Overview
In REF 2014 the Irish and Celtic Studies Research Institute was assessed as having:
100% outstanding or very considerable impact in research
66% of overall research world-leading or internationally excellent
90% of research environment internationally excellent or world-leading
The subject has a high income stream, and staff and student support arrangements and postgraduate training are excellent. The Institute is committed to fully supporting its postgraduate students.
Specialisms include medieval Irish language and literature, textual scholarship, the transmission of senchas and historical verse, voyage literature, the Gaelic manuscript tradition, bardic poetry, place-names research, dialectology, lexicography, minority languages, language policy and planning, contact linguistics and language change, sociolinguistics, the syntax and semantics of the verb in Irish, modern and contemporary Irish literature, creative writing, Gaelic literature in translation, applied language studies (CALL, digitization, language corpora) and Irish folklore, oral tradition and heritage studies.
Postgraduate supervision is available in almost all aspects of Irish language and literature.
Summary
The research infrastructure provided by the University is of a high quality. PhD opportunities in Irish and Celtic are overseen by both the Doctoral College on Belfast and Magee campuses and by the Research Unit for Modern Languages and Linguistics who work in close partnership.
The main objective of the Celtic Studies team is to foster and develop a vibrant research culture and ethos in all aspects of its work. This is reflected in a variety of ways, such as the number of high-quality publications by members of the group, externally-funded research projects, the organization of conferences and colloquia, international collaborations, and the large number of PhD Researchers and research degrees awarded.
PhD Researchers are of central importance to the research culture of the subject: they maintain close contact with their supervisors and other staff; they are allocated dedicated space; and they are closely integrated into the fabric of the subject as a whole.
Current Projects
The Research Unit for Modern Languages and Linguistics is engaged in a number of academic scholarly initiatives in the area of Irish and Celtic Studies, including:
Stories of the Sea: A Typological Study of Maritime Memorates in Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic Folklore Traditions (AHRC-funded project)
Concise Irish-English/English-Irish Dictionary (RCUK-funded project)
POOLS; Tools for CLIL Teachers; COOL
Societas Celto-Slavica Learned Association
Éigse Loch Lao
Éigse Cholm Cille
An Atlas of the Verbal Morphology of the Gaelic Linguistic Traditions
Irish Language Rights: A Framework for Compliance
Language attainment In Irish medium schools
Post-print MSS Cultures on the Atlantic Fringe
European Scholars Collecting Irish Folklore in Traditional Ireland
About
Resources in Irish and Celtic Studies
Research students in Irish and Celtic studies are allocated dedicated space to carry out their research and they have access to computers, library carrels, and the Language Resource Centre. The University and Research Unit have materials on first and second language acquisition and learning; Modern Irish lexicographical data; a collection of Irish manuscripts of 18th and 19th century texts relating to south-east Ulster; the Enrí Ó Muirgheasa library collection containing important works from the period 1880-1940. The University also collaborates with a number of other Universities on minority language research, corpus linguistics and other projects.
Internet Resources
This guide contains pointers to Internet resources of interest to students and staff in Irish Studies at Ulster. It is not a comprehensive list but is intended to help you begin exploring the Internet: General Irish and Celtic Studies Sites, Irish and Scottish Place-names, Language, Newspapers and Magazines, Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias, Media, Literature, Electronic Journals (mainly table of contents only), Celtic Culture, Electronic Databases, Music, Discussion Lists, Booksellers and Publishers, Institutions specialising in Irish, Gaelic and Celtic Studies.
Comment
Research facilities and groups
Resources in Irish and Celtic Studies
Research students in Irish and Celtic studies are allocated dedicated space to carry out their research and they have access to computers, library carrels, and the Language Resource Centre. The University and Institute have materials on first and second language acquisition and learning; data banks on errors and error analysis; Modern Irish lexicographical data; a collection of Irish manuscripts of 18th and 19th century texts relating to south-east Ulster; the Enrí Ó Muirgheasa library collection containing important works from the period 1880-1940. The University also collaborates with a number of other Universities on minority language research, corpus linguistics and other projects.
Internet Resources
This guide contains pointers to Internet resources of interest to students and staff in Irish Studies at Ulster. It is not a comprehensive list but is intended to help you begin exploring the Internet: General Irish and Celtic Studies Sites, Irish and Scottish Place-names, Language, Newspapers and Magazines, Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias, Media, Literature, Electronic Journals (mainly table of contents only), Celtic Culture, Electronic Databases, Music, Discussion Lists, Booksellers and Publishers, Institutions specialising in Irish, Gaelic and Celtic Studies.
Princess Grace Irish Library (PGIL)
EIRData 2000 is an extensive set of electronic literary text files dealing with Irish literary authors and their works in all periods, and is a tribute to Irish achievements in literature as well as testament to the Princess Grace's attachment to her Irish roots. The project is conducted by the University under the aegis of the Princess Grace Foundation (Monaco) with funding dedicated for the purpose by the Ireland Fund Princess Grace Memorial Library in Monaco. PGIL EIRData is an ambitious Internet project in Irish studies comprising an extensive set of digital records dealing with Irish literary authors and their works in all periods. It is the most comprehensive reference source of its kind in any medium, thus providing a robust and uniquely flexible platform for future advances in Irish cultural informatics.