Celtic Civilisation offers a broad new perspective on early Irish culture, revealing Ireland’s early European inheritance as well as its links with other Celtic regions. The course requires no previous knowledge or language skills and opens up a rich world of myth, legend, poetry, history and traditions, providing an understanding of the past that will enrich your view of the present. It complements courses in related areas such as archaeology, history, or Irish language. Moreover, it provides you with transferable interdisciplinary and analytical skills.
Year 1 Modules
CC1111 The Ancient Celts (5 credits)
CC1112 Celtic Religion and Mythology (5 credits)
CC1113 Celtic Literature (5 credits)
Year 2 Modules
Celtic Saints; Exile and Longing: Early Celtic Lyric Poetry; Learning and Society in the Celtic Countries The Celtic Languages; Early Irish Spirituality; Directed Study in Medieval Celtic Culture; Gender, Image and Identity in Medieval Ireland.
Year 3*/4 Modules
The Mabinogi: Legends of Medieval Wales; Ireland and Scotland; Otherworld Journeys and Saintly Visions in Celtic Literature; Irish Historical Tales; The Finn Cycle; Research Project; Early Irish I; Early Irish II; The Roots of the Arthurian Legend.
*BA International students spend the third year studying in an approved foreign university in a country of the student's major language or subject. They will return to complete their final year in UCC in Year 4.
See the College Calendar for more detailed information on the Programme and the Book of Modules for a more detailed description of Programme Modules.
Course Practicalities
Expected lecture hours: Celtic Civilisation modules normally comprise 24 hours of lectures per semester, accompanied by PowerPoint presentations and printed handouts. First year joint honours students will typically have 3 hours of lectures per week plus tutorials. The subject is taught by a close-knit and enthusiastic group of lecturers, and class sizes are generally kept in the small to medium range. Material presented in lectures, together with supplementary reading, are made available on each module’s Blackboard (UCC’s virtual learning system) site.
Expected reading hours: You will be provided with reading lists. Recommended books, as well as course-specific sourcebooks, are placed in the Boole Library’s High Demand Collection for you. All courses also have extensive online and digital materials supplied through the individual Blackboard sites and other online databases such as the Celtic Digital Initiative http://sulis.ucc.ie/cdi/. Tutorials accompany the three first-year modules. Like all Arts subjects, Celtic Civilisation enables you to learn how to analyse and present material through class assignments.
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