HI3445 Elites, Powers and People: a Social History of Nineteenth Century Ireland

Module Organiser: Prof. Ciaran O'Neill
Duration: All year
Contact hours: 3 hours per week
Weighting: 20 ECTS
Assessment: 20% essay, 80% examination

How were the Irish governed? Who decided how power and authority was distributed and to what extent did ordinary Irish citizens legitimate that process? Who made the decisions that affected everyday life? Did Ireland have an open or closed elite? This module draws on theories of power, social stratification and legitimation as ways to understand how Irish people were governed in the nineteenth century. State institutions and agencies, social, cultural and religious organisations and networks, as well as ground-level mobilisation and popular protest will be among the many elements explored. This is a module in social history, thematic, rather than strictly chronological, in structure. The emphasis throughout is on the various ways Irish (and British) people came together either to reinforce state control, or to undermine it, offering a fresh perspective on tired themes in nineteenth-century history.

Leaning Outcomes

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

• Explain in detail social developments in nineteenth-century Ireland
• Engage with relevant theoretical and critical approaches to the history of nineteenth-century Ireland
• Critique relevant historiography in the light of study of primary sources
• Undertake an advanced analysis of a wide range of relevant primary sources
• Present verbally a social analysis of nineteenth-century Ireland
• Provide an individual synthesis based on a reading of the primary sources and secondary commentaries
• Defend such a synthesis in written and oral presentations.