Elva Johnston is an expert on early medieval Ireland and an Associate Professor in the School of History in UCD.

Some of her earliest research was on the cult of the saints, something that she keeps returning to regularly. She is particularly interested in those with Munster connections. Apart from the saints, Elva also works on Ireland in the Roman Atlantic, early medieval literacy, and gender. Her monograph, Literacy and Identity in Early Medieval Ireland (Woodbridge 2013) was awarded the Irish Historical Research Prize.