Debra Snoddy
Irish by descent and inclination, I am the only girl in a family of six siblings. Born in Carlow, Ireland I had a traditional Irish Roman Catholic up-bringing and and even more traditional Catholic education.
Having successfully completed an honours Baccalaureate in Arts and Theology (1996) at the Pontifical University, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, I continued post-graduate studies in Theology and Biblical Stuides at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (KULeuven). There I was awarded a first class Master’s Degree in Theology and an STL in Sacred Scripture in 1999. In 2000, I successfully completed a first-class Master of Science degree in Family and Sexuality Studies in the Faculty of Medicine of KULeuven, Belgium while completing the Doctoral Programme in the Faculty of Theology that same year.
Upon return to Ireland in 2000, I began my career in lecturing as Adjunct Lecturer in Biblical Studies at All Hallows College in Dublin, Ireland and supplemented my income with night and weekend work in the hospitality industry.
In 2003, I began working for the Archdiocese of Armagh, in the newly created post as Co-ordinator for the Office of Pastoral Renewal and Family Ministry (OPRFM). Much of my focus there was concentrated in creating, designing and implementing a programme for the development of Parish Pastoral Councils, as well as organising, and providing facilitation for, various diocesan events. Part of my professional development while in post in Armagh included successfully completing my training as a professional facilitator with the Belgian Institute of Cultural Affairs’ outreach programme in Ireland.
I left Armagh Diocese in 2007 to begin work at All Hallows College. At All Hallows I was responsible for developing and delivering courses on the Bible especially on the Gospel of John. During my tenure there, I was also head of the life-long learning programmes which formed part of the School of Adult and Community Learning. In my role as Chair I was responsible for the design, development and evaluation of programmes and courses for adult learners returning to education for personal and or professional development. It is during my time in All Hallows that I began work on my doctoral thesis in the Gospel of John for which I was awarded a PhD and an STD from KULeuven, Belgium (2014).
In 2015 I worked as Lecturer in Theology and Biblical Studies for Carlow College, Carlow, Ireland teaching Christology, Moral Theology and Human Sexuality, Systematic Theology, Introduction to Theology, Prophets, Pauline Literature, Synoptic Gospels, and the Gospel of John. Since August 2016, I have been working as Lecturer in Biblical Studies – teaching both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures – here at CIS and I am a founding member of the SCD Centre for Gospels Research.
I am a member of the Research Group for the Study of the Johannine and Pauline Literature at the Faculty of Theology of KULeuven, Belgium as well as the Australian Catholic Biblical Society, the European Biblical Association and also the Irish Biblical Association.
Publications include the co-authoring of Parish Pastoral Councils: A Formation Manual, (Dublin: Veritas, 2010) as well as articles for national and international journals.