Postgraduate Taught
The Irish Department currently runs two taught postgraduate courses.
Diploma in Old Irish
This course is intended to provide graduates in related disciplines with a solid grounding in Old Irish language and literature. The course lasts for the two semesters of one academic year beginning in October, and requires full-time study. Candidates are assessed by an examination consisting of two three-hour papers.
Applications
- Applications are normally accepted only from persons with a good honors degree in a cognate subject such as Modern Irish or another Celtic language, medieval languages, literature or history, archaeology.
- Applications for admission must be made through Trinity College's Application system by 30 June of the year in which admission is sought.
- Students will be admitted every second year. The next round of applications will be for 2023/24.
Coursework
The course will consist of six contact hours per week, as follows:
- Introduction to Old Irish (2 hours)
- Tutorials in Old Irish (2 hours)
- Old Irish literature, including readings in lyrical verse (1 hour)
- Old Irish glosses and saga literature (1 hour)
A Handbook for the PG Diploma (PDF) available here.
M.Phil. in Early Irish
This one-year course is intended to take the student to a high level of competence in Old Irish, and will cover a wide range of prose and verse texts, and various aspects of Early Irish language, literature and culture. This course can be taken as a second follow-on year to build on knowledge gained on the Diploma in Old Irish course.
The course will last for one academic year, beginning in October, and requires full-time study. Students with no prior knowledge of Old Irish may take the preliminary year-long course for the Diploma in Old Irish. In the MPhil year candidates will be assessed by examination (in summer) and a thesis of c.20,000 words.
Applications
- On achievement of 50% or higher in the examinations for the Diploma, candidates will be permitted to proceed to the M. Phil. course.
- Students who have otherwise acquired a competence in Old Irish on a par with that acquired through participation in the Diploma course, may also be permitted to enrol for the M.Phil. course.
- Applications for admission must be made through Trinity College's Application system by 30 June of the year in which admission is sought.
- Students will be admitted every second year. The next round of applications will be for 2022/23.
Course work
The taught portion of the course will extend over two semesters, and this taught element will consist of six contact hours per week as follows:
- Old Irish prose (2 hours)
- Old Irish poetry (1 hour)
- Comparative linguistics (1 hour)
- Early Irish law (1 hour)
- Middle Irish (1 hour)
- Guest lectures
In addition a minor dissertation of c.20,000 words, which must be typed and presented in duplicate, is to be submitted by 30 September of the same year.
A Handbook for the MPhil (PDF) is available here.