Ireland | LIT 277: Introduction to Irish Literature

May 19 – May 28, 2023

We traveled the beautiful Emerald Isle with SUNY-Broome faculty and friends! Though it’s a small nation, Ireland has had an outsized impact on Western literature (including four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature). In the course, we read texts from the ancient Irish epics through the modern Troubles, and then we went to see the breathtaking landscape on our eight-day trip in May. We traveled not only in Dublin, but also in the west: Limerick, Galway, the Aran Islands, and Sligo.

This course is a survey of Irish literature from the medieval to the modern period, with a capstone trip to Ireland in May 2023. In particular, the course will be focused on the role of Irish literature in shaping the Irish historical imagination.

Readings will be selected from major works of Irish literature, including The Táin, The Midnight Court, the poetry and drama of the Celtic Twilight and William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Edna O’Brien, with appropriate accompanying texts. Course will meet one day a week during the semester—followed by an eight-day study tour in Ireland, including Dublin, Sligo, and Galway. Additional fees associated with international travel.

This a Writing Emphasis course section. Students must complete ENG 110 before registering.

Estimated costs: $3000

Friday, May 19 (travel day)

  • Bus from SUNY-Broome to Newark Airport
  • Flight to Ireland (overnight)

Saturday, May 20 (Dublin)

  • Land in Dublin, Immigration
  • Bus tour of Dublin
  • The Joyce Tower
  • The Irish Writer’s Museum

Sunday, May 21 (Dublin)

  • Dublinia (Museum of Dublin History)
  • National Museum of Ireland: Archeology
  • The Hugh Lane Gallery (Fine Art)

Monday, May 22 (Dublin)

  • Leprechaun Museum
  • National Museum of Ireland: History & Decorative Arts
  • Show: Abbey Theater

Tuesday, May 23 (Dublin)

  • Trinity College: The Book of Kells
  • Trinity College: College Tour
  • Abbey Theater, Backstage Tour (optional)

Wednesday, May 24 (Limerick)

  • Bus to west of Ireland
  • University of Limerick: Campus Tour

Thursday, May 25 (Galway)

  • Bus to Galway
  • Yeats Tower: Thoor Ballylee
  • Irish National Museum: Country Life
  • Local Guide: Walking Tour of Galway
  • Show: Druid Theatre

Friday, May 26 (Galway)

  • Aran Islands
  • Cliffs of Moher

Saturday, May 27 (Sligo)

  • Local Tour of Yeats sites: Ben Bulben
  • Loch Gill (Inisfree)
  • Drumcliffe Church
  • Yeats Building

Sunday, May 28 (travel day)

  • Return to Dublin Airport (bus)
  • Dublin to Newark (plane)
  • Newark to SUNY-Broome (bus)