OLD AND MIDDLE IRISH,
and CELTIC STUDIES

Welcome to the University’s website for Old and Middle Irish, and Celtic Studies. The period of Old and Middle Irish extends from c. 600 to c. 1200 or, to put it another way, from the period of the earliest writing in Irish to the time of the Anglo-Normans.

As the language spoken by all or most of the population of Ireland throughout the Middle Ages and down to the nineteenth century was Irish, the study of Old and Middle Irish is of the utmost importance for a proper understanding of Irish history and culture.

Ireland has a richer vernacular record for the early centuries of the Middle Ages than any other country in western Europe.  This writing may be studied in its own terms, or in terms of the Celtic-speaking regions.  Its study can also shed much light on Northern European society in general, and on the development of European literature.

Old and Middle Irish have been taught at Galway since the University was founded in 1849, and the established chair of Old and Middle Irish and Celtic Philology has been in existence since 1938.  It is currently held by Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha.

It is possible to learn Old and Middle Irish at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.  Modules in Old and Middle Irish language and literature are taught through the medium of Irish in the BA in Gaeilge, and through the medium of English in the BA in Celtic Civilization.  Students working towards these degrees will also take a second subject, from a different field.  The BA in Celtic Studies provides students with an opportunity to concentrate their energies on Celtic languages and cultures from First Year through to Final Year.  Modules in Welsh language and literature are offered within this programme, and also within the BA in Celtic Civilization.

There is a dedicated one-year taught MA in Old and Middle Irish.  Modules in Old and Middle Irish are also available to those taking the two-year MA in Medieval Studies, and it is possible to take an aspect of Old and Middle Irish as a thesis topic within this programme.

MLitt, PhD in Old and Middle Irish; MLitt, PhD in Celtic Studies
The degrees of MLitt and PhD are awarded for postgraduate research on aspects of Old and Middle Irish, or Celtic Studies (including Welsh), or interdisciplinary work involving Celtic Studies and other disciplines.  Postgraduate research in Old and Middle Irish or in Celtic Studies may be done within the new four-year Structured PhD programmes.  This may involve inter-institutional collaboration.

Research by current postgraduates covers a broad range of topics.  Staff have specialist strengths in philology, comparative linguistics, and literature, and they endeavour to maintain the University’s long tradition of collaboration between Celticists, archaeologists, historians and classicists and to foster new interdisciplinary connections.

NUI, Galway’s special commitment to the Irish language, and the University’s proximity to the Conamara Gaeltacht, bring unique benefits to students of Old and Middle Irish and Celtic Studies at Galway, whatever their country of origin.

Under the Lifelong Learning (formerly ’Socrates’) Programme, staff and students maintain links with colleagues in Old and Middle Irish, Welsh and Celtic Studies at the universities of Aberystwyth, Glasgow, Brest, Rennes, Bonn and Oslo.

An Cumann Ceilteach, the Celtic Heritage Society, is a recently established but thriving student society for undergraduates and postgraduates.

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