Literacy and Learning in Early Ireland

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Language was an important facet of the vibrant society of Early Ireland. The Irish cultivated not just Latin, the learned language of the Christian church in Europe, but also their own vernacular - Early Irish - to a remarkably high degree of literary skill and sophistication. We will look at several aspects of language in society in Ireland up to the high middle ages, the practitioners of writing and the institutions which fostered it. The main focus will be on Irish, which produced the oldest vernacular literature in medieval Western Europe. From the earliest written remains - the Ogham inscriptions - to the introduction of Irish to Britain and the flowering of a remarkable literature in manuscript, culminating in the great compilations of later medieval times, Irish has a rich and varied history. The course will address a range of questions, such as the following. How old is Irish? Who wrote it, and for whom? What exactly is Ogham? What sort of literature was written in Early Irish? What are the earliest sources? Is it related to other languages? What other languages were known in Early Ireland? How have historical events impacted on Irish? We will also look at selected inscriptions and samples of literary prose and verse.