Ireland Study Guide PDF

**Lecture 2: From Paganism to Christianity** 1. **Ireland's contact with the Celtic world & the Classical world (Greeks & Romans):** - Ireland\'s contact with the Classical world stemmed from trade and raiding across the Irish Sea, which introduced Christianity. By the 5...

**Lecture 2: From Paganism to Christianity** 1. **Ireland's contact with the Celtic world & the Classical world (Greeks & Romans):** - Ireland\'s contact with the Classical world stemmed from trade and raiding across the Irish Sea, which introduced Christianity. By the 5th century, Roman influence began penetrating Ireland indirectly through Britain​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Overview of Celtic languages & cultures:** - Celtic languages include Goidelic (Irish, Scots Gaelic) and Brythonic (Welsh, Breton). Celtic culture emphasized oral tradition, mythology, and druid-led religious practices​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Move from Paganism to Christianity:** - Christianity took hold in Ireland gradually. Pope Celestine sent Palladius in 431 to minister to the existing Christian community. St. Patrick's mission involved converting a hierarchical society with strong pagan traditions, evidenced by slow transitions such as the use of sacred wells for baptism​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Palladius -- Who was he and why was he sent to Ireland?** - Palladius was the first Christian bishop sent by Pope Celestine in 431 to minister to Christians in Ireland, reflecting a significant Christian presence already established there​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **What did St. Patrick write? Where did he come from? When did he come to Ireland?** - St. Patrick authored *Confessio* and *Epistola ad Milites Corotici*. He was a Romano-Briton born to a wealthy family, enslaved in Ireland at 16, escaped, and returned as a missionary​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **What did the pre-Christian Irish worship prior to Christianity?** - Pre-Christian Irish worshipped natural elements and deities, with druids serving as intermediaries. Practices included rituals involving wells and seasonal rites, though no written pagan teachings survive​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 7. **Structure of Early Medieval Irish society -- Was it Celtic?** - Irish society was organized into clans (tuatha) with kings (rí), druids, warriors, and farmers, characteristic of Celtic societal structures​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 3: Vikings in the Celtic World** 1. **Who were the Vikings? Where did they come from?** - Vikings were seafaring Norse people from Scandinavia, known for raiding, trading, and settling​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **What language did the Vikings speak?** - They spoke Old Norse​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **When did they come to Ireland?** - The first Viking raids in Ireland began in 795 AD, and they established settlements like Dublin by the 9th century​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Did the Vikings settle in Ireland or other Celtic lands?** - Vikings settled in Ireland and other Celtic areas such as the Isle of Man and Scotland. Settlements included fortified longphorts evolving into towns​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **What are 'longphort' and 'dún'?** - A *longphort* was a temporary Viking camp, while a *dún* referred to a fortified settlement​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Impact of Vikings on Celtic societies -- seafaring, trade, raiding, settlement patterns, etc.:** - Vikings introduced advanced shipbuilding, trade networks, and urban centers like Dublin, which became key economic hubs. Their raids and alliances shaped Irish politics and culture​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 7. **Evidence of Viking raids still existing today:** - Archaeological findings such as Viking ship remains, artifacts, and the layout of early towns like Dublin provide evidence​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 4: Early Modern Ireland** 1. **Divisions in early modern Ireland:** - Ireland was divided among the Gaelic Irish, Old English (Norman descendants), and New English settlers, often with conflicting religious and political loyalties​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **What was the Protestant Reformation?** - A 16th-century movement that rejected Catholic practices, leading to the establishment of Protestant churches. In Ireland, it caused deep divisions​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **When/where did the Plantations occur?** - The Plantations occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in Ulster, involving the confiscation of Irish land for English and Scottish settlers​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Important events: rebellions, Gaelic Irish defeat, nobility exodus, plantations:** - Key events include the Nine Years' War (1594-1603), Flight of the Earls (1607), Cromwellian conquest (1649-1653), and the Ulster Plantation​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **Irish Protestant Parliament established at College Green in Dublin:** - This was the legislative body for the Kingdom of Ireland, dominated by the Protestant Ascendancy​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **What were the 'Penal Laws'?** - Laws enacted to oppress Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants, restricting rights like property ownership and public office​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Special Topic 2: Folklore, Music, and Art** **Lecture 5: Irish Folklore** 1. **How is folklore defined?** - Folklore includes cultural traditions, oral narratives, and vernacular practices shared by a community. It is dynamic, informal, and transmitted through oral traditions​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **When was the Irish Folklore Commission founded? What was its role?** - Founded in 1935, the Irish Folklore Commission aimed to collect, preserve, and archive Irish cultural traditions, amassing over 2 million pages of folklore​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Where is the National Folklore Collection housed?