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AH30680

Academic Year 2025/2026

Visualising Modern Ireland (AH30680)

Subject:
Art History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Art History & Cultural Policy
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Roisin Kennedy
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

From 1891 there was a movement in Irish art and visual culture to express a unique Irish Identity. This began in a concerted fashion with the Cultural Revival and the establishment of the Irish Arts and Crafts Society. From 1922 with the foundation of the Irish Free State visual culture took on a particular Importance in expressing the values of the nation. Emerging in the era of modernism and produced within the contexts of censorship and conservative views, artists and designers managed to make beautiful and critical works of art that expressed key visions of the new nation, both supportive and questioning. The module explores the role of art and visual culture in Ireland in the period 1891- 1949 and seeks to analyse what contribution it made to the wider public's sense of a separate Irish Identity.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

• Be able to recognize the contribution of Irish visual culture to the formation of an Irish identity or identities.
• Understand the relationship between nationalism, the state and visual culture.
• Be able to present one’s work orally
• Be able to critically analyse a text
• Be able to critically analyse a work of art or design, or building.
• Be able to write a scholarly essay appropriate for a Third-Year student of Art History

Indicative Module Content:

Nationalism and Visual Art; the Cultural Revival; Arts and Crafts Movement in Ireland; West of Ireland and Irish identity; visual art and visual culture and architecture in Irish Free State; commemoration and memorials; visual culture of Northern Ireland; censorship and its impact on visual art in Ireland c. 1922-49.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Autonomous Student Learning

190
Total

226

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Teaching and learning is based on small group teaching - lectures, discussions and presentations and in site visits to museums and galleries. All submitted assignments should be original, non-plagiarised work written without recourse to AI tools.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Participation in Learning Activities: Participation in classes through attendance, contribution to class discussion, asking questions and making relevant comments on presentations and completion of set tasks. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Graded No
10
 No
Individual Project: 15-20 minute presentation Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
40
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): 3000 word essay based on class presentation. This must be written without recourse to AI. Week 14 Graded No
50
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Essential Reading:
S. Bhreathnach-Lynch, Ireland’s Art, Ireland’s History, Representing Ireland, 1845 To Present, (Omaha, NE: Creighton University Press, 2007).
L. King and E. Sisson eds. Ireland, design and visual culture: negotiating modernity, 1922-1992, (Cork University Press, 2011).
R. Kennedy, ed., Visualizing the Celtic revival: the arts and crafts movement in Ireland; selected writings by Nicola Gordon Bowe, (Four Courts Press, 2023).

More reading available in module booklet.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 13:00 - 13:50
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 09:00 - 10:50
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