HI3497 From Kingdom to Colony: Ireland in the Twelfth Century

Module Coordinator: Professor Seán Duffy
Duration: All year
Contact hours: 3 hours per week
Weighting: 20 ECTS
Assessment: 20% essay, 80% examination

This module examines Ireland's transformation in the twelfth century, with conquest by the Anglo-Norman king of England and the island's forcible introduction into Henry II's Angevin Empire. Irish kingship had been evolving into something close to monarchy since the days of Brian Boru, but when Henry made himself lord of Ireland provincial kings instead sought to fend off expropriation and conquest. This module ask what Ireland was like on the eve of Anglo-Norman intervention. How as power exercised? What kings and dynasties dominated? Was it cut off from the European mainstream or an integral part of it? What forces combined to facilitate Anglo-Norman involvement? Did the Irish embrace or reject the lordship of the English crown? Was a conquest inevitable? How traumatic was it? What was the physical imprint of Anglo-Norman colonization on the landscape of Ireland? And what has been the lasting legacy of the conquest?

The aim of this module is to conduct an intensive study of twelfth-century Ireland, especially through the medium of primary sources

Bibliographical advice will be provided in the module handbook

Learning Outcomes

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

• Recognize the principal developments in the history of Ireland in the twelfth century
• Identify and contextualize the main interpretative trends and problems identified in historical writing on the period
• Undertake an advanced analysis of a wide range of relevant primary sources
• Apply different techniques of evaluation and interpretation to these sources
• Critique relevant historiography in the light of these sources
• Provide an individual synthesis based on a reading of primary and secondary sources
• Defend such a synthesis in written and oral presentations.