Trinity Joint Honours - Irish (TJH)
Why not study Irish as part of a Joint Honours degree?
Trinity College's flagship Arts degree is the Trinity Joint Honours degree. This course builds greater flexibility into the course pathway for the student.
TJH Irish provides students with a training in the critical study of the language, literature and culture of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland from the medieval period to modern times. A wide range of texts and authors is studied. Students are introduced to the basic skills of linguistic and literary analysis as well as to elements of social history, palaeography and folklore. Scottish Gaelic language is an integral part of the course.
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig's campus viewed from the air
Students have many opportunities to choose their own areas of study within the Irish course. With the TJH degree, Senior Fresh students may branch away from their original subject choices, studying Electives, Open Modules, or in some cases taking up a new Minor Subject. In the Junior and Senior Sophister years, students can major or minor in a subject, or keep their studies in each subject balanced. They can spend time away overseas on Erasmus. During their time at Trinity College, they can study a range of optional modules as well as their core language modules. These options change from year to year and a wide variety of topics is on offer.
In their Senior Sophister year students develop their own abilities and interests with the opportunity to focus on a capstone project or dissertation (c. 10,000 words), written under the supervision of a member of the departmental staff. This provides an opportunity for the student to investigate any aspect of the subject that they choose, to bring in their knowledge and experience from other subjects studies, and to develop their scholarly skills.
Available from 2025/26
TJH Early Irish will provide students with a training in the critical study of the language, literature and culture of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland from the earliest period from which records are extant down to the twelfth century. A wide range of texts and authors is studied and students are introduced to the basic skills of linguistic and literary analysis as well as to the elements of social history, palaeography, folklore and comparative philology. The study of Early Irish includes a study of the Celtic and Indo-European relationships of the Irish language and, in the Sophister years, provides a course in Modern and Middle Welsh, subject to availability of staff.
Handy to have: MODULE OUTLINE - an outline of assessment and learning outcomes in all modules, Early and Modern.
Have a look at the current handbook for Joint Honours (for Modern Irish) or for Single Honours (for Early Irish). A Joint Honours handbook will be available for Early Irish from Summer 2025.
You'll find the essay submission form here (Word doc).