I would like to welcome our new students to the School of History and indeed to extend a warm welcome back to our returning students in years two and above. You are entering or continuing to study, read and research in a vibrant School, one of the largest in the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences. We endeavour to provide you with a stimulating learning environment that will be rewarding and engaging.  

On this website you will find the details of the diverse range of courses on offer and the contacts for staff, and links to further information and services. Please also remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. The website will help you make the choices you want and guide you through the structure and the requirements of the degree. Please make sure to make contact with staff and stay in touch. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

We have an outstanding range of academic and administrative staff who are prepared to discuss issues, module or option choices or indeed the content of the history you choose to study. All staff have office hours and you should make full use of them to complement your formal studies; your engagement with the programme and the community of historians is crucial to your success. Our staff are experts in their respective fields, collectively and individually we have a strong research and publication record, a reputation for teaching excellence and a thorough engagement in the community and international academic events.  

We are committed to research led teaching based not only on the expertise of the academics but also on providing you with opportunities to engage directly with research and to become authors of your own historical projects from first year through to the third year dissertation.  You will be taught in classes of different sizes from large lecture halls that cover the core curriculum to the smaller options that will be delivered through lectures, seminars, tutorials, on-line discussion and eLearning or technology enhanced learning.  The School has a number of ‘blended’ learning options and online facilities; we are engaged with the Digital Humanities. Apart from the diverse range of teaching and learning we also inculcate a range of skills and attributes that will help you with your employability. Work Placement is an option within the School.

As an undergraduate you will also have the opportunity to specialise in the area or period that suits your interests most. This website outlines the range offered within the school from the Medieval, Early Modern, Modern Irish and European to the International. Please read further details on the staff pages.

You will have the opportunity to practice the craft of history through various forms of writing and communication from essays to examination, reports to presentations, discussion groups to wiki entries. You will learn to handle archival material, digital sources, manuscripts and visual sources, to form arguments, gather and interpret evidence, read and evaluate secondary sources.

We attract a diverse range of students within the School from the local to global. We welcome traditional and non-traditional students. We welcome students in significant numbers from a variety of partner European universities through the Socrates programme and a range of North American states through the Semester / Year Abroad programme. The cultural exchange deeply enriches the School.

Academic and administrative staff are happy to answer any questions you may have or to provide you with any further information you may need. In the first instance please contact School of History administrator: Ms Charlotte Holland at c.holland@ucc.ie 

I hope that you enjoy your year, your studies and research and I look forward to meeting you over the semester.

Professor David Ryan 

August 2014



David.ryan@ucc.ie