University College Cork

Irish - Early & Medieval Irish

Course Outline
This course is concerned with Early Irish language and literature in the period from 600AD to 1200AD, and focuses on the study of language, grammar, texts, and their historical and literary contexts. Students are encouraged to develop their skills in close reading of sources, and in close analysis of the medieval Irish language. You will also have the opportunity to study medieval Welsh and Latin, and to take advanced courses in literary studies, palaeography, and textual editing. Provision has been made for supervised independent research to allow you to broaden and deepen your scholarly interests, while a 20,000-word thesis gives scope to postgraduates to complete a significant piece of work in a specific area of interest.

On successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
translate selected Early Irish texts

comment grammatically on particular words, phrases or sentences within these texts

transcribe Early Irish texts from manuscript sources

write and present a research paper on an agreed topic

translate selected Medieval Welsh texts

submit the results of supervised research in a dissertation of 20,000 words, with full scholarly apparatus

Why Choose This Course
The MA in Early and Medieval Irish offers great training in the language, literature and culture of medieval Ireland, providing opportunities for postgraduates to study the medieval Irish language in depth, as well as receiving training in Latin and medieval Welsh. You can develop your scholarly potential by directed independent study and taught modules, working with staff who are internationally recognised in areas such as medieval Irish Christianity, mythology, palaeography, textual editing, and legendary history. MA students will join a large cohort of international and Irish students already engaged on postgraduate studies in the Department of Early and Medieval Irish, UCC.

Placement or Study Abroad Information
Upon successful completion of the Master of Arts in Early and Medieval Irish, students often go on to PhD degrees at home and abroad. In recent years, many of our students have received scholarships to study for further degrees in North America, Scotland, Germany and Wales, as well as in Ireland. As we have numerous formal links with higher education institutions overseas, students who avail of the opportunity to pursue their doctoral studies in UCC may elect to spend some time abroad as part of their course.

Entry requirements

Requirements
Candidates should normally hold an honours primary degree with Second Class Honours Grade 1 (or equivalent) in Early and Medieval Irish, Celtic Civilisation or Gaeilge. Graduates from cognate disciplines will also be considered.

Candidates who hold a primary degree with a Second Class Honours Grade 2 will also be considered subject to the approval of the programme selection committee.

All potential candidates must have previously studied Medieval Irish at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements available here.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements, please find our grades comparison by country here.

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants.

For more information please contact the International Office.

Duration

Full-time 1 year, Part-time 2 years.
CKE24 Full-time; CKE08 Part-time.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
The part-time option will be taught during weekday working hours over 2 years.

Careers or further progression

Skills and Careers Information
An MA degree in Early and Medieval Irish, besides preparing you for further study in the field of Celtic Studies, can also provide an additional qualification — and a mark of distinction — for students pursuing advanced degrees in such fields as classics, English, history or medieval studies. It is also a useful qualification for those seeking employment in the heritage and broadcasting sectors.

Further enquiries

Dr. Kevin Murray
k.murray@ucc.ie
+ 353 21 490 3192
http://www.ucc.ie/acad/smg

Ms. Ciara Ní Churnáin
c.nichurnain@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 3360

Subjects taught

Modules
Students take 90 credits as follows:

Part I
CC6003 Early Irish Texts (10 credits)

plus 40 credits from the following:
CC6004 Medieval Welsh (10 credits)
CC6005 Research Seminar (10 credits)
CC6006 Special Topic (10 credits)
CC6007 Research Presentation (10 credits)
CC6008 Palaeography and Manuscript-based Research (10 credits)
CC6011 Continuing Old Irish (10 credits)

Part II
CC6010 MA Dissertation (40 credits)

Note: The Dissertation, of no less than 20,000 words, must be on a topic chosen in consultation with the Department. The Dissertation may be written through the medium of Irish or English.

For further details and descriptions of the modules, see the Postgraduate College Calendar

Postgraduate Diploma in Early and Medieval Irish
Candidates who pass Part I and opt not to proceed to Part II of the Master's programme may register for CC6002 (10 credits) and, on successful completion of CC6002, be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Early and Medieval Irish. Students must submit CC6002 (comprising of an Annotated Bibliography and Project) to the Department by the second Friday in September in the same academic year or may register for CC6002 in the following academic year (part-time), following completion of Part I.

Candidates who pass Part I and opt to proceed to Part II of the Master's programme and who fail, or fail to submit, Part II may register for CC6002 in the following academic year (part-time), and upon successful completion, will be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Early and Medieval Irish.

A student who subsequently applies to continue to Master's level must do so within 5 academic years of successful completion of Part 1.

Postgraduate Certificate in Early and Medieval Irish
Candidates who pass at least 30 credits of taught modules may opt to exit the programme and be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Early and Medieval Irish.

Modules
Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our book of modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar
You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Comment

Course Practicalities
For the full-time one-year option, you are required to choose modules to the value of 50 credits. Most modules have a value of 10 credits and involve weekly classes for the duration of the academic year (24 weeks). Depending on options, a full-time student will have a minimum of 5 classes per week (though many will also contain weekly assignments); students may also choose to attend the two-day palaeography workshop held annually in early September. For one-on-one supervised studies, and for the 40-credit dissertation, students are expected to meet with their supervisors on a regular basis.

After you have chosen the modules you wish to study, you are expected to attend regularly and participate fully in taught classes. Attendance at Old Irish language classes and the weekly Department research seminar is compulsory. In areas of supervised study, supervisors for the relevant modules will be organised by the teaching staff of the Department. The thesis topic and supervisor will be chosen by you in consultation with members of staff. The MA in Early and Medieval Irish entails a lot of reading and study — happily; the library facilities in UCC are particularly good in our subject area.

The taught modules are generally assessed by continuous assessment and by end-of-year examinations. In palaeography and the supervised-study modules, assessment is by essay/project while in the research presentation, public delivery to an academic audience is also assessed. The MA dissertation is graded by an external examiner.

Full details and regulations governing examinations for each course will be contained in the Marks and Standards Book and for each module in the Book of Modules.

The Masters of Arts in Early and Medieval Irish is taught by members of the Department of Early and Medieval Irish. All academic staff supervise postgraduates in their areas of scholarly interest.

John Carey
Kevin Murray
Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh
Emma Nic Cárthaigh

Assessment method

Full details and regulations governing examinations for each course will be contained in the Marks and Standards Book and for each module in the Book of Modules.

Application date

Applications for academic year 2020/2021 are open.

EU Applicants: UCC operates a rounds closing date system for the majority of postgraduate taught courses, which means offers are made four times a year on a rolling basis. Some courses have one specific closing date, please check your course prospectus page for this information.

The UCC rounds closing dates for postgraduate taught courses are below. Applicants are advised to apply as soon as possible.

Deadline for receipt of full applications:
For all completed applications received by January 10th 2020
Offers will be made by January 24th 2020

For all completed applications received by March 2nd 2020
Offers will be made by March 16th 2020

For all completed applications received by May 1st 2020
Offers will be made by May 15th 2020

For all completed applications received by July 1st 2020
Offer will be made by July 15th 2020

Late applications may be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for any courses that have remaining capacity.

Non-EU Closing Date: 15 June
Non-EU Applicants: Information for Non-EU applicants may be found on the International Office Website https://www.ucc.ie/en/international/