Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminar | 10 x 2 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word essay | 50% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours 1 x 2 hour written exam | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word essay 1 x 2,500 word essay | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours 1 x 2 hour written exam | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate a detailed understanding of Irish migrant communities and their interactions with British society during the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries.
Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the different historical debates and analyses related to the Irish in Britain in this period.
Critically analyse a range of different types of primary sources relating to the Irish in Britain in this period, including the evidence of various forms of propaganda.
Demonstrate an ability to analyse and deploy relevant historical evidence to produce cogent and detailed arguments.
Aims
This module examines the relation between a minority ethnic group and British society. It uses Irish migrants and the communities they created in British towns as an avenue into understanding key themes British society in the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. In particular, it discusses the intersection between social class, ethnicity and national identity.
Brief description
During the post-famine decades (1850-70) the Irish were often considered to be a ‘problem’ minority in British society, alienated and set apart by social position, culture and (Catholic) religion. This has always been a partial view of Irish migrants and their descendants at that time, and in later decades they were not perceived to be quite so separate or problematic. These questions are explored through a consideration of religion, crime, the types and level of hostility, politics and sport. Consequently, one overarching theme in this module is an exploration of whether (and how) a racialized and demonized ethnic minority was integrated in British society by 1922.
Content
1. Introduction
2. Religious Cultures: Catholics and Protestants
3. Keeping the Peace: Crime and Policing
4. Hostility: Racism and Rioting
5. Hostility: Anti-Catholic Activity
6. Fenianism and the Diaspora
7. ‘Respectable’ Politics: Home Rule, c.1885-1914
8. The Irish and the Labour Movement, c.1890-1914
9. Sectarianism and Sport
10 Integration or Separation?
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | NA |
| Communication | Written communication skills will be developed through the coursework; skills in oral presentation will be developed in seminars but are not formally assessed. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be advised on how to improve research and communication skills through the individual tutorial providing feedback on submitted coursework. |
| Information Technology | Students will be encouraged to locate suitable material on the web and to apply it appropriately to their own work. Students will also be expected to word-process their work and make use of Blackboard. These skills will not be formally assessed. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Students will develop a range of transferable skills, including time management and communication skills, which may help them identify their personal strengths as they consider potential career paths |
| Problem solving | Students are expected to note and respond to historical problems which arise as part of the study of this subject area and to undertake suitable research for seminars and essays. |
| Research skills | Students will develop their research skills by reading a range of texts and evaluating their usefulness in preparation for the coursework and the written examination |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students will develop analytical skills in evaluating both written and visual sources relating to the Irish diaspora in Britain. |
| Team work | Students will be expected to play an active part in group activities (e.g. short group presentations in seminars) and to learn to evaluate their own contribution to such activities. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6