HI7109 Encompassing Modern Irish History
Module Coordinator: Dr Anne Dolan
Duration: Hilary Term
Contact Hours: 2 hours per week
ECTS: 10
Assessment: Assessment is based on one assignment and one essay of 2,500-3,000 words. The essay carries the mark for this module.
This team-taught module introduces students to the issues and debates in modern Irish historiography. The module focuses on key texts in modern Irish history and uses them as avenues into some of the most contentious and controversial questions which have been, and continue to be, debated within the discipline. It considers how those questions have evolved and looks at the main developments within the wider discipline to see how they have influenced and been expressed within the Irish context. The module asks what forces have influenced the writing of Irish history and consider the circumstances and methodological challenges that have been particular to the Irish case. It examines the wider social, economic and political influences that have shaped the writing of Irish history. It examines how Irish history writing has changed and considers the main causes and forces driving change in the study of different periods and different types of history. The module also considers what work remains to be done. Moving largely chronologically from the 1640s to the late twentieth century, students consider how the methods and interpretations in the study of one area of history may challenge the methods encountered in other areas.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- debate on a wide range of historical issues, drawing on the work of key researchers in the various fields of Irish history
- discuss the development of methods and techniques of historical research and analysis over time, and deploy them in ongoing historical debate
- analyse the theoretical and methodological challenges facing historians working in various periods or themes within Irish history
- critically appraise Irish historiography
- explore the forces that have shaped the writing of Irish history and identify gaps in the existing literature