Irish culture 15-KI-CE-11

The course in Irish culture begins with a brief historical outline, in order to understand Irish culture in its proper historical context. Students will study the Norman, Tudor, Cromwellian and Williamite conquests of Ireland. They will then move on to study of modern Ireland, with the emergence of the Catholic emancipation movement, the land reform and home rule movements and Irish nationalism. In the post-partition period, students will study the development of the Irish Free State and Irish Republic and the politics of the Stormont administration of Northern Ireland. They will also come to understand the emregence of the Northern Irish “Troubles”. This course takes cognisance of the relationship between cultural movements and the emergence of modern Ireland, and close attention will be paid to the Gaelic Revival and to the importance of Irish writers in English such as W. B. Yeats. Materials such as paintings, sculpture and poetry will illustrate the course of events in Ireland. Modern Irish media and its film industry will also be explored. Students will study Irish government policy towards the Irish language and the decline of the ‚Gaeltachtai‘, as well as the more recent revitalisation of the Irish language movement by organisations such as TG4. Other important cultural organisations such as the Gaelic Athletic Association will also be discussed.