Lesson

No.

Date

Contents

1

12 Sept.

Introduction: Syllabus; introduction to Irish history and culture using contemporary materials.

Decade of Centenaries – 1912-1922/2012-2022 - http://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/

Derry Girls, The Difference between Catholics and Protestants, Channel 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0OF-TlyAY

2

14 Sept.

Overview of Irish history: screening of A Short History of Ireland, documentary based on the eponymous work by Richard Killeen.

3

19 Sept.

1. Anglo-Irish relations: geo-political and religious contexts:

1.1. Early representations of Ireland by British visitors (12th-17th centuries): Giraldus Cambrensis, The Topography of Ireland, 1187; The Conquest of Ireland, 1189; Edmund Spenser, A View of the Present State of Ireland, 1663;

1.2. Protestant Reformation and its impact on Anglo-Irish relations.

4

21 Sept.

1. Relations between Ireland and England (17^th-18^th cent.):

1.1. Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal", 1729.

...

26 Sept.

Lecturer on official duty. This lesson will be replaced by attendance of a session on James Joyce on 26 Oct. 5-6.30 pm; room to be announced.

5

28 Sept.

1. The Great Famine (1845-1849). Cf. Eavan Boland, ‘Quarantine’.

2.  Irish Literary Revival and identity debates (19^th-20^th cent.):

2.1. Representations of the Irish: Punch cartoons and the dehumanisation of colonised populations.

2.2. Irish ballads and feminine representations of Ireland: Roisin Dubh, Kathaleen Ny-Houlahan and Shan Van Vocht.

2.3. Douglas Hyde, "The Necessity for De-anglicising Ireland" (1892): cultural nationalism and independence.

6

3 Oct.

Irish Literary Revival and identity debates (19^th-20^th cent.):

W.B. Yeats e Lady Gregory, Cathleen Ni Houlihan, 1902.

---

5 Oct.

National Holiday (Republic Day)

7

10 Oct.

1. The path to Independence and Partition (1922):

1.1. Home Rule; Ulster Covenant; Easter Rising 1916 and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

1.2. 1916-2022: Easter Rising; the Great War; War of Independence and Civil War; Independence and Partition.

8

12 Oct.

W.B. Yeats, Poems.

9

17 Oct.

James Joyce, “Eveline”, Dubliners, 1914.

10

19 Oct.

James Joyce, “The Dead”, Dubliners, 1914.

11

24 Oct.

James Joyce, “The Dead”, Dubliners, 1914.

12

24 Oct., 5pm

Session on James Joyce: Mick Greer and Teresa Casal. (Room to be announced.)

Lesson

No.

Date

Contents

13

26 Oct.

W.B. Yeats and James Joyce: oral presentations and discussion.

14

31 Oct.

FIRST WRITTEN TEST.

15

2 Nov.

Post-independence Ireland and Northern Ireland: overview.

1.      Republic of Ireland: state, church and gender.

2.      Northern Ireland: The Troubles.

16

7 Nov.

Seamus Heaney: Poems

17

 9 Nov.

Eavan Boland: Poems and Essays

18

14 Nov.

Seamus Heaney and Eavan Boland: Oral presentations and discussions.

19

16 Nov.

Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These, 2021.

20

21 Nov.

Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These, 2021.

21

23 Nov.

Republic of Ireland: state, church and gender in memoir:

Emilie Pine, “Speaking / Not Speaking”, Notes to Self: Essays, Dublin: Tramp Press, 2018, pp. 79-95.

22

28 Nov.

Northern Ireland: The Troubles in memoir:

Lyra McKee, The Lost Boys (extracts), Lost, Found, Remembered: In Her Own Words, 2021, pp. 11-57.

23

30 Nov.

Fiction and memoir: oral presentations and discussion on Claire Keegan’s novella and Emilie Pine’s and Lyra McGee’s personal essays.

24

5 Dec.

SECOND WRITTEN TEST.

25

7 Dec.

Oral presentations on contemporary short stories.

26

12 Dec.

Oral presentations on films.

27

14 Dec.

Feedback on students’ performance.