Queen's University Belfast

Source: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/english-irish-ba-qq53/ Parent: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/

Share
Facebook;void(0);)
Linkedin;void(0);)
Email

Undergraduate 2027

Undergraduate 2025

BA | Undergraduate

English and Irish

Apply via UCAS Register Interest

Entry year : Academic Year 2027/28

Entry requirements : ABB

Attendance : 3 years (Full-time) \

UCAS Code : QQ53

Overview
Course content
Modules
Entry requirements
Careers
Fees and funding
Apply

Students undertaking English and Irish at Queen’s explore the literatures and languages of both traditions in the widest possible sense. From the earliest writings in Anglo-Saxon to contemporary Anglo-Irish, British, and ‘global’ literatures, students study English in its historical, linguistic, cultural, material and ideological circumstances. The Irish language forms an integral part of Irish cultural life as a medium for education, music, literature, drama and television. Spoken for over 2,000 years, Irish boasts a vast early literature of world significance.

English Studies at Queen’s brings to life an extraordinary heritage, as represented by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, where a new generation of award-winning writers and the brand new Seamus Heaney Centre (2024) continue a proud tradition

Course highlights

Global Opportunities

English at Queen’s offers a range of Study Abroad opportunities, from the Erasmus programme with a range of European partners, to the chance to study at a number of partner institutions in the United States.\ \ We welcome applications from European students who would like to attend Queen’s under the Erasmus programme. This programme enables students who are already enrolled at a university in Europe to take time out from their own institution and spend either one semester or a full academic year at Queen’s. \ \ Additionally, the Study Abroad programme is particularly popular with students from North America, Canada and Australia.

https://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/international-students/study-abroad/

Industry Links

We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers including, for example, BBC Northern Ireland.

World Class Facilities

The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry is named after our illustrious alumnus and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, it is the hub for creative writing and poetry at the University and is staffed by some of the most highly-regarded practitioners in poetry, scriptwriting and prose in the UK and Ireland.

Our state-of-the-art multimedia language centre provides students with learning facilities unparalleled elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, and includes a Language Lab with the latest language learning and translation software (including SDL Trados suite).

https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/seamus-heaney-centre/

https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/LanguageCentre/AboutUs/

Internationally Renowned Experts

Professor Mark Burnett is a leading scholar of the place of Shakespeare in the contemporary arts and is director of the Kenneth Branagh Archive.

Professor Marilina Cesario is an expert on Anglo-Saxon science and collaborates widely with astrophysicists in reassessing our understanding of pre-modern scientific thinking.

Dr Edel Lamb is an international expert on early modern child theatre companies and is currently developing a project on theatre rivalry and riots in Shakespeare’s London.

Dr Gail McConnell is a renowned critic of poetry and an award-winning poet whose first collection, The Sun is Open, published by Penned in the Margins (2021) was the winner of the John Pollard Foundation international poetry prize and the Christopher Ewart-Biggs memorial prize (2022).

Professor Glenn Patterson is the Rooney Prize and Betty Trask Prize-winning author of ten novels. He writes regularly for BBC Radio Three and Four, The Guardian and has made a number of documentaries for Irish and British television. His co-authored screenplay for Good Vibrations was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

Professor Philip McGowan is President of the European Association for American Studies (2016-2020) and sits on the Executive Board of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.

Nick Laird, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre, is a recipient of the Betty Trask and Eric Gregory Awards, whose most recent collection is Feel Free (Faber, 2018). He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books.

Student Experience

From Personal Tutors to peer mentoring, we work closely with students to ensure they are supported at every stage of their degree.

A thriving cultural scene organised by our undergraduate and postgraduate communities, from the English Society and Poetry and Pints to the Lifeboat and the Yellow Nib, makes studying English at Queen’s a unique proposition.

Students can work with our visiting Fulbright Scholars, leading US academics who spend a semester at Queen’s each year.

With Degree-Plus, students have the opportunity to burnish their academic achievements with employment-facing placements and projects.

Irish has a bespoke online platform for language learning called Learning Branch (this contains a range of subject-specific language tasks and mirrors content in language modules)

The Irish student society, An Cumann Gaelach, is one of the biggest in QUB. The society is extremely active and holds a range of events and activities each year (annual festival, Irish classes, concerts, annual dinner-dance, etc.).

https://www.facebook.com/QubEