ARLET 234 Studies in Irish History and Literature
 The Isle of the Saints: Ireland From the Celts to the Normans
 Drew University
 Summer 2002
 M/W: 1:30-4:30
 Dr. William Rogers
 work: (973)408-3283

This course will explore the history and literature of Ireland from the arrival of the Celts around 350  BC to the invasion of the Normans in 1171. This is a rich period in Irish history, and fortunately, the monks who copied texts were not averse to putting down in writing the ancient Celtic sagas, such as the Tain Bo Cuailnge, as well as the Gospels and the lives of the saints.  Many scholars argue it is this 1500 year period of being left alone by the outside world, excepting Christianity, that allowed a distinctive Irish culture to develop that could withstand 800 years of concerted attempts to change, modify, reform or destroy it. Certainly it is true that in 1845 on the eve of the Great Famine the majority of Catholic Irish spoke little or no English— nearly 700 years after the arrival of the Normans. So our focus will be on the pre-Christian Celts, the advent of Christianity in Ireland, and the formation of the great monastic settlements and Christian communities. We will also explore the gradual centralization of power, culminating with the victory of High King Brian Boru over the his Irish and Viking enemies at Clontarf in 1014. We will be reading some of the early Irish sagas like the Tain, lives of saints like the Voyage of Brendan, and historical accounts of this lively and fascinating era.


 
 

Course requirements

Class participation, 20%; Book review (2-3 pages) and class presentation, 20%; Final paper, (15-20pages), 60%.  Book(s) review will be an analysis of a work or works–creative or historical–concerning a topic relating to the course material, which is then presented to the class. The final paper should explore in depth this topic or another, preferably covered (or at least touched upon) in class, although it may approach it through the use of readings not used in class.
 



 
 

  Books 

Moody and Martin; The Course of Irish History
Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas
Rees and Rees, Celtic Heritage
E.A. Thompson, Who Was St. Patrick?
St. Patrick, The Confession and Letter to Coroticus
Thomas Cahill; How the Irish Saved Civilization
Geoffrey Moorhouse; Sun Dancing
Juliene Osborne-McKnight, I Am of Irelaunde : A Novel of Patrick and Osian


 
 

  Schedule of Classes 

June 17: Introduction to Ireland
  –Moody, Ch. 1; Begin Gantz, and Rees/Rees

June 19: The Early Pre-Celtic Irish
  –Moody, Ch.2; continue Gantz and Rees/Rees
Three sessions while in Ireland; including one in Ireland by Dr. Christine Kinealy.

 July 3: The conquest of Ireland by the Celts
  –Moody, Ch.3;

 July 8 : The Tain in literature and history
  –continue Gantz and Rees/Rees;

July 10: Celtic mythological stories beyond the Tain
  –Lecture by Terrie McCoy; finish Gantz and Rees/Rees

July 15: The arrival of Christianity Presentations Begin.
  –The earliest Christians in Ireland and St. Patrick; Thompson; St. Patrick
  –Moody, Ch. 4

July 17: St. Patrick and the conversion of the Irish
  –Finish Thompson; St. Patrick
  –Begin Cahill

July 22: The Golden Age of Irish Spirituality
  –Moody, Ch. 5; continue Cahill,

July 24: How the Irish Saved Civilization
  –finish Cahill; Moorhouse
  –Moody, Ch. 6

July 29: The Celts and Early Christians in Fiction
  –Moorhouse; Osborne-McKnight
  –Moody, Chs. 7-8

July 31: The Celts and Early Christians in Fiction; The Celtic Revival; Final Paper Due
  –finish Moorhouse; Osborne-McKnight; Begin Yeats


 

Click Here to visit Dr. Rogers' homepage