Early Start Semester in History and Modern Ireland

HI2200 Early Start Semester in History and Modern Ireland

The Early Start Semester in History and Modern Ireland provides the visiting student with a stimulating introduction to the major issues in the modern history and politics of Ireland.

The core element of the programme is The Challenge of Democracy in Twentieth Century Ireland. This course examines a number of key periods characterised by intense debate on Irish nationality and the forms of social, economic and political structures most appropriate to an independent, democratic Irish state.  Particular attention is devoted to:-

• The crisis of government in Ireland between 1912 and 1922, with particular reference to Home Rule, the 1916 Rising, and Michael Collins and the War of Independence. Irish-America, nationalism and partition.
• The outbreak of the civil war in the south and intense communal unrest in Northern Ireland.
• The consolidation of state authority on the island, with particular reference to the role of the Unionist Party in Northern Ireland and of the party system in the Free State.
• The outbreak of ‘the Troubles’ in the late 1960s, and their impact upon social and political life north and south of the border.
• The origins and development of the ‘Peace Process’ in the 1990s, with specific reference to the role of successive US administrations.

 

Field Trips

To complement the material covered in the formal lecture element of the course, students undertake a number of field trips, which provide additional information to extend the students’ understanding of the period.  Cork is particularly suited to field trips of this kind given that it has been the site of many of the historical controversies under review.

One of the more important trips in this respect is to Béal na mBláth, site of the death of Michael Collins, the famous republican leader, killed in an ambush in August 1922 during the Irish Civil War.  The field trip serves to provide details of the actual ambush itself, more general information on the life of Michael Collins (including a visit to his birthplace nearby) and to illustrate some of the issues that were at stake during the crucial years between 1919 and 1922.

Study trips to a number of other local sites within the Cork area will also be included.

The principal field trip of the programme takes place towards the end of September. During this four-day visit to Dublin and Belfast, students will visit the National Museum, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Kilmainham Gaol, the Stormont complex, and hear briefings on the current situation by participants from all sides of the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

The minimum G.P.A. requirement for admission to the Early Start Semester programme is normally 3.0 out of 4.0