Learning Outcomes:
On completion of the module students should be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of migration and environment in Ireland 1500-1800
- assess the relevant secondary historiography and relevant primary sources
- present aspects of historical debates for this topic and period orally and engage in critical discussion
- present aspects of the historical debate in written form.
Generative AI may not be used for assessments in this module. If you have any concerns about what is included in the remit of generative AI, please consult with your Module Coordinator.
Indicative Module Content:
This module addresses the impact and influence of environment and landscape on the peoples and societies of Ireland from 1500 to 1800. The module considers how human settlement changed rural and urban landscapes and it reviews how the island’s inhabitants interpreted landscape and environment in the same period. Increasingly, historians have recognised that landscapes are a cultural construction which are reflective of a diverse amalgam of ideologies and iconographies. Within the context of early modern environmental change, landscapes were informed and determined by social and political processes and as such are indicative of a diversity of economic, political and cultural influences. Ireland was transformed socially, culturally and politically during the three centuries from 1500 to 1800. In this regard, Ireland’s rich history in the early modern period offers an ideal case study from which to assess and understand the impact of environmental change and related developments on rural and urban landscapes. In particular, the module considers the environmental and landscape impact of political and social transformation in the context of Ireland’s economic and demographic incorporation within a broader European and Atlantic context.