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HIS32940

Academic Year 2026/2027

Devolution, Dominion, Democracy: Ireland's constitutional history north and south, 1870-2007 (HIS32940)

Subject:
History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
History
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Conor Mulvagh
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

Devolution, dominion, democracy explores the evolution of ideas for the establishment of parliaments and legislative assemblies on the island of Ireland from the 1870s through to the twenty-first century. The concept of Home Rule foresaw a devolved parliament for Ireland. This was ultimately realised for Northern Ireland only in 1921. That same year, dominion status based on the model of Canada was offered to a new and sovereign Irish Free State. In the years that followed, Ireland developed its nascent democracy in an era when new states were being formed both in Europe and elsewhere. In many cases, new states either failed or succumbed to totalitarianism. In 1973, the devolved powers of the Northern Irish government were revoked. It would take until 1998 to agree a functioning model for devolved powers in Northern Ireland and this new arrangement would not be without its challenges and interruptions.

Beginning with the Home Rule movement, which was founded by Isaac Butt in the wake of the Fenian uprising of 1867, the module will explore concepts originating on the island of Ireland, in Britain and further afield for the devolution of powers to representative bodies, first of Irish men and ultimately of all Irish people. The module will explore the partition on Ireland, the formation of devolved, revolutionary, and dominion parliaments established during the island’s ‘revolutionary decade’ before going on to look at the structures of governance articulated in the constitutions of 1922 and 1937, the revocation of devolved power from Stormont in 1973 and the attempts to find a workable mode of power-sharing in the decades that followed, a process that continues in a dynamic peace process. Along this path, the module will also touch upon supra-national layers of representation and association to include Ireland and the United Kingdom’s associations with the European community.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the different modes of government for the island of Ireland, proposed and realised, that have been conceived since the 1870s
• Evaluate core texts in Ireland’s constitutional history including pamphlets, speeches, legislation, and constitutions
• Articulate your own comprehension and analysis of contrasting forms of historical government on the island of Ireland
• Compare and contrast different models of government and administration within the framework of the history of political thought.
• Understand research methods in the history of political discourse.
• Assess evolutions in the discourse on government and governance on the island of Ireland from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

Indicative Module Content:

Week 1: Introduction and background

Week 2: Fenians and federalists: imagining alternative Irelands in the 1870s

Week 3: Gladstonianism, land, and the union: Ireland’s first Home Rule Bills in context

Week 4: Devolution, constructive unionism, and Ulster unionist opposition to Irish home government, 1895-1907

Week 5: From the third Home Rule Bill and the Ulster crisis, 1909-16

Week 6: Two state solution: the 1920 Government of Ireland Act

Week 7: From devolution to dominion, Dáil Éireann, the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the 1922 Irish Free State Constitution

Week 8: Reading week

Week 9: From dominion to republic: Ireland, 1926-1949

Week 10: Direct rule and integration: Northern Ireland in Westminster; Ireland and the UK in Europe

Week 11: Frameworks for shared devolution, Northern Ireland 1985-2007

Week 12: Conclusions: democracy, politics, and power sharing in the 21st century

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Competent

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Competent

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Competent

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Competent

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Advanced Beginner

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Competent

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Not addressed

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Advanced Beginner

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 1

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 1
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
Lectures

11
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Total

223

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will consist of a one-hour lecture and a two-hour seminar weekly. Seminars will focus on a key text in the history of Irish political thought and will feature student presentations and discussion on same.

Weekly seminars focus on small-group active / task-based learning using both secondary and primary sources related to the weekly topic covered in the lecture. Autonomous learning is nurtured through required preparatory reading each week, and formative and summative written assignments throughout the module. Key research, writing and citation skills are explicitly incorporated into seminar work and are assessed and advanced from the formative to the summative assignments.

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.

A proportion of written assignments in each module in the School of History are subject to moderation, meaning they undergo a second layer of review by another grader. This can include oral moderation meetings where the student is invited in for a short meeting with the module coordinator to discuss the assignment. Moderation contributes to better informed marking.

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
Assignment(Including Essay): A 3,500 to 4,000 word original final essay due at the end of the module. Title, topic, and approach to be agreed in advance with the module coordinator. Week 14 Graded No
50
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Book review.
1,500 word, referenced book review of one of the secondary texts from the module handbook situating it within its wider literature and relating it to selected module themes.		 Week 7 Graded No
30
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Students will be graded on their participation during seminars (NB: this is not based on attendance, but rather active discussion and participation). Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
20
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

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

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on seminar contributions will be given informally in class or during office hours by prior arrangement. Feedback on the mid-term book review will be provided in writing either on the hard copy or via brightspace. Feedback on the end of term essay will be provided in writing and opportunity to arrange a one-to-one meeting to discuss this further will also be offered.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 15:00 - 15:50
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 09:00 - 10:50
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