** - The National Folklore Collection is housed in the Newman Building at University College Dublin​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **What is the Schools' Collection?** - A 1937-1938 initiative involving senior primary school students who collected local folklore and submitted it to the Commission​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **What material is found on Dúchas.ie?** - Dúchas.ie hosts digitized Irish folklore, including the Schools' Collection, photographs, and audio recordings​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Describe some common Halloween traditions in Ireland:** - Traditions include carving turnips (*ghost turnips*), trick-or-treating (*guising*), eating barmbrack with hidden tokens, and divination games like biting apples​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 6: Traditional Irish Music** 1. **What are the distinctive features of Irish music?** - Features include modal melodies, ornamentation (rolls, cuts), rhythmic emphasis, and forms like jigs, reels, and hornpipes​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Chart the evolution of Irish dancing:** - Irish dance evolved from ancient forms to the structured styles taught by traveling dance masters in the 18th century, incorporating styles like jigs, reels, and slip jigs​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Popular dance styles & differences (jigs, reels, hornpipes):** - Jigs (6/8), reels (4/4), and hornpipes (4/4, slower, dotted rhythms) are key styles, with polkas and slides also popular in certain regions​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Traditional Irish instruments:** - Instruments include the harp, fiddle, uilleann pipes, tin whistle, and bodhrán​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **Popular types of Irish songs/tunes:** - Love songs, laments, drinking songs, and political ballads, often unaccompanied (*sean-nós*) or with minimal instrumentation​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Who were Edward Bunting & George Petrie?** - Edward Bunting (1773-1843) and George Petrie (1790-1866) were prominent collectors of traditional Irish music, documenting tunes and preserving cultural heritage​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 7. **Where was/is Irish music performed?** - Traditionally performed at gatherings, festivals, and in homes; modern venues include pubs, theaters, and concert stages​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 8. **What is sean-nós?** - A highly ornamented, unaccompanied singing style in Irish traditional music, often rhythmically free​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 7: Landscape in Contemporary Irish Art** 1. **List famous Irish painters discussed:** - Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry, Sean Keating, Camille Souter, and Elizabeth Magill​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **List famous Irish paintings discussed:** - *The Liffey Swim* (Yeats), *Connemara Landscape* (Henry), *Men of Destiny* (Yeats), and *Border Road* (Willie Doherty)​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **How was landscape portrayed in Irish visual art?** - Landscapes are idealized in earlier works (Yeats, Henry) and critiqued or reconstructed in contemporary art (Magill, Doherty)​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Describe the different artistic media discussed:** - Media include painting, photography, sculpture, and multimedia installations​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **How did Irish art change over time?** - From romanticized rural depictions to critical engagements with social and political themes, modern artists question the constructed nature of landscapes​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Special Topic 3: Literature and Legacy** **Lecture 8: Anglo-Irish Literature** 1. **What does the term 'Anglo-Irish literature' refer to?** - Literature written in English by Irish authors, often reflecting Ireland's colonial experience and identity​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **When did the Irish literary and cultural revival take place?** - The revival occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing on preserving Irish culture and identity​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Major writers & works discussed:** - James Joyce (*Ulysses*), W.B. Yeats (*The Wind Among the Reeds*), and John Millington Synge (*The Playboy of the Western World*)​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **What does the term 'Irish Gothic' refer to?** - A genre exploring decay, ruin, and anxieties about identity and colonialism, exemplified by Bram Stoker's *Dracula*​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **Who was James Joyce? Famous works?** - James Joyce was a modernist writer from Dublin, known for *Dubliners*, *A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man*, and *Ulysses*​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 9: Irish-English** 1. **What is Irish-English or Hiberno-English?** - A form of English influenced by Irish language structures, vocabulary, and grammar, resulting from historical interactions between Irish (Gaeilge) and English​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Progression of the English language in Ireland:** - English arrived with Anglo-Normans in the 12th century, expanded through Tudor conquests, and became dominant after the 19th century famine due to its association with prestige and survival​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Common names for the English spoken in Ireland:** - Terms include Hiberno-English, Anglo-Irish, and colloquially \"Brogue\"​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **What is 'D4 English'?