Medieval Irish Trinity College Dublin

Overview

Medieval Irish from Trinity College Dublin course prepares students to undertake independent research in an area of Medieval Irish. It may also be of interest to librarians, archivists and others who work with or have a passion for older Irish-language material.

Key facts

Are you fascinated by the Irish language and how it has evolved over time? Are you curious to discover more about Early Irish saga or Bardic poetry? Would you like to know how to read an Irish manuscript with confidence and translate its contents? Do you want to make a contribution to our understanding of Medieval Ireland, its language and literature? If so, this course could be for you. Contact us to find out more.

The taught portion of the course extends over two semesters and consists of six contact hours per week. 

For students concentrating on Early Irish, the following modules are offered: Early Irish prose A (1 hour); Early Irish prose B (1 hour); Early Irish poetry (1 hour); Early Irish law (1 hour); Historical linguistics (1 hour); Middle Irish language (1 hour).

For students concentrating on Classical Modern Irish, the following modules are offered: Palaeography (1 hour); Metrics (1 hour); Language (1 hour); Linguistic tracts (1 hour); Editing from manuscript (1 hour); Encountering the text (1 hour).

In addition, students undertake a dissertation of c. 20,000 words, written with the assistance of a supervisor, after the conclusion of the teaching term. The dissertation will normally consist of an edition and translation of a text from manuscript, though literary and historical studies are encouraged also.