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M.Phil. in Medieval Irish (incorporating Early Irish and Modern Classical Irish)

Aims

The MPhil in Medieval Irish aims to give you the skills you need to edit and translate texts from manuscript.

In this coming academic year, 2025/26, the MPhil will concentrate on Classical Modern Irish only, with modules covering palaeography, language, metre, editorial principles, contemporary linguistics and literary and historical topics.

Modules and courses in Classical Modern Irish will be available every year.

Courses in Early and Middle Irish at MPhil level will run again in 2026/27, with modules available on Early Irish prose, Early Irish poetry, Early Irish law, historical linguistics and Middle Irish language.

Modules and courses in Early Irish will be available in alternate years, alternating with the Diploma in Old Irish (currently running). This allows those new to Old and Early Irish to obtain a foundation in Old Irish before embarking on the MPhil course.

All lectures will be conducted in English. A Handbook for the course is available here.

Duration

The course will last for one academic year, beginning in September, and requires full-time study. Students with no prior knowledge of Old Irish may take the preliminary year-long course for the Diploma in Old Irish (see Diploma webpage). In the MPhil year candidates will be assessed by examination (in summer) and a thesis of c.20,000 words.

Applications

Applicants for the MPhil must hold a good Honours degree (2.1 or higher) in Irish or a cognate subject (e.g. History, Archaeology, Linguistics).
To study Early Irish on the MPhil in Medieval Irish, a solid grounding in Old Irish is essential, as demonstrated by achieving 50% or higher in the Diploma in Old Irish or an equivalent qualification.
To study Classical Modern Irish on the MPhil in Medieval Irish, a solid working knowledge of Modern Irish is essential.
Applications for admission must be made through Trinity College's Application system by 30 June of the year in which admission is sought.
Students interetsed in Early Irish are advised to note that modules will be available every second year. The next year with an Early Irish strand will be 2026/27.

Course work

The taught portion of the course will extend over two semesters, and this taught element will consist of six contact hours per week as follows:

Table outlining modules in each strand (and taught hours per week)
Classical Modern Irish	Early Irish
Palaeography (1 hour)	Old Irish prose (2 hours)
Metrics (1 hour)	Old Irish poetry (1 hour)
Language (1 hour)	Comparative linguistics (1 hour)
Linguistic tracts (1 hour)	Early Irish law (1 hour)
Editing from manuscript (1 hour)	Middle Irish (1 hour)
Encountering the text (1 hour)