** - A sociolect associated with affluent areas of Dublin, characterized by distinctive pronunciation​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **Examples of Irish slang terms:** - Terms like *craic* (fun), *eejit* (fool), and *grand* (fine) are typical examples​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Linguistic terms: Phonology, Lexicon, Morphology, Syntax:** - **Phonology:** Retains rhotic pronunciation (e.g., \'r\' sounds). - **Lexicon:** Words borrowed or translated from Irish (*piseog* for superstition). - **Morphology & Syntax:** Features like the 'after' perfect (*I'm after eating*)​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 10: The Famine and its Legacy** 1. **Causes of the Famine:** - Overreliance on potatoes, failure of the potato crop due to blight, and ineffective British responses​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Results of the Famine:** - Mass starvation, emigration, population decline, and economic devastation​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **British government's response:** - Limited relief efforts, reliance on laissez-faire policies, and export of food during the crisis​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Contemporary commentators on the Famine:** - Mixed reactions, ranging from sympathy to critiques of Irish agricultural practices and British policy​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **Famine commemorations:** - Monuments, such as Dublin\'s Famine Memorial, and events like National Famine Memorial Day​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Main features of the Famine legacy:** - Deepened divisions between Ireland and Britain, fostered nationalist sentiment, and contributed to emigration traditions​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Special Topic 4: The Irish Revival & the Birth of the State** **Lecture 11: A Biography of the Irish Language** 1. **What is the Irish term for the Irish language?** - Gaeilge​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Languages influencing Irish:** - Latin, Old Norse, English, and French influenced Irish vocabulary and syntax​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Attempts to revive the Irish language:** - Initiatives include the Gaelic League (1893), Irish-medium schools (Gaelscoileanna), and promotion in media. Success has been mixed​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **What is the Gaeltacht?** - Regions where Irish is the primary spoken language​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **Gaeltacht regions:** - Primarily in western counties such as Donegal, Galway, and Kerry​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Organisations promoting the Irish language:** - Conradh na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge, and Údarás na Gaeltachta​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 12: Ireland and the GAA** 1. **When, where, by whom, and why was the GAA founded?** - Founded in 1884 in Thurles by Michael Cusack and Maurice Davin to promote Irish sports and identity​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Historical context of the 1880s:** - A period of cultural revival and nationalism, with increasing interest in preserving Irish traditions​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Sports of the GAA:** - Gaelic football, hurling, camogie, handball, and rounders​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Where is GAA headquarters?** - Croke Park, Dublin​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **How is the GAA structured?** - Organized by clubs, county boards, and provincial councils, with an overarching central council​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 13: From Easter Rising to Civil War** 1. **Political structure in early 20th-century Ireland:** - Dominated by British rule, with growing nationalist movements challenging colonial control​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Main leaders & organisations:** - Leaders like Éamon de Valera, Michael Collins, and Patrick Pearse; groups included Sinn Féin and the IRB​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Leaders of the Easter Rising (1916):** - Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Tom Clarke. Most were executed after the Rising​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Rise of Sinn Féin and Dáil Éireann:** - Sinn Féin gained popularity post-1916, leading to the establishment of Dáil Éireann as Ireland's parliament​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 5. **'Black & Tans' and 'Flying Columns':** - The Black & Tans were British auxiliaries notorious for brutality. Flying Columns were Irish guerrilla units during the War of Independence​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 6. **Key events (War of Independence, Anglo-Irish Treaty, Civil War):** - The War of Independence (1919-1921) led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, splitting Ireland into Free State and Northern Ireland, and causing the Civil War (1922-1923)​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Special Topic 5: Modern Ireland** **Lecture 14: 20th Century Ireland** 1. **Changes in social conditions, rural & urban living:** - Modernization of rural areas, growth of cities, and increased migration to urban centers​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Women's rights, censorship, culture, and TV/media:** - Slow progress in women\'s rights, strong censorship (e.g., books and films), and the rise of national broadcasting (RTÉ) shaped 20th-century culture​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **EEC/EU membership and its impact:** - Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, leading to economic modernization and stronger ties to Europe​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 4. **Role of the Catholic Church:** - The Church wielded significant influence over education, healthcare, and social policy until its decline in later decades​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). **Lecture 15: Society and Culture in 21st Century Ireland** 1. **Politics (terms: Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Dáil Éireann):** - Taoiseach: Prime Minister; Tánaiste: Deputy Prime Minister; Dáil Éireann: Lower house of parliament​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 2. **Social changes (e.g., 8th Amendment, Marriage Equality):** - The 8th Amendment, which banned abortion, was repealed in 2018. Marriage Equality was achieved through a 2015 referendum ​(Skript Ireland Uncovered). 3. **Economic changes (Celtic Tiger, Crash, Austerity):** - The Celtic Tiger (1990s-2000s) brought rapid growth but ended in a severe financial crash (2008), leading to austerity measures under the Troika.