Archaeology & Irish
This course offers a Joint Honours degree programme examining both the wider human past and contemporary Irish language as well as Gaelic heritage and identity from a broad humanities-based perspective, including the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in working with archaeological material and undertaking fieldwork.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | |
| Awarding Body | Queens University Belfast |
| NFQ Level |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 | Queens University Belfast |
Duration
3 years (Full Time)
6 years (Part Time)
Entry Requirements
Irish leaving certificate requirements
H3H3H3H3H3H3/H2H3H3H3H3 including Higher Level grade H3 in Irish
Careers / Further progression
Although the majority of our graduates are interested in pursuing careers in archaeology-related areas (town and country planning, environmental impact, Land and Property Services [formerly Ordnance Survey]) and/or in the Irish-language sector, significant numbers develop careers in a wide range of other sectors.
Employment Links
We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers including, for example, the Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities, National Trust, Ulster Wildlife Trust, who provide both snapshot advice on their work, as well as run more in-depth advice sessions, the latter often at taught Masters level. We also run a careers seminar programme with guest speaker employers and further-study coordinators (teacher training, Masters and PhD degrees).
We benefit greatly from housing the Centre for Community Archaeology (Archaeological Fieldwork) in the School. This self-funded private unit obtains commercial work from the Department for Communities, landscape partnerships, Heritage Lottery Fund, the police and civil engineering companies, thus exposing students to employers, but also providing the teaching with information on what the current employment market requires from Archaeology and Irish graduates.
Further information
Start date: September 2024
Deadlines for on-time applications
2024 entry application deadlines
For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.
16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.
31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.
Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.
Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.
All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing
Archaeology explores a wide range of evidence that documents the human past from artefacts, monuments and settlements to entire landscapes and from these interprets how societies have adapted and developed. Modules focus on different periods of World, European and Irish/British archaeology, from human origins to modern times and heritage. Queen's University Belfast is one of the best places to study Archaeology in the UK, scoring third place for student experience in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 and, once again, first place for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2022.
The emphasis in Irish is on the modern language and culture. Students on this course will receive intensive tuition in the Irish language. A range of modules will provide them with a broad understanding of diverse aspects of Irish culture and society and include filmmaking, the short story, the novel, and modern poetry. The growth of Gaelic identity is also explored and insight into the country’s wider heritage is developed through the study of mythology, folklore and Scottish Gaelic.
The combined disciplines progressively develop general and specific knowledge and skills, through excavation, fieldwork, overseas fieldtrips, laboratory and practical work. A wide range of career options are available to our graduates including careers in commercial archaeology, survey, heritage management and many more, both within and beyond the heritage sector.
As well as the Joint Honours BA in Archaeology and Irish, Queen's offers Single Honours degrees in Archaeology (BA) and Archaeology-Palaeoecology (BSc) along with other degree programmes which combine Archaeology (the study of past human activities) with other subjects (Languages, History and Geography). All of those Single Honours and Joint Honours degrees offer a module pathway that is fully accredited by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and University Archaeology UK (UAUK).
Global Opportunities
Students on this programme benefit from a broad range of study-abroad and international placement opportunities, e.g. in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain.
Students are also eligible to apply to the University’s Study USA and Study China programmes.
http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/GlobalOpportunities
Stages of this programme can be viewed on the course webpage under "Course Content" (link above)
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2023/24). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
1 year
Core Modules
Introduction To World Archaeology (20 credits)
Gaeilge 1 (40 credits)
Optional Modules
Language Politics and Conflic (20 credits)
Celtic Mythology (20 credits)
Nualitríocht na Gaeilge ó 1916 go dtí an lá inniu (20 credits)
Archaeological Excavation (20 credits)
Ancient Humans and Landscapes (20 credits)
Europe in Prehistory (20 credits)
Themes in Historical Archaeology (20 credits)
Environmental Change: past, present and future (20 credits)
Year 2
Core Modules
Gaeilge 2 (40 credits)
Thinking through Things Theorizing Global Archaeology (20 credits)
Optional Modules
An Gearrscéal sa Ghaeilge (20 credits)
Archaeological Excavation (20 credits)
Scottish Gaelic Language 1 (20 credits)
Kings and Warriors (20 credits)
Ireland in Prehistory (20 credits)
The Archaeology of Islands (Residential Fieldtrip Module) (20 credits)
Cearta an Duine agus Nualitríocht na Gaeilge (20 credits)
Palaeoenvironmental Techniques (20 credits)
From St Patrick to the Plantation: The Archaeology of Historic Ireland (20 credits)
Archaeology in Practice (20 credits)
Year 3
Core Modules
Independent Project (20 credits)
Gaeilge 3 (40 credits)
Archaeology/Palaeoecology Dissertation (40 credits)
Optional Modules
An Béal Beo (20 credits)
Nuafhilíocht na Gaeilge (20 credits)
Language and Literature in the Gaelic World (20 credits)
Critical Thinking and the Past (20 credits)
Gairmeacha le Gaeilge (20 credits)
Volcanoes: environmental and societal impacts (20 credits)
The Archaeology of Ancient Greece (Residential Fieldtrip Module) (20 credits)
Society, Death and Disease (20 credits)
Kingship and Religion in the First Millennium AD (20 credits)
Admissions
Tel: 028 9097 3838
Fax: 028 9097 5151
Email address: admissions@qub.ac.uk