Current course offerings
Courses offered in Fall 2026
Introduction to Irish Studies / IRST 203 A (3 credits)
Wednesday 11:45-14:30
Mention of Ireland conjures up diverse cultural images - from shamrocks, St. Patrick’s Day parades, U2, and Riverdance, to Great Famine emigrants, the IRA, and the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy. While this course will help you make sense of these and other key aspects of Irish history and culture, it will also demonstrate the relevance of Irish Studies to other academic disciplines. The course is organized around seven key themes: Archaeology, History, Geography, Diaspora Studies, Literature (in Irish and English), Music and Folklore - all of which contribute to a transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary overview of the present state of Irish Studies. Treating complex issues of identity, globalization and transformation in contemporary Ireland, the course also will focus particular attention of the constituent communities of the Irish diaspora worldwide (a network of 70 million people scattered across North America, Europe and Australasia). Through lectures, readings, discussions and performances, students will learn how Irish culture has left and continues to leave unique footprints around the world, and how it continues to renew itself in the landscape, language and creative life of Ireland. Students will discover that to study Ireland is to study the world.
Highlights of Irish Literature / IRST 209 A / ENGL 298 B (3 credits)
Monday, Wednesday 14:45-16:00
Ireland is home to an exceptional number of fascinating and influential writers. With four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature (Yeats, Shaw, Beckett and Heaney), Ireland boasts a uniquely rich literary tradition which continues to develop into the present. Many of Ireland’s writers have been instrumental in the development of literary movements and genres such as romanticism, realism, modernism, postmodernism, avant-garde theatre, satire, and the gothic, and have contributed to innovating the novel and poetic forms. This course introduces students to some of the best-known and most influential Irish writers. It will engage in close readings of major Irish texts and place them in their cultural and literary contexts.
History of Ireland / IRST 211 A / HIST 211 A (3 credits)
Tuesday, Thursday 10:15-11:30
After establishing some broader historical context, this survey course traces modern Irish history in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Special attention is given to the development of Irish nationalism and relations with Great Britain.
Irish Mythology and Folklore / IRST 230 AA / ANTH 298 AA (3 credits)
Monday 17:45-20:15
This course introduces students to the vast and varied body of Irish myth and folklore, its practices and its practitioners. It features stories of the fairy kind (the sí people), famous figures such as the banshee, mythological characters like Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Cú Chulainn, songs, material culture, social customs and religious observances. Our class material includes digitised primary sources, accounts of early collectors, historical surveys, theory and modern versions of traditional tales. Students will also have the chance to investigate and present on their own choice of topic in class, as well as to engage with others in discussion on research findings.
Irish Traditional Music: A Global Soundscape / IRST 270 AA / HIST 298 AA / ANTH 298 BB (3 credits)
Thursday 17:45-20:15
Covering a tapestry of cultural history from the ancient Celts to modern mega shows like Riverdance, this multidisciplinary course focuses on Irish traditional music performed in Ireland, as well as throughout the world. Drawing on historiographical and ethnomusicological theory, the course uses recordings and documentary films to explore how globalization has interfaced with this traditional genre to create a thriving transnational arena of performance and creativity.
Sexualities in the Irish Diaspora / IRST 304 A / HIST 398 B / SOCI 398 A / ANTH 398 A
Monday 11:45-14:30
This course investigates the rich history that sex and sexual identities have played in shaping the Irish Diaspora over the past two hundred years. Representations of Irish sexualities and gendered expectations have been a controversial constant in the story of the Irish abroad and their descendants in the global Irish Diaspora. Key themes may include marriage and divorce, homosexuality, asexuality, racism, virginity, media scandals, heroism, alcoholism, sexual assault, nationalism, propaganda, punishment, gender-bending, and religion.
