Course details
This course develops the traditional concerns of the discipline of folklore in Ireland. It draws upon stories, storytelling, ritual, belief, superstition, customs and traditions such as wakes, weddings and holy wells. It offers key lectures on the main areas of folklore.
You will be introduced to Irish folklore through the discussion of various examples of traditional or popular culture and behaviour. Examples are used to consider the meanings and contexts of Irish folklore in the past and present including Irish traditional music sessions, exorcists, popular cinema narrative, Irish pub culture, traditional diet and ancient and contemporary rituals associated with dying and death.
Course Details
This course coversthe intellectual history of the collection and study of Irish folklore and popular culture in an ethnological and Irish cultural studies context.
- It covers the core elements of popular culture while incorporating traditional concerns such as ritual, festival, belief and narrative. It explores the relationship of folklore with popular culture in general and aims to develop a sharp critical awareness of the key concerns and interests. It offers an abundance of examples relevant to the appreciation and interpretation of everyday life as a postgraduate research interest and concern.
- The authorship of ethnography or folklore, or cultural description in general, is discussed. Questions of representation arise with discussion of texts and examples of ethnographic writing. This aims to enhance your own research interest and analytical competency. Other topics offer personal experience of the contexts and practical use of folklore in communities and key offsite locations.
- The value of archives and folklore in general in institutional as well as public and community settings is central. The world famous Irish National Folklore Collection is introduced. It is a rich repository for all disciplines. Training in the use of archives is included and fieldtrips where practicable.
Detailed Entry Requirements
An applicant must normally hold an approved primary degree Or Higher Diploma in Arts (Folklore) with a Second Class Honours Grade 1 (or equivalent). This may include graduates in Folklore or Ethnology or those from cognate disciplines with an interest in Irish Folklore. Candidates who hold an approved primary degree or Higher Diploma in Arts (Folklore) with a Second Class Honours Grade 2 will also be considered subject to a written expression of interest and/or interview acceptable to the Director of the programme.
Course Practicalities
The course consists of a combination of lectures, seminars, research skills training, archive experience and fieldwork training. You will have approximately six contact hours per week with staff between September and April. You will be expected to prepare and write academic essays, reports based on archival research, and keep an ethnographic field research journal. You will also give presentations of your research and have the opportunity to attend sessions with visiting speakers. You will also have the opportunity to participate in one or two fieldtrips. You will be expected to complete a dissertation of approximately 20000 words maximum.
Assessment
The course is examined through the continuous assessment of ongoing work and essays. Experience-based learning such as journal keeping and archive use are also graded. The core module involves designing and carrying out a research project with a view to presenting a written dissertation. It may include archival, library, or equivalent fieldwork research agreed with staff in the department.
Updated on 08 November, 2015Course Location
About University College Cork
UCC was established in 1845 as one of three Queen’s Colleges - at Cork, Galway and Belfast. These new colleges theyre established in the reign of Queen Victoria, and named after her.
Queen's College, Cork (QCC) was established to provide access to higher education in the Irish province of Munster. Cork was chosen for the new college due to its place at the centre of transatlantic trade at the time and the presence of existing educational initiatives such as the Royal Cork Institution and a number of private medical schools.
The site chosen for the new college was dramatic and picturesque, on the edge of a limestone bluff overlooking the River Lee. It is associated with the educational activities of a local early Christian saint, Finbarr. It is believed that his monastery and school stood nearby, and his legend inspired UCC’s motto: ‘Where Finbarr Taught, let Munster Learn.’
On 7 November 1849, QCC opened its doors to a small group of students (only 115 students in that first session, 1849-1850) after a glittering inaugural ceremony in the Aula Maxima (Great Hall), which is still the symbolic and ceremonial heart of the University.
The limestone buildings of the Main Quadrangle (as it is now known) are built in a style inspired by the great universities of the Middle Ages, and theyre designed by the gifted architectural partnership of Thomas Deane and Benjamin Woodward. The iconic image of UCC, it is set in landscaped gardens and surrounds the green lawn known to all as the Quad.
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