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IRST10010

Academic Year 2026/2027

Introduction to Irish Studies (IRST10010)

Subject:
Irish Studies
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Irish, Celtic Stud & Folklore
Level:
1 (Introductory)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Aoife Whelan
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This interdisciplinary module introduces students to a variety of questions, methods, and concepts underlying Irish Studies. A central theme of the lectures examines the processes through which identity is constructed through time. The course material raises a series of provocative and stimulating questions about concepts of Ireland and Irishness. This introductory module incorporates themes and methods from a broad range of related disciplines including history, archaeology, literature, film, art, music, sport, politics and folklore. The intersection between digital resources and traditional humanities research methods is explored through specified coursework. Active learning will be incorporated through reports on cultural site visits and reviews of cultural events.

The aims of the course are as follows:
1) To introduce students to an understanding of the breadth of cultural and historical knowledge and perspectives on 'Ireland' and 'Irishness';
2) To enable students to grasp the complex and dynamic ways in which Ireland and Irishness have been conceptualised;
3) To facilitate students' engagement with the field of Irish Studies;
4) To develop students' writing skills, research skills, digital competence and cultural awareness.

*Traffic Light Red: Students are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in this module.*
The Module Coordinator may request an in-person discussion to review the student's knowledge of the material submitted. The outcome of any such meetings may impact the grade awarded.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an increased awareness of the diversity of concepts of Ireland and Irishness;
2. Identify similarities and differences between various disciplinary approaches to such concepts;
3. Analyse a broad range of material from diverse disciplines oriented around Irish Studies;
4. Develop a range of academic skills including research analysis, transcription of source documents and the writing of essays, reports, literary reviews and portfolios.

Indicative Module Content:

IRST10010 INDICATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE
(subject to change)

Section A: Excavating the Past
A series of lectures examining Ireland's pre-historic past, the coming of Christianity, the Viking era, the Norman settlement and the medieval period.

Section B: The Emergence of Modern Ireland
A series of lectures on Ireland’s colonial past, the Famine and its legacy, the Gaelic revival and revolutionary Ireland.

Section C: Asserting Irish identity
Lectures and workshops exploring the expression of Irish identity through music, sport, art and literature.

Workshops on specific active learning tasks and compilation of a Learning Portfolio will be incorporated into this schedule.

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. Novice

Critical Thinking

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

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. Novice

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. Novice

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 5

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 4

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 4
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

20
Specified Learning Activities

30
Autonomous Student Learning

50
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will include:
- lectures
- active learning
- task-based learning
- digital skills
- critical analysis
- essay writing
- reflective writing
- analytical writing

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): Mid-Term Essay on Section A (c.1,500 words) Week 8 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
50
 No
Portfolio: Learning Portfolio (c.1,500 words) comprising:
a. Report on Cultural Site Visit
b. Review of Cultural Event
c. Transcription of Primary Source
d. Lecture Analysis		 Week 12 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
50
 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
Spring 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?

Mid-term essay: Group feedback will be given orally in class, as well as individual feedback. Learning Portfolio: Feedback will be given online through Brightspace.

**Required texts will be shared through Brightspace in advance of each lecture. Additional reading material can be found below.

IRST10010 READING LIST FOR SECTION A: EXCAVATING THE PAST

[Note – you are not expected to read everything on this list, but the range of titles is intended to offer a range of options available in UCD James Joyce Library covering the various time periods covered in the lectures. ]

Barry, T.B. 1987 The Archaeology of Medieval Ireland, Methuen, London.
Clarke, H.B. & R. Johnson (eds) 2015 The Vikings in Ireland and beyond: before and after the Battle of Clontarf, Four Courts Press, Dublin
Cooney, G. 2000 Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland, Routledge, London.
Cooney, G. & Grogan, E. 1994 Irish Prehistory – A Social Perspective, Wordwell, Dublin.
Corlett, C. & M. Potterton (eds) 2009 Rural Settlement in Medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations, Wordwell, Dublin
Corlett, C. & M. Potterton (eds) 2012 Life and Death in Iron Age Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations, Wordwell, Dublin [in particular chapters 1, 10, 17, 18, 20]
Edwards, N. 1990 The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland, London. [reprinted 1999]
Larsen, A.-C. 2001 The Vikings in Ireland, Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde.
Mallory, J.P. & McNeill, T.E. 1991 The Archaeology of Ulster: From Colonization to Plantation, The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast.
Mitchell, G. & Ryan, M. 1998 Reading the Irish Landscape, Town House, Dublin.
O’Connor, K.D. 1998 The Archaeology of Medieval Rural Settlement in Ireland, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
O’Keeffe, T. 2000 Medieval Ireland: An Archaeology, Tempus, Stroud.
O’Sullivan, A., F. McCormick, T.R. Kerr & L. Harney, 2014 Early Medieval Ireland, AD 400-1100. The evidence from archaeological excavations. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
O’Sullivan, A., F. McCormick, T.R. Kerr, L. Harney & J. Kinsella, 2014 Early medieval dwellings and settlements in Ireland AD 400-1100. BAR Int. Series 2604, Archaeopress.
Raftery, B. 1994 Pagan Celtic Ireland, Thames and Hudson, London.
Ryan, M. 1994 Irish Archaeology Illustrated, Country House, Dublin.
Waddell, J. 2010 The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, Galway University Press, Galway.

