Irish Studies
Academic Director: Centre for Irish Studies
Course Overview
The Irish Studies Summer School comprises an integrated introduction to Irish Studies incorporating elements from all the contributing disciplines, a series of interdisciplinary seminars focusing on key themes in Irish Studies such as Identity, Emigration, and Religion, and a broad range of elective courses as outlined below.
Teaching will be by means of lectures, seminars, dramatic performances, guided tours and informed contact with the music, language and people of Ireland. An interdisciplinary approach will be used within each module and between the modules of the Irish Studies Summer School.
Field trips are an integral and required part of the Irish Studies Summer School. All students participate on field trips to Dingle and the Aran Islands. Students of SS115 Representing Ireland – Literature & Film will visit Coole Park, Thoor Ballylee and Kilmacduagh. Students of SS116 The Archaeological Heritage of Ireland will visit sites in the Burren. Students of SS118 Introduction to Art in Ireland will visit the Book of Kells and the National Museum in Dublin.
Students will have access to the library, audio and visual facilities of the University. Assessment for those requiring credit will be carried out on a continuous basis.
You can view biographical material for the academic staff teaching on the Irish Studies Summer School here.
The Irish Studies Summer School course handbook is available for download at the bottom of this page.
Course Modules
SS115 Representing Ireland - Literature and Film (3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
Fiction, poetry, drama and film have all been used to represent ‘Ireland’ and ‘Irishness’. This course analyses the varied ways this has been done in English-language media. The course is structured around themes like the representation of ‘The West’, the contrast between city and country, the politics of theatre, gender identity, and the meaning of nationality. We examine works from writers like W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Augusta Gregory, J.M. Synge, Liam O’Flaherty, Brian Friel, Mary O'Malley and Patrick McCabe. We also view and discuss movies directed by American and Irish film-makers.
SS116 The Archaeological Heritage of Ireland – from the First Settlers to Medieval Castles (3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
Ireland’s archaeological heritage is one of the richest in Western Europe. The development of prehistoric Irish societies can be seen in the megalithic tombs of the Neolithic, the wealth of bronze and gold in the succeeding Bronze Age, and in the great royal sites such as Tara and Navan, of the Celtic Iron Age. From the Early Christian Period, monastic ruins and high crosses survive at sites such as Clonmacnoise, while the finds from Dublin tell us of the Viking raids and settlement. The remains of later earth and timber fortifications and stone castles reveal the story of the Anglo-Norman invasion and subsequent power struggles.
This course charts the evidence for human societies in Ireland over ten millennia from the island’s initial colonization by small groups of hunter-gatherers, through to the Medieval period. The archaeology of the entire island of Ireland will be covered with particular emphasis on the archaeology of the Burren, a remarkable upland area just south of Galway where archaeological remains of all periods are well preserved and visible.
NUI Galway is ideally positioned amongst some of Ireland’s most well-preserved archaeological landscapes and this course includes two trips to the nearby Burren region to visit some of the prehistoric and historic-period sites which are highlighted in the lectures. This region is the focus of Course Director Dr. Carleton Jones’s research and students will have the opportunity to see first-hand some of the sites that Dr. Jones has excavated as well as learn about on-going research involving cutting-edge techniques such as ancient DNA and stable isotope analyses.
SS117 Irish History: Conflict, Identity and the Shaping of Modern Ireland
(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
This course offers a broad survey of Irish history. The initial lecture will set the stage by considering some aspects of the early and medieval periods, but the principal focus will be on the modern centuries, beginning with the Tudor conquest of Ireland. By charting the history of Anglo-Irish relations through major political and military conflicts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, special attention will be given to the British attempt to assimilate Ireland under the Act of Union from 1801. We will examine the mass social and political campaigns that emerged in the nineteenth century and the rise of the modern ideologies of Irish unionism and nationalism, including the influential Irish-American dimension of the latter, which took shape in the decades after the Great Famine (1845-50). Ultimately the course will examine the undoing of the Union between Britain and Ireland in 1921, the nature of the partition agreement which underpinned the constitutional settlement at that time, and how sustained violent conflict in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s, forced politicians and political leaders in these islands and beyond, to revisit the ‘Irish Question’.
The approach taken in this module is thematic. Classes will consist of a mixture of lectures and discussions; and to facilitate a closer treatment of one of the central themes of the course, a class debate will take place, mid-term, in one of the historic buildings in Galway. Choice readings and links to two award-winning documentaries will be made available on the electronic Blackboard site during term.
SS118 Introduction to Art in Ireland: Exploring Ireland’s Vibrant Artistic Heritage from Prehistory to the ‘Golden Age’ of the 8th Century AD
(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
Ireland has a rich and vibrant artistic heritage, extending back to c. 3500 BC; this course traces the development of Irish art, beginning with decorated megaliths and the exquisite corpus of Irish Bronze Age gold work, before turning its attention to the introduction of Celtic or La Tène art styles into Ireland around the 4th century BC.
Following the Roman conquest of Western Europe, the Classical roots of La Tène art re-emerge as a dominant element in Irish art of the first few centuries AD and continue, as a core element in the motif-book of early Christian art, in to the 7th and 8th century. Dominated by fantastical animals, Germanic art of Dark Age Europe was also incorporated into Insular art styles. An appreciation of style, symbolism and iconography in Early Christian art is integral to this module and treated in relation to the sublime artistic achievements of the ‘Golden Age’ of Irish art such as illuminated manuscripts, ecclesiastical metalwork such as the Ardagh Chalice and Irish high crosses. In addition to its aesthetic appeal, in revealing cross-cultural influences and the more arcane concerns of its audience, early Irish art provides a unique window on the past that can be explored through iconographical analysis.
