B.A. Honors Early and Modern Irish

Why study Early Irish?

Early Irish is the language in use in Ireland from the earliest period for which there are records up to the year 1200. The course covers the language and literature from the emergence of writing at the arrival of Christianity in Ireland to the production of the great saga manuscripts of the twelfth century.

Early Irish: The course for you?

If you are interested in acquiring a reading knowledge of Medieval Irish, in which the great saga literature of our manuscripts was written, and if you want to understand where today’s Irish language comes from, then this is the course for you.

Early Irish at Trinity

The Irish department staff at Trinity are recognized as experts in their respective fields and many former students are now teaching in universities at home and abroad. You will enjoy small class sizes and a friendly atmosphere.

Pathways

The pathways available are Single Honors, Major with Minor and Joint Honors.

Graduate skills and career opportunities

Some students of Early Irish pursue independent research in the subject with a view to teaching at third-level. Most follow a career in teaching or journalism, especially Irish-language related media. Library archiving, the public service, marketing, business, interpreting, and translation all figure in the profiles of past students.

Your degree and what you’ll study

The Early Irish course, which is taught through the medium of English, covers the history of the Irish language from its first appearance on the Ogam inscriptions at the dawn of the Christian era in the fifth century, to the highly polished language of the sagas and law texts preserved in the medieval manuscript collections held in the libraries of Trinity, the Royal Irish Academy and the National Library

First and second years

In the first two years, you will study the basics of Old Irish. At this stage, you will read most literature in translation but you will be introduced to the original texts gradually and you will see how the language emerged and developed through the early Christian period.

Third and fourth years

In the third and fourth years the horizons are expanded; your study of the history of the language will take you back to its Celtic origins and forward to the dawn of Modern Irish. At this stage, you will be reading prose and poetry as well as law and history in the original language, and a special course in paleography will teach you how to read the manuscripts themselves. Third-year students may opt to spend a term in Aberystwyth learning Medieval and Modern Welsh.

Assessment

At all levels, you will be assessed by a combination of continuous assessment and exams. We use a mix of traditional and innovative continuous assessment methods: essays, project work, presentations, book reviews and dossiers, podcast creation. Language modules are assessed by written examination.