Daly studied history and economics at University College Dublin (UCD), graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.
She remained at UCD to attain a Master of Arts (MA) degree in history, which she completed in 1971.
[1] She undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford, completing her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1978.
[2] Her doctoral thesis was titled "Government Policy and the Depressed Areas in the Inter-War Years".
[4] From 2014 to 2017, she served as the President of the Royal Irish Academy,[5][6][7] the first woman to hold this role.