This Irish course takes up where the introductory course left off, to examine in detail the Irish Revolution, War of Independence and the creation of the Irish Free State, as well as their historical antecedents. We will also observe the genesis of the State into the modern 26 counties we see today. Upon completion of the course the student is able to understand and demonstrate a thorough knowledge of modern (Republic of) Ireland, its history, development, stagnation and collapse in the 20th and 21st centuries, its political system and orientation, its relationships with Europe, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, the USA, and the wider world. The focus of this course is to gain a thorough understanding of Irish identity in the Republic of Ireland and the Irish diaspora. The course will also propose a theory of cultural hybridity within the islands of Britain and Ireland, whereby the islands are inextricably linked by their commonalities and interactions, but within which Irish identity thrives as a distinct phenomenon. To a certain extent this also pertained to England’s wars: ‘It was as if an entire people had been condemned to live in Plato’s cave. […] When after six years they emerged, dazzled, from the cave into the light of day, it was to a new and vastly different world.’ (F S L Lyons, Ireland, 551) One other European democracy that preserved its neutrality during WWII was Sweden. Post-war Sweden became a great success story, whereas Ireland did not. In the light of this we will examine the differing impacts of the war on neutrality. Special attention will be paid to the status of the Catholic Church in Ireland and its long history of child abuse, obfuscation and lying, in which we focus on the 2014 John Martin McDonagh film Calvary, in which he attempts to salvage some humanity from the ruins. The course will look at the workings of Irish parliamentary democracy and how regional differences matter in the political life of the State.
- Opettaja: John Braidwood