Programme Description

The M.Phil. in Irish Art History was developed in response to the growing international interest in Irish art, and consequent demand for research and educational opportunities in the discipline.

It comes within the ambit of the recently established Irish Art Research Centre within the Department of History of Art and Architecture and draws on the expertise of staff in the department as well as a range of guest lecturers from other institutions. The programme comprises a number of courses designed to explore traditions and innovations in Irish painting, sculpture, architecture and other visual artefacts in their national and international context, and in relation to other disciplines.

To achieve its aims, the content encompasses eight key components:

• a general survey of developments from Megalithic to Contemporary Irish art;
• the detailed study of selected periods of excellence;
• engagement with themes and issues of debate;
• analysis of approaches and methodologies of research;
• introduction to a range of repositories of primary and secondary research material;
• exposure to current research interests of staff, guest specialists, and other postgraduate students;
• familiarity with a range of works of art and architecture through direct engagement, and through slides, digital images and illustrated texts;
• experience of personal research on a relevant subject chosen by the student.

Students are assessed on a range of coursework assignments, and a dissertation of not more than 20,000 words. They will be introduced also to selected technical skills relevant to the art historian in the digital age.

In exploring a visual culture that spans several millennia, the exceptional examples of Irish art and architecture - on campus and within easy walking distance of Trinity College, as well as elsewhere in Ireland - provide an invaluable resource enabling unmatched opportunities for the first hand study of Irish art.