This course includes a trip to the National Museum and the Book of Kells Exhibit in Dublin.
SS119 Creative Writing: Poetry and Fiction & Memoir (3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
This course will explore the writing of fiction and poetry from first steps to final polish. How do poems begin, what can we use as a starting point for our stories, how do we sustain a poem or a story to its proper conclusion. Through various reading and writing exercises, this course will road test several experimental techniques which can be used to spark new work and ideas. The course will work towards having the student complete a significant piece of work to a high degree of finish.
Typically, classes will consist of a short writing exercise followed by a close reading of a classic text; in the workshop section students will have their work discussed by the class. Students can expect to have their work discussed at least twice by the class over the duration of the course. Feedback will be given by the tutor - two thirds of the way through the course and upon receiving the final grade. The final portfolio of work will be graded on its imaginative skill and originality.
SS120 Gaelic Culture and Literature; From Cú Chulainn (Cuchulainn) to the Cultural Revival and Beyond
(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
Gaelic literature is the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe; this course introduces the student to early Gaelic narrative literature and gives insights into the culture(s) which created that literature. Students read and interpret a selection of texts in translation, including tales of Cú Chulainn and the Ulster Cycle, Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Fianna and tales of the Otherworld, and develop skills in engaging critically with the literature. Tracing the vicissitudes of the Irish language and its culture from the seventeenth century onwards, the course explores Irish folklore and the oral storytelling tradition and examines the emergence and development of modern Gaelic literature from the period of the Cultural Revival in the late-nineteenth century. The representation of so-called ‘Gaelic’ identity as portrayed through Irish language literature and folklore is explored; through the reading of selections of Gaelic prose and poetry in translation, students gain insights into the rapid changes within Gaelic culture from the nineteenth century as represented in folklore and literature. While demonstrating an intimate awareness of formal and thematic developments in a broad range of world literatures, contemporary Gaelic prose and poetry engages closely with earlier sources within the Gaelic literary, oral and cultural traditions. The course develops students’ understanding of the dynamic interplay between the traditional and the contemporary within modern Gaelic literature.
A knowledge of Irish is not a prerequisite for the course; all classes are through English. Introductory classes in the Irish language will be provided to interested students.
SS121 Irish Society: Stasis and Change in the Ambiguous Republic
(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
Irish society is interesting. Really interesting. It underwent a complex process of dramatic and relatively rapid social change over the 20th Century, propelling it from being a predominantly rural, Catholic, insular, and socially homogeneous society, to become one of the ‘most globalized’ countries in the world, all within just a few short decades. In some ways, it is much the same; in others, it is profoundly different. In this module we explore, and explain, aspects of this process, and its effects on Irish society, mainly from a sociological perspective. Using the changing economy as a backdrop, we go on to explore transformations in key social institutions, such as religion, education, the family, the media, politics and power, and the changing role and position of women in Irish society. We will also address some of the problems and strains that have emerged, in part, because of these profound societal changes, such as social inequality and social class, immigration and race, and crime. The module is designed to be lively and engaging, and no previous knowledge of either sociology or Irish society is required. It will, however, provide a very useful backdrop to the experience of being in Ireland, and offer valuable and critical insights into ‘Irish identity’, and the ambiguities of social change for a small country in a global society.
SS122 Negotiating Identity: Irish Traditional Music and Dance
(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)
This module will examine current and historical performance and transmission of Irish traditional dance, instrumental music and song, with specific reference to the traditions of the West of Ireland. Utilizing anthropological and cultural history frameworks, students will explore the place of traditional performance arts in Irish culture, and the central roles these traditions play in formation of local, national and transnational identities.
Core elements include an examination of music in the post-famine period in Ireland; music among the Diaspora; revivals of dance and music; sean-nós song; style and the uilleann piping tradition. Conceptual issues of authenticity and tradition will underscore much of the discussions and central questions such as what constitutes traditional performance and the transformative potential of dance and music will be explored and exemplified through a variety of performance platforms. Students will also have the opportunity to meet with performers and take sean-nós song and dance workshops, in addition to tuition in the Irish tin whistle all of which adds integrated, vocational support to the academic course (no previous performance experience is required).
Irish Language Classes
As part of the Irish Studies course, introductory classes in the Irish Language will be provided for interested students.
Students enrol on two of the 8 module options available.
Each module is 3 Credits/6 ECT Credits. Graduate Credit is also available. Special advisory sessions and an extended essay are offered to students wishing to obtain graduate credits.
Dates
Arrival and orientation on Monday, 18 June, 2018, classes commence Tuesday, 19 June, 2018 with departure on Tuesday, 17 July, 2018.
Tuition & Accommodation Costs
Tuition: €2,100
€1,350– Family Guesthouse (with Irish breakfast - single occupancy)
€1,200 - Family Guesthouse (with Irish breakfast - sharing)
€900 – Student Residences (without breakfast - single occupancy)
Apply
Applicants are normally required to be university graduates or have completed two full years at university or college level before being admitted to the course. Students should also have attained a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent).
Required documentation
- A copy of your birth certificate or passport
- A digital image/passport photo for your student identity card (headshot)
- An official transcript of examination results
Applications open 6 October, 2017 and close 20 April, 2018.
APPLY NOW
Further Information
Programme Administrator
International Summer School Programme
NUI Galway
Galway
Ireland
Tel: +353 91 495442
Fax: +353 91 525051
Email: summerschool@nuigalway.ie
