Irish Department

IRU11141 Irish Language and Literature I

Examined by essay Continuous assessment (essay):

Two short essays (2,500 words), one on each topic

Description

Early Irish saga segment learning outcomes:

• Recognise and describe the main cycles into which Early Irish literature is divided for purposes of analysis

• Understand and articulate the varying views of modern scholarship regarding the nature and function of early Irish saga

• Analyse the main features of heroic biography and apply the template to the sagas read

• Identify the underlying moral or message of the sagas studied

• Articulate the relevance of Early Irish saga for the modern reader

• Write a fully referenced essay drawing on the detailed bibliography provided for each saga [A course in early (i.e. pre twelfth-century) Irish saga literature in which a variety of texts, mainly from the Ulster, Mythological and King cycles will be read in translation and discussed in class. Sagas to be read will include the tragic story of Deirdre’s love for Naoise, the story of Niall Frasach’s judgement regarding the lesbian mother of a ‘fatherless’ child, and Sín’s cold-blooded determination to exact revenge on her ‘lover’ for the slaughter of her family.]

Modern Irish language and literature segment learning outcomes:

• Be conversant with the life, and work (in English translation) of a range of key 20th and 21st Irish language writers

• Be familiar with the history of Irish literature and language revival from the late 19th century up to today

• Be able to discuss how social, cultural and linguistic change during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries have had an impact on literature and critical thought in Irish.

IRU11152 Irish Language and Literature II

Description

Modern Irish language and literature segment learning outcomes:

• Be conversant with the life, and work (in English translation) of a range of key 20th and 21st Irish language writers

• Be familiar with the history of Irish literature and language revival from the late 19th century up to today

• Be able to discuss how social, cultural and linguistic change during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries have had an impact on literature and critical thought in Irish.

The sources of Early Irish literature segment

• Read and describe a basic type of the Irish alphabet cló Gaelach

• Identify different types of dating criteria and apply them to dating a given manuscript (Irish or otherwise)

• Place Old Irish accurately in a wider continuum of development and transmission of the Irish language

• Provide an elementary assessment of the position of Irish within the wider linguistic family of Celtic

• Read and describe the Ogam alphabet

• Recognise and describe the basic features of Old Irish syllabic metrics.

IRU11181 Irish Language and Literature I

Description

IRU11192 Irish Language and Literature II

Description

See IRU11152. Students attend one hour per week and cover half the course, the Sources of Early Irish topic

IRU11041 Early Irish Saga

Description

A course in early (i.e. pre twelfth-century) Irish saga literature in which a variety of texts, mainly from the Ulster, Mythological and King cycles will be read in translation and discussed in class. Sagas to be read will include the tragic story of Deirdre’s love for Naoise, the story of Niall Frasach’s judgement regarding the lesbian mother of a ‘fatherless’ child, and Sín’s cold-blooded determination to exact revenge on her ‘lover’ for the slaughter of her family.]

Students will learn to:

• Recognise and describe the main cycles into which Early Irish literature is divided for purposes of analysis

• Understand and articulate the varying views of modern scholarship regarding the nature and function of early Irish saga

• Analyse the main features of heroic biography and apply the template to the sagas read

• Identify the underlying moral or message of the sagas studied

• Articulate the relevance of Early Irish saga for the modern reader

• Write a fully referenced essay drawing on the detailed bibliography provided for each saga

IRU11001 Old Irish Grammar

Description

Students will learn to:

• read and translate basic classical Old Irish

• describe the orthography of Old Irish and how it differs from its modern counterpart

• analyse the grammatical structure of basic Old Irish sentences with the appropriate terminology

• describe the concept of the ‘paradigm’ and apply it to the grammatical analysis

• recognise and explain the main differences between Old and Modern Irish

• apply the skills of grammatical analysis acquired in the study of Old Irish to any other language

• use textual glossaries competently.

IRU11002 Old Irish Grammar

Description

Students will continue to learn to:

• read and translate basic classical Old Irish

• describe the orthography of Old Irish and how it differs from its modern counterpart

• analyse the grammatical structure of basic Old Irish sentences with the appropriate terminology

• describe the concept of the ‘paradigm’ and apply it to the grammatical analysis

• recognise and explain the main differences between Old and Modern Irish

• apply the skills of grammatical analysis acquired in the study of Old Irish to any other language

• use textual glossaries competently.

IRU22182 Early Irish Law and Society

Description

Students will continue to learn to:

• Give an overview of the early Irish legal system (‘Brehon law’)

• Characterise the structure of early Irish society and its institutions – in particular:

• Describe the early Irish system of law enforcement in the absence of a centralised state and associated police force

• Describe the status of women in early Irish society, including marriage arrangements

• Describe early Irish family structures

• Give an overview of farming and food in early Ireland

• Characterise the nature and background of Irish ‘sacral’ kingship and the concept of ‘truth’

IRU22052 Early Irish Saga II

Description

This is a course in early (i.e. pre twelfth-century) Irish saga literature in which a variety of texts, mainly from the Ulster, Mythological and King cycles, will be read in translation and discussed in class. Sagas to be read will include:

• the timeless war of the Gods, Good v Evil in the exemplary myth, The Battle of Moytura;

• the Saga of Fergus mac Léti with its scandalous treatment of a young mother of an ‘illegitimate’ child, forced into slavery to save her son;

• the Death of Conchobar, a case of posthumous revenge and delayed execution allowing for baptism by blood on the night of Christ’s persecution and death;

• the Death of Conla at the hands of his own father, the famous Cú Chulainn, despite the protests and warnings of his wife, Emer;

• the Pseudo-historical prologue to the Senchas Már incorporating the showdown at Tara, i.e. the battle between Christianity and Paganism; the hound, hero and hospitaller triptych incorporating ‘hound and hero’, ‘hound and bogus hero’ and ‘hound and anti-hero’;

• the Birth-tale of Niall of the Nine Hostages incorporating the loathly Lady at the well, the Irish sovereignty Goddess.

IRU55001 / IRU55002 Elementary Irish

Description

This is a ‘not for credit’ class for complete beginners who would like to learn some Irish during their stay in Ireland.