MA in Local History (School of History U.C.C.)

MA in Local History (School of History U.C.C.)

Applications are now being accepted for admittance to the MA in Local History degree programme beginning in September 2022.   Applicants must have an honours degree in History or a cognate subject, or its equivalent.  Candidates with relevant experience in local history study (e.g. membership of a local history society and/or a heritage group, publications, etc.) are also invited to apply. Such candidates are subject to the approval of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences. The part-time MA Degree in Local History is offered by coursework and assessment and runs for two years (part-time) from the date of first registration for the programme.  Coursework consists of a taught component of weekly evening lectures (Wednesday 6.00 - 8.00 pm) in Year I.  Evaluation is by a 5,000 word essay and continuous assessment, to be completed by the end of the second semester, Year 1. A dissertation of 25,000-30,000 words on an approved topic to be submitted by the end of year 2.   Lectures are specially tailored to provide a practical guide to the writing of Irish local history, indicating the main sources, their location and how best they might be exploited. 

Lectures will cover the introduction to sources and archives, approaches to Local History, reading the landscape, maps, census and parish records, Valuation Office records, Estate Records, sources for urban history, oral history and folklore, historiography, landscape and material history, gender and history, labour history, military and political history, cultural history, economic history, demographics, religion and much more.

Applications are made through  https://www.ucc.ie/en/study/postgrad/

NOTE:   There is no age barrier and a degree is not necessary in cases where evidence can be provided of an applicant’s interest in local history, e.g., if an applicant is a member of a local history society or has publications on local history topics.

For further information please contact Dr. Donal Ó Drisceoil, 021-4903048 (e-mail d.odriscoll@ucc.ie) or Maeve Barry, 021-4902124 (e-mail maeve.barry@ucc.ie).