The Irish Identity: Independence, History, and Literature

Overview

Course No. 8740

Explore Ireland’s cultural renaissance through its revolutionary history and literary masterpieces with Professor Marc Conner.

This 36-lecture journey examines:

• 800 years of English rule and the fight for independence

• The Celtic Revival and Abbey Theatre movement

• Literary giants: Yeats, Joyce, Synge, and Lady Gregory

• How politics and art intertwined to forge modern Ireland

Discover how Ireland’s struggle for freedom produced one of history’s great cultural flowerings.

Video Lessons

Historical Foundations (1-6)

• Ancient Ireland (35 min) – Celts to medieval monks

2. English Conquest (34 min) – Vikings to Cromwell

3. Protestant Ascendancy (31 min) – Penal Laws & Swift

5. Great Famine (32 min) – O’Connell & national trauma

6. Celtic Revival (31 min) – Reclaiming Irish heritage

Literary Masters (7-27)

• Wilde & Shaw (31 min) – Irish wit on London stage

8-9. W.B. Yeats (31/30 min) – Poet of the revolution

10-15. Lady Gregory (29/30/30 min) – Abbey Theatre founder

11-13. J.M. Synge (32/30/30 min) – Playwright of the people

12-21. James Joyce (31/30/30 min) – Dubliners to Portrait

25-27. Ulysses (32/31/29 min) – Joyce’s Irish epic

Revolution & Aftermath (18-36)

18-19. Easter Rising (31/31 min) – 1916 rebellion

23-24. War & Civil War (31/31 min) – Collins to Treaty

28-29. O’Casey & Gregory (30/30 min) – Civil War drama

35-36. Modern Ireland (33/37 min) – De Valera to Heaney