HI3024 The English in medieval Ireland: perspective, purpose and interpretation

Module Organiser: Dr. Sean Duffy
Duration: Michaelmas Term
Contact hours: 2 hours per week
Weighting: 5 ECTS
Assessment: 100% essay

When English and other adventurers began arriving in Ireland in the early summer of 1169, so too did opinions on the subject start to form, and attitudes for and against rapidly began to harden. After the passage of eight hundred years, the establishment of this link with England still remains the most controversial subject of debate in Irish history. This module does not study the English invasion of Ireland, it does not study the growth and decline of the English colony in medieval Ireland, it does not study Anglo-Irish relations in the Middle Ages. Instead, it examines what historians have written about those events, from the earliest days of the invasion (by the likes of Giraldus Cambrensis) to the present day. Particular emphasis is placed on seeking to comprehend the degree to which the interpretation of the role of the English in medieval Ireland has been dictated by the historian’s personal perspective, inherited or acquired, and by his or her purpose in writing.

Learning Outcomes

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

• Identify the main features of the history writing about medieval Ireland
• Discuss the work of particular historians and the context in which they wrote
• Explain the different ways in which professional historians have approached the subject and why such differences have come about
• Analyze the principal debates between different schools of historical thought on the English in medieval Ireland
• Supply an individual synthesis based on critical reading of the secondary literature dealing with the English in medieval Ireland
• Write essays and make oral presentations defending such a synthesis.