SECTION B: THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN IRELAND

Billings, C. ‘The first minutes: An analysis of the Irish Language within the official structures of the Gaelic Athletic Association, 1884-1934’, Éire-Ireland (Spring/Summer 2013, 32-53)
Bartlett, T. Ireland: a History (Cambridge 2010)
Cronin, M., Murphy, W., Rouse, P. (eds), The Gaelic Athletic Association, 1884-2009 (Dublin 2009)
Fitzpatrick, D. Irish Emigration, 1801-1921 (Dublin 1984)
Foster, R.F. (ed), The Oxford History of Ireland (Oxford, 1989)
Hyde, D. ‘The Necessity for De-anglicising Ireland’ A Lecture to the Irish National
Literary Society, Dublin, 25 November 1892.
Irish Studies Review: Special issue on Organised spaces: revival activism and print culture (Vol. 22, No. 1, February 2014)
Kiberd, D. and Mathews, P.J. (eds.) Handbook of the Irish Revival. An Anthology of Irish Cultural and Political Writings 1891-1922 (Dublin, 2015)
Lee, J.J. Ireland, 1912-1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge, 1989)
Maguire, D. (ed.) Short Stories of Padraic Pearse (Cork, 1979)
McGrath, C.I. ‘Securing the Protestant Interest: the origins and purpose of the penal laws of
1695,’ Irish Historical Studies, vol. xxx, no.117 (May 1996), pp. 25-28.
Morash, C. A History of the Media in Ireland (Cambridge, 2010)
Paseta, S. Modern Ireland: A very short introduction (Oxford, 2003)
The Revolution Papers (2016)
Uí Chollatáin, R. ‘Crossing Boundaries and Early Gleanings of Cultural Replacement in Irish Periodical Culture’, Irish Communications Review (Vol. 12, 2010, 50-64)
Whelan, A. ‘Language revival and conflicting identities in The Irish Independent, 1905-1922’, Irish Studies Review (Vol. 22, No. 1, February 2014)

SECTION C: ASSERTING IRISH IDENTITY

Clune, A. (ed) The singing will never be done (Clare, 2014)
Cullen,F. Ireland on Show. Art, Union, and Nationhood (Surrey, 2012)
Kiberd, D. Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation (London 1995)
Meehan, B. 'Decoration and Decorum', Irish Arts Review, Vol. 29, No. 4 (2012-13)
McGonagle, O’Toole, Levin. Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political (London, 2009)
Ó hAllmhuráin, G. A Pocket History of Irish Music and Dance (Dublin 1998)

WEBSITES & DIGITAL SOURCES

A Poem for Ireland, with shortlist, biographies, interviews and readings: https://apoemforireland.rte.ie/
'Creating History: Stories of Ireland in Art', National Gallery of Ireland, http://www.nationalgallery.ie/ga-IE/Exhibitions/Creating_History.aspx
Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://dib.cambridge.org/ [Access available through UCD Library at https://librarym.ucd.ie/search/y ]
Dúchas online folklore collection, www.duchas.ie
Dunbrody Famine Ship, www.dunbrody.com
Ellis Island Oral History project, www.ellisislandfoundation.org
EPIC Irish Emigration Museum, www.epicchq.com
History of Ireland in 100 Objects, http://www.100objects.ie/
Irish Newspaper Archive, https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ [Access available through UCD Library at https://librarym.ucd.ie/search/y ]
Irish Traditional Music Archive, www.itma.ie
Jeanie Johnston famine ship, www.jeaniejohnston.com
Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks, www.ria.ie/research-projects/research-projects-overview/art-and-architecture-ireland/personnel
100 Artworks project, http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/100-artworks-where-the-list-came-from-1.1992124
Titanic Belfast, www.titanicbelfast.com



Name Role
Ms Michelle Hoctor Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Arina (Eachiarn) Semova Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Thurs 13:00 - 13:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Tues 09:00 - 09:50
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