University of Galway

This course examines a selection of early Irish-lyric poems and voyage tales from the period circa AD 700-1100. The selected texts illustrate the richness and creativity of medieval Irish literature which represents the oldest vernacular literature in western Europe. This course focuses on the genres of medieval Irish literature, the scribal context of the surviving manuscript witnesses, the existence of hermitic or nature poetry, the interaction between history and literature in early Irish tales, and the allegorical significance of these texts. All poems and tales are read in translation, but students have the opportunity to engage with the texts in their original language as found in extant manuscripts and in published critical editions

Are the concepts of space and place important in the construction of identity? How has the sense of place shaped the Irish literary imagination? This course explores the sense of place as a defining element in Irish culture through a close reading of selected texts in Irish. It also looks at the ways in which Irish language writers deal with the sense of displacement which is a characteristic of the Irish experience in the 20th century.