Classics of Irish Theatre / IRST 344 A / PERC 398 A (3 credits)
Monday, Wednesday 10:15-11:30
This course traces a colourful history from the mid-19th century to the present, exploring, amongst other works, the melodramas of Dionysius Boucicault; the pithy plays of Oscar Wilde; the arguably propagandistic work of W B Yeats and Augusta Gregory; the existentialism of Samuel Beckett; the Hiberno-Greek tragedies of Marina Carr; and the Tarantino inspired comedies of Martin McDonagh. Illuminating the politics – national, postcolonial, gendered and global – present in Irish theatre, this course shows that when theatre holds a mirror up to the Irish nation, a wider world is reflected back.
Irish Short Story Tradition / IRST 398 B / ENGL 356 A (3 credits)
Tuesday 14:45-17:30
With strong connections to the traditions of oral storytelling, the Irish short story has gained international recognition for the complexities of its forms and themes. This course will provide students with an overview of the key formal features of the short story genre while also prompting questions about the “Irish tradition.” What makes a short story Irish? How might a national framework influence the way we read a short story? Students will approach these questions through a wide range of writers, from modernists like James Joyce to contemporary voices like Sally Rooney. The course will also explore the work of writers such as Frank O’Connor, Kevin Barry, Eimear McBride, Colm Tóibín and others.
Intercultural Ireland: Film, Theatre and TV / IRST 398 C / ANTH 398 D / SOCI 398 D / PERC 398 B
Thursday 11:45-14:30
At the turn of the 21st Century, Ireland experienced an unprecedented economic boom. Prosperity attracted inward migration, and the island rapidly transformed from a homogenous to a multicultural nation. This course will examine the Theatre, Film and TV that arose from this unique and fascinating socio-political situation. We’ll engage theoretically with discourses of race, nation, multiculturalism, postcolonialism and globalization. We’ll analyse – amongst other case studies – the race politics of John Michael McDonagh’s action comedy The Guard; representations of Ireland’s Travelling Community in the Reality TV Series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding; and the provocative work of Arambe, Ireland’s first African theatre company.
Course offered in Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 (full-year)
Introduction to Spoken Irish / IRST 299 A (6 credits)
Tuesday 11:45-14:30
This class is a highly interactive introduction to the oldest written vernacular of western Europe: Gaeilge, the Irish language (also known as Gaelic). Special emphasis is put on the spoken word, realistic conversation and essential vocabulary. The first portion of this year-long course is devoted to oral communication, with classwork and homework based on phonetic learning and English/French cognates. The second portion of the course introduces students to the written word, the orthography of Irish, and children’s literature in the Irish language. Students can expect to learn words and phrases very quickly, with refreshers provided in the form of audio files.
Courses offered in Winter 2027
The Irish in Canada / IRST 210 A / HIST 212 A (3 credits)
Monday, Wednesday 10:15-11:30
From 17th-century fishermen and traders arriving in Newfoundland to displaced victims of the Famine in the 19th century, to contemporary immigrants from Ireland, the Irish have had a presence in all parts of Canada from the earliest days of settlement. This course examines the emigration and settlement patterns of Irish immigrants in the various regions of Canada across a period of three centuries, paying particular attention to their role in the social, economic, political, cultural, and educational development of Canadian society. The course explores the various strategies by which Irish immigrants both adapted to and transformed the particular host society in which they found themselves, and looks at other immigrant communities as a means of understanding the special contribution of the Irish to Canada.
NOTE: Students who have received credit for HIST 212 or for this topic under a HIST 398 number may not take this course for credit.
Celtic Christianity / IRST 228 EC / THEO 228 EC (3 credits)
Offered online through eConcordia
This course follows a historical line to show the connections of the preChristian Celtic beliefs with the early Christian Church of Celtic countries. It focuses on the spirituality of the Celtic people in the context of Celtic history and culture. This course is offered entirely online through eConcordia. Students enrolling in this course should have off-campus access to a computer with reliable internet connectivity. To access your online course visit the eConcordia website at http://www.econcordia.com. Please contact eConcordia at 514-848-8770 or 1-888-361-4949 if you have any questions regarding the online section of this course.
