English and Irish

English and Irish is a degree that brings together two of the oldest and most distinctive literary traditions in the British Isles, one rooted in the language that became global and one in a language that is among the oldest written in Europe and remains the living heritage of Ireland's Gaelic past. English literary study develops the skills of close reading, historical contextualisation, and critical argument across a vast chronological and geographical range, from Anglo-Saxon poetry through Renaissance drama and the nineteenth-century novel to contemporary global literatures written in English. Irish, spoken continuously for over two thousand years, carries a vast early literature of world significance and a continuous living tradition of poetry, prose, drama, and song, and studying it seriously means developing both linguistic competence and engagement with a cultural heritage of extraordinary depth.

At Queen's University Belfast, this three-year full-time degree explores the literatures and languages of both traditions in the fullest possible sense. You will study English in its historical, linguistic, cultural, material, and ideological circumstances, examining the full breadth of writing in English from its earliest forms to the present day. The Irish component develops language skills alongside engagement with the literature and cultural life of the Irish-speaking tradition, including its presence in education, music, drama, and the media.

Belfast's position as a city where both traditions intersect in living ways gives the degree a particular vibrancy and relevance.

Graduates of English and Irish are prepared for careers in education, journalism, broadcasting, publishing, translation, cultural heritage, arts administration, and the public sector. The combination of literary and linguistic expertise is particularly valued in Irish-language media, education, and cultural organisations on both sides of the border and in the diaspora. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in English literature, Irish studies, translation, or language teaching, building specialist expertise for academic or professional careers at the intersection of the two great literary traditions of the island of Ireland.