Module Code - Title:
HI4168
-
THE COUNTRY HOUSE IN IRELAND; CLASS, GENDER AND CULTURE
Year Last Offered:
2025/6
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
N
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module explores the history of the country house in Ireland from its rise in the 1700s to its decline in the 1900s, providing an intimate look at the social, cultural and material lives of owners, occupants, and providers.
Syllabus:
The country house in Ireland was undoubtedly an elite expression of status but, as the power base of a landowner and nucleus of a landed estate community, it also lay at the centre of complex networks of exchange, sociability, supply and demand. As such, it provides a useful lens through which to examine continuity and change in Irish social, economic and cultural life in the long nineteenth century. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, this module considers: the realities and practicalities of country house life; notions about taste, fashion and luxury; different consumption practices of women and men; female agency and the domestic realm; conspicuous consumption and display; self-fashioning, pedigree, and performance; the relationship between town and country; upstairs and downstairs, indoors and outdoors; social networks and geographies of supply.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
On successful completion of this module, it is expected that students will be able to:
• describe the evolution of the country house in Ireland in the long nineteenth century;
• discuss the complex social, economic, political and cultural forces that shaped social networking and processes of consumption during this period;
• interpret country houses and material culture using historiographical and theoretical readings;
• identify and analyse primary sources pertaining to the study of individual landed class members, families or properties;
• evaluate the homes, possessions and practices of specific families, demonstrating complexities and subtleties;
• develop and present historical arguments in verbal and written forms.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
On successful completion of this module, it is expected that students will be able to:
• appreciate the significance of the country house as a key aspect of Irish cultural heritage;
• display a commitment to professional historical practice, particularly in reading and writing;
• demonstrate independent learning and collaboration.
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
n/a
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
This module will be taught through a combination of lectures, facilitated discussions and student presentations. It is planned as a continuous discursive seminar and it is expected that all students will take responsibility for their own learning by participating actively. Weekly discussions will be normally based on assigned primary and secondary sources. Students will develop the skills to analyse these readings, improve their capacity for critical assessment, consider peer comments and present their own work. Self-directed learning involving discussion forums and blogs will provide students with opportunities for collaboration and allow them to develop confidence in their own knowledge and abilities. Committed participation is essential for developing cognitive and presentation skills that hone their attributes as articulate, creative and original thinkers.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Jon Stobart and Mark Rothery. (2016)
Consumption and the country house
,
Karol Mullaney-Dignam. (2011)
Music and dancing at Castletown, Co. Kildare, 1759-1821
,
Terence Dooley. (2007)
The big houses and landed estates of Ireland: a research guide
,
Terence Dooley. (2001)
The decline of the big house in Ireland: a study of Irish landed families, 1860-1960
,
Other Relevant Texts:
Jon Stobart and Andrew Hann (eds). (2016)
The country house: material culture and consumption
,
Patrick Cosgrove, Terence Dooley, and Karol Mullaney-Dignam (eds). (2014)
Aspects of Irish aristocratic life: essays on the FitzGeralds and Carton House
,
Jacqueline Hill and Colm Lennon (eds). (1999)
Luxury and austerity
,
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
BAARTSUFA - Arts
BAENHIUFA - English and History
BAHPSSUFA - History, Politics, Sociology and Social Studies
BAEUSTUFA - EUROPEAN STUDIES
BAJOHOUFA - JOINT HONOURS
MAPHCHTFA - PUBLIC HISTORY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Spring
Module Leader:
karol.mullaneydignam@ul.ie