HIST

HISTORY 90 B: Irish History

From Old Eskers to Ring Forts, this course begins with the melting of the Ice Cap and goes all the way to the Troubles. We begin with considerations of climate, geography and language moving on to the monuments of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. After a careful consideration of Celtic origins we move on to the arrival of Christianity and the Pelegrian Crisis. After that we follow the wave of invasions, the Vikings and Normans on to the Tudors. After Elizabeth we explore the legacy of Cromwell and the Plantation system on Ireland leading up to the Famine. The slow recovery to the discontent expressed in the Land Leagues, Parliament and the Celtic revival act as prelude to the Uprising of 1916 and from this to the Civil War and the bid for Independence. The Irish malaise lingered after World War II as Ireland looked to the outside world for some relief and found it in two meaningful opportunities: Civil Rights and European Economic Union. The pursuit of these two issues led again to another double-edged sword: the Celtic Tiger and the Troubles.