Module coordinator: Niall Keegan
Course description
The module includes a general introduction to Irish traditional music, song and dance.
The programme aims to give students a broad overview of this tradition and to examine current research in this area.
Wherever possible the lectures will be illustrated by live performance and the use of audio-visual material.
This module is worth 3 undergraduate credits or 6 ECTS credits. The module will be taught through lectures, tutorials, and masterclasses and enhanced through attendance at concert performances and sessions.
Learning outcomes
Cognitive
Knowledge, understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, synthesis
- Identify some key concepts within the Irish music and dance tradition
- Demonstrate a knowledge of texts, repertoires and styles relevant to Irish traditional music and dance
Affective
Attitudes and values
- Contextualise their studies in wider cultural contexts
- Gain a greater understanding of the repertoires and styles of the Irish tradition
Psychomotor
Physical skills
- Express their opinions in class discussion
- Develop their performance practice
Module breakdown
Students will undertake tuition given and attends lectures and extra curricula events in excess of 50 contact hours.
At the end of the two weeks, the student will be assessed through a written assignment.
Assessment
Written essay of 2500 words worth 100%.
A copy of the assignment must be sent through email to the Module Coordinator Niall Keegan at Niall.Keegan@ul.ie and copying Blas Director Pamela Cotter at Pamela.Cotter@ul.ie.
This needs to be sent by 4.00pm on the due date.
It is also advisable to submit a hard copy in the post. Students need to ensure that their name, ID number and essay title are clearly shown.
Submission procedure
You are required to submit your written coursework through e-mail directly to the relevant module coordinator.
Documents will only be accepted and processed in Microsoft Word or PDF formats.
It is also advisable to send a hard copy, to the relevant module coordinator &/or Blas Director.
Students should ensure that they keep an electronic copy of every piece of work submitted.
Be advised that all electronic files may be processed through turnitin, the programme for checking on plagiarism.
Plagiarism is a serious offence and can result in you incurring severe penalties. If you have any concerns, please carefully consult Cite it Right, the manual on best practice for citation distributed for free either in the Library or online on the UL library site.
Breathnach, Brendán (1971) Folk Music and Dances of Ireland, Dublin: Mercier Press. Shelfmark: 781.629162/BRE • Carson, Ciarán , Last Night’s Fun, Belfast: Appletree Press.
Flett,J. F. and Flett, T. M. (1985) Traditional Dancing in Scotland / with an appendix 'Dancing in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia,' by F. Rhodes, London: Routledge & Keegan Paul.
Foley, Catherine E. (2001) Perceptions of Irish Step Dance: ‘National, Global and Local’, in Dance Research Journal: Congress on Dance Research, 33.1. Brockport. New York.
Foley, Catherine E. (2012) Irish Traditional Step Dancing in North Kerry: A Contextual and Structural Analysis. (with accompanying DVD) Listowel: North Kerry Literary Trust.
Foley, Catherine E. (2012) ‘The notion and process of collecting, recording, and representing Irish traditional music, song, and dance: The Muckross House collection’, in Ancestral Imprints: Histories of Irish Traditonal Music and Dance, Thérése Smith (ed); chapter 7, pp. 107-117
Foley, Catherine E. (2013). Step Dancing in Ireland: Culture and History (Print – hardback, softback, and electronic). Popular and Folk Music Series (General Editor, Derek B. Scott). Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Limited (264 pages). Now published by Routledge.
Foley, Catherine E. (2014). ‘Negotiating the 'native self' and the 'professional self': ethnochoreological and ethnomusicological challenges in the field', in (Re) Searching the Field, Festschrift in Honour of Egil Bakka, Fiskvik Anne Margrete & Stranden Marit (eds); pp, 227-241
Foley, Catherine E. (2014). ‘Postcolonial agency, proactive archiving, and applied ethnochoreology: The National Dance Archive of Ireland’, in Český lid;103, (4), pp. 623- 633
Hast, Dorothy E. and Scott, Stanley (2004). Music in Ireland: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hickey, Donal. (1999) Stone Mad for Music: The Sliabh Luachra Story, Dublin:Marino.
Kearney, Daithi (2008) Towards a Regional Understanding of Irish Traditional Music. The Musicology review, Issue 5, pg 19-44. School of Music: UCD.
