HI2125 Ireland Transformed, 1641-1815

Module Organisers: Prof. David Dickson & Prof. Susan Flavin
Duration: Hilary term
Contact hours: 1 hour perweek plus 4 seminars
Weighting: 5 ECTS
Assessment: 20% Essay; 80% Examination

This module examines a number of the key political and social and developments in Ireland during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries within a broadly chronological approach, commencing with the tumultuous 1641 Rebellion and ending with the beginnings of Ireland under the Union. The principal political themes dealt include Confederate Ireland and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms; the Cromwellian land settlements; the Jacobite/Williamite wars and the impact of the American and French revolutions on Irish politics. Social and economic themes include elite and popular rebellion in Ireland; the significance of death and dying in early modern Irish society and the reshaping of eighteenth-century society and economy. Throughout the module developments in Ireland will be situated in their wider British, European, Atlantic and imperial contexts.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

• Discuss British colonisation of Ireland and the impact which it had on native Irish society and politics
• Examine the complicated relationship between Ireland, England and Scotland in the early modern period
• Assess the impact of these developments on Ireland in its wider European and Atlantic contexts
• Locate, interpret and analyse primary source material
• Undertake an analysis of select contemporary sources to foster the ability to judge, to reflect upon and to argue the merits of conflicting interpretations
• Communicate analysis and argument in written and verbal formats