Irish Local History & Genealogy

On completion of this module students will/should have a fundamental knowledge of some of the principal concepts and methods of Irish local history and genealogy.

1. Evaluate the concept and meaning of local history, recognising the role that space and time plays in the forging of local identities and senses of place in Ireland;

2. Evaluate the concept and meaning of genealogy, recognising how ideas of identity and social relations based on ancestral connection impinge upon public culture in Ireland;

3. Acquire a knowledge of the local history and genealogy of communities in Ireland using various localised case studies along with a command of the scholarly debates in the literature in these fields;

4. Demonstrate a better understanding of the local past insofar as its legacy is still with us, in visible monuments and landscape features, in forms of social organisation, and in currently held local attitudes and values concerning the politics of commemoration;

5. Demonstrate accomplished communication, discussion, interpretation, presentation, and writing skills;

6. Demonstrate an ability to utilise a broad range of primary and secondary sources (e.g. blogs, books, book chapters, dissertations, field evidence, films, journal articles, magazine articles, manuscripts, maps, newspaper articles, podcasts, theses, websites, and videos);

7. Draw on the past to comprehend the present and grasp the importance of securing the future, thus linking to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).