Kaul, Adam (2009) Traditional Music in an Irish Heritage.
Keegan, Niall (2010) ‘The Parameters of Style in Irish Traditional Music’ Inbhearr: Journal of Irish Music and Dance, 1(1).
Koning, Jos (1979) Tonality in Irish Traditional dance-music and the left hand technique of fiddlers of in East-Clare, Ireland. Studia Instrumenturum Musicae Opularis, no.6 pg 80-89
MacAoidh, Caoimhin, (1994). Between the Jigs and the Reels – The Donegal Fiddle Tradition, Drumlin, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim.
McCann, A. and Ó Laoire, L. (2003) "'Raising One Higher than the Other': The Hierarchy of Tradition in Representations of Gaelic and English Language Song in Ireland". In Global Pop, Local Language. Edited by Harris M. Berger and Michael T. Carroll, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 233-265.
McCullough, Lawrence (1977) “Style in Irish Traditional Music” Ethnomusicology Vol. XXI, no. 1, pp.85-97.
Ó hAllmhuráin, Gearóid (1998) A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music. Dublin: O’Brien Press.
O’Riada, Sean. (1982) Our Musical Heritage. Dublin: Fundúireacht an Riadaigh.
O’Shea, Helen (2008) The Making of Irish Traditional Music. Cork: Cork University Press.
Ó Súilleabháin, Mícheál (1990) ‘The Creative Process in Traditional Irish Music, Irish Music Studies 1: Musicology in Ireland. Dublin: Academic Press.
Sammer Smith, Sally. Irish Music and Landscape (JSTOR – ACIS, New Hibernia Review).
Shields, Hugh (1993) Narrative Singing in Ireland, Irish Academic Press.
Shields, Hugh and Gershen, Paulette (2000). Excerpts from ‘Ireland’ in The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe. Ed Timothy Rice et al. New York: Garland Publishing.
Breathnach, Breandan (1977) Dancing in Ireland, Dal gCais.
Brennan, Helen, (1999) The Story of Irish Dance Dingle: Brandon. Shelfmark: 793.319415/BRE
Carson, Ciarán (1986) Pocket Guide to Irish Traditional Music, Belfast: Appletree Press. Shelfmark: 781.629162/CAR
Carson, Ciarán Out of time with World (ITM), Belfast: Appletree Press.
Cullinane, John, (1987) Aspects of the History of Irish Dancing in Ireland, England, New Zealand, North America and Australia, Cork. Shelfmark: 793.319415/CUL
Foley, Catherine (2006) Stór Damhsa: Irish Traditional Solo Set Dances and Step Dances. DVD
Johnston, Thomas F. (1995) ‘The Social Context of Irish Folk Instruments’ International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, 26 (1), June, pp 35-59.
Keegan, Niall (1997) ‘The Verbal Context of Style in traditional Irish Music’ Selected Proceedings from Blas – The Local Accent Conference, eds. Therese Smith, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Irish World Music Centre, Folk Music Society of Ireland: Limerick & Dublin.
Lynch, Larry (1989). Set Dances of Ireland, Seadna books.
Munnelly, Tom (1994) The Mount Callan Garland , Comhairle Bhealoideas Éireann
Ó Canainn, Tomás (1978) Traditional Music in Ireland. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul.
O’Boyle, Seán (1976) The Irish Song Tradition, Cork: Ossian Publications. Shelfmark: 782.421629162/OBO
O’Connor, Nuala (2002) Bringing it all Back Home, BBC, book and CD. Shelfmark: 780.9415/OCO
O’Flynn, John (2009) The Irishness of Irish Music, Surrey: Ashgate.
Ó Súilleabháin, Mícheál (1981) ‘Irish Music Defined’, The Crane Bag, p.83 – 87
Moloney, Mick, J’aime Morrison, and C. Quigley (2009) Close to the Floor: Irish Dance from Boreen to Broadway, Madison: Macater Press.
Smith, Therese, et al, (1997) Blas: The Local Accent, IWMC, UL/Cumann Cheoil Tire Eireann.
Williams, Sean (2010) Focus: Irish Traditional Music. New York & London: Routledge.
Vallely, Fintan, (1999), The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, Cork University Press. Shelfmark: 781.629162/VAL
Be advised that some of the lecturers might suggest some other relevant texts to you in addition to this list