Research Methods in Irish Studies / IRST 300 A (3 credits)
Thursday 11:45-14:30
Special permission required. Intended for students who have completed some previous coursework in Irish Studies, this small seminar-style course will sharpen your understanding of Irish Studies as a cutting-edge interdisciplinary field that addresses a host of compelling questions about Irish history, culture, identity, memory, and politics, to name a few. Additionally, this course is designed to provide students with critical tools and skills necessary for cross-disciplinary research, analysis, synthesis and forms of presentation – written, oral, and visual – that can be of enormous benefit beyond Irish Studies. Course approaches and activities will include: readings and discussions around some of the key debates that have shaped Irish Studies; guest presentations by Irish Studies faculty that highlight the methods of research and analysis used in their own areas of study; research activities and projects that combine reading and research across two or more disciplines; and training in the rudiments of scholarly research – from effective library research and field work, to research project development, to essay writing or other research outcomes.
The Global Irish / IRST 303 A / HIST 398 H
Prof. Jane McGaughey / Tuesday 14:45-17:30
This interdisciplinary course examines the Irish experience of emigration, exile, resettlement, and diaspora, emphasizing the Great Famine and its legacy in shaping Irish communities in Canada and elsewhere. It highlights debates about the impact of the Famine, the significance of Grosse‑Île in Irish and Irish‑Canadian cultural memory, the relationship between Irish emigration and nationalism, immigrant women and how Irish communities adopted a self‑image of exile.
Contemporary Irish Theatre / IRST 347 A / PERC 398 A (3 credits)
Tuesday, Thursday 10:15-11:30
This course offers a panorama of Ireland’s vibrant contemporary theatre landscape. It puts the exciting experimental developments of recent years under the spotlight, engaging with drama that blurs the line between reality and fiction, that immerses its audiences in morally challenging worlds, and that pushes the boundaries of theatre as a medium. We’ll study autobiographical plays about Irish transgender experiences; “post-dramatic” mash-ups of Greek Drama; “documentary” or “verbatim” pieces about Ireland’s troubled past; and “site-specific” performances that bring sinister histories lurking in Dublin’s architecture to life. Note: This is a practical theatre course.
Irish Cultural Traditions in Quebec / IRST 371 A / HIST 398 J / SOCI 398 E / ANTH 398 E
Thursday 14:45-17:30
For over three centuries, the Irish have played a seminal role in the political, economic, religious, and cultural life of Quebec. During the eighteenth century, Irish Wild Geese soldiers arrived in New France as part of the French military and colonial establishment. A century afterwards, Irish ideologues, journalists, and revolutionary figures helped shape the political contours of both patriotic Quebec and the emergent Canadian confederation, while victims of the Great Irish Famine added a new and tragic chapter to the history of the province. Throughout the twentieth century, Irish communities continued to flourish in rural and urban Quebec, while individual Quebecers of Irish origin made formidable contributions to the life of the province. Drawing on historical, ethnographic, musical, and literary sources, this course will explore the story of the Irish in Quebec since the early 1700s, from small community settings in the Gaspé peninsula and the Gatineau Valley, to larger working class and mercantile enclaves in metropolitan Montreal, Quebec City, and Sherbrooke. Particular attention will be given to Irish commemorative practices in Quebec and the manner in which Irish communities have shaped and maintained their own sense of cultural memory and historical place in La Belle Province.
Contemporary Irish Literature / IRST 398 D / ENGL 353 A
Monday, Wednesday 11:45-13:00
This course examines a selection of Irish literary texts reflecting the social, economic, political, and cultural transformations in both the North and the South, written since 1960. The course will feature novels, memoirs, and personal essays from writers such as Edna O’Brien, John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Emilie Pine, and Anna Burns.
