Deirdre Nuttall carries out academic research and work in the field of ethnology, folklore, and oral history, and has published widely in this area. Her book, Different and the Same; a Folk History of the Protestants of Independent Ireland was one of the Irish Independent’s books of the year in 2020. Roy Foster, Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford, and Emeritus Professor of Irish History and Literature, Queen Mary University of London, praised it, saying,
"I was fascinated by Deirdre Nuttall’s absorbing and perceptive book, which masterfully marshal and presents the voices of an often-forgotten element in Irish life. It gently interrogates ideas of Irish ‘authenticity’ and provides a vivid record of social change as well as of religious tradition."
As an academic, Deirdre works in the area of culture and tradition, popular religious practice and belief, and narratives of the supernatural. She is also an experienced lecturer. She is currently working in partnership with the county council of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin on an ambitious oral history project, the People’s History of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown”