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, 6–10 July 2010.)
Mulhall, C. (2008). The lemmatisation of lexically variable idioms: The case of bilingual Italian-English dictionaries. Proceedings of the XIII EURALEX International Congress, 1373–1378. (Presented at EURALEX XIII, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, 15–19 July 2008.)
Mulhall, C. (2007). Semantics and the lemmatisation of idiomatic expressions: An analysis of bilingual Italian-English dictionaries. LangUE Conference Online Proceedings, 1–15. (Presented at LangUE, University of Essex, London, England, 18 July 2007.)
Mulhall, C. (15-16 November 2024). Engendering identities: The depictions of masculinity and femininity in bilingual French-English dictionaries [Conference presentation]. Irish Association of Applied Linguistics, University College Cork, Ireland.
Mulhall, C. (23–24 April 2018). How corpus data have (not) changed bilingual dictionaries: The case of delexical verbs [Conference presentation]. First Conference on Frisian Language and Literature, Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Mulhall, C., & Williams, G. (24–25 February 2017). The case of daisy: Bringing together research through a common theme with examples in English and Irish [Conference presentation]. COST Action ENeL Sixth Meeting, Budapest, Hungary.
Mulhall, C. (3–4 November 2016). Red and hill: Collocational evidence from early twentieth-century bilingual Irish-English dictionaries [Conference presentation]. LANDLEX Meeting, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
Mulhall, C. ( 16–19 September 2015). Examining Identities through Regional Expression (EIRE): The case of Munster dialects in Dinneen's bilingual Irish-English dictionaries (1904) and (1927) [Conference presentation]. Henry Sweet Society for Linguistic Ideas Conference, Gargnano del Garda, Italy.
Mulhall, C. (15 May 2015). Dinneen: Ideologies, the self and regional identity [Conference presentation]. Irishness Conference, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mulhall, C. (17 April 2015). To beg, to borrow or to steal: The necessity of borrowings in Irish [Conference presentation]. Lexicography of Minority Languages Conference, Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Mulhall, C. (21 February 2009 ). From Altieri (1749) to Zanichelli (2009): Charting the changes in the lemmatisation of idioms through a history of bilingual Italian-English dictionaries [Conference presentation]. Graduate Conference in Italian Studies, Department of Italian, University College Cork.
Mulhall, C. (27–30 May 2009). From Altieri (1749) to Zanichelli (2009): Charting the changes in the lemmatisation of idioms through a history of bilingual Italian-English dictionaries [Conference presentation]. Dictionary Society of North America Conference, University of Indiana, Bloomington, USA.
Mulhall, C. (6 July 2006). Lexical variation in idioms in bilingual Italian-English dictionaries [Conference presentation]. Australex Conference, University of Brisbane, Australia.
Chris is an active contributor in the media to topics language and lexicography having contributed to discussions on KFM, Midlands 103, WLRFM, South-East Radio, Newstalk and 2FM since 2014. In 2026, Dr Mulhall completed an EU CONEXUS micro-credential in Scholarly Podcasting, further building on his experience across print and broadcast media.
Latest Media Contribution: Midlands 103 (24 January 2026): Slang Word of the Year