Irish Horror / IRST 398 E
Wednesday, Friday 10:15-11:30
This course digs into folklore, mythology, film, theatre, literature, social media, and TV to excavate ancient and contemporary Irish fears. We’ll look at how beliefs about the Tuatha dé Danann or good people persist in the Irish psyche, at the supernatural in storytelling traditions, at contemporary horror films, and ghostly literature. And, most importantly, we’ll create some horrifying art of our own.
Faeries and the Supernatural in Irish Culture / IRST 398 F / ANTH 398 F
Monday 14:45-17:30
The fairy folk of Irish culture go by many names – the sidhe or sí (in the Irish language), the little people, the good people, the gentry, or simply them. Correspondingly, stories about the fairies have served many functions in Irish society, crossing an enormous range of human experience. Curing and causing sickness, coping with death, preserving the landscape, the wonders of music, becoming lost, finding your way home… all of these things (and many more besides) are the domain of the sí, and investigating that domain can reveal much about the society that gave rise to the lore. This course offers a broad overview of fairy lore in the Irish tradition, drawing on both English and Irish-language sources (offered here in translation). In it we discuss the multiple origins of the fairy people, some of the earliest stories recorded about them, their modern popularity, their homes, their favourite times of year, and the influence they have always exerted on their human neighbours. We explore how fairies are used as powerful symbols that allow the folk to express the unspeakable, as well as the dangerous and violent consequences that have come from trying to appease them.
Cultural Geographies of the Irish Night / IRST 398 HH / GEOG 398 AA
Thursday 17:45-20:15
The Irish night is shaped by cultural, political, and economic forces. Drawing on the emerging field of ‘night studies’, this course considers the contemporary development of ‘night space’ in Ireland. This includes the night-time economy (for example, policies on closing times, gig-economies, transportation, and extended closures of cultural spaces during the Covid-19 pandemic) as well as ‘night culture’ (for example, the development of major nocturnal events, including Ireland’s ‘Culture Night’, as well as night-time street art galleries and music festivals). We’ll examine how systems of power operate within the Irish night, asking how access – and at times lack of access – to night spaces shape geographic processes, including gentrification, migration, gender (in)equity, and employment. The course will draw on a range of multi-media materials and diverse case studies, as well as virtual and in-person visits from night studies scholars and community activists. As part of the course, students will attend Montreal en Lumiere, to examine how nocturnal culture is presented, experienced, and shaped in different urban environments.
The Making of the Irish Landscape / IRST 398 A / GEOG 342 A (3 credits)
Wednesday 14:45-17:30
This course focuses on the evolution of the Irish landscape. We will examine the physical, political, social, economic and attitudinal processes that have shaped Ireland’s landscape from prehistoric times to the present. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of physical geography in Ireland, including rivers and canal systems, glaciers, bogs, islands, lakes, and mountain ranges. The course draws important connections between physical and social, economic, and political geographies through case studies across Ireland’s four provinces. Students will consider the intersections between key contemporary human and physical processes shaping the Irish landscape, including weather, climate, tourism, and migration.
Ireland and the Global Novel / IRST 498 A / ENGL 498 A
Friday 11:45-14:30
Special permission required. Intended for students in their final year. From the time Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver set sail to the fictional island nation of Lilliput, Irish writers have sought to imagine Ireland and their own place in a global world through their fiction. The novel has been a particularly important form for that engagement. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for example, travels from the Carpathian Mountains to the suburbs of London and in doing so charts an Anglo-Irish response to the anxieties of British imperialism. In this course, students will be engaging with novels by Irish writers which are significantly or primarily focused on events happening in locations outside Ireland, such as France after the Second World War, the Congo during decolonization, and Quebec in the 1970s. Students will be asked to think about how Irish writers, informed by national questions in Ireland and of Irish history, respond to international dynamics and events. By doing so, students will think about the ways that novels speak to a host of important themes, including political violence, peace and reconciliation, human rights, and environmentalism. Students can expect to engage with these themes through the works of a broad range of Irish novelists, such Elizabeth Bowen, Dorothy Macardle, Brian Moore, Ronan Bennett, and Claire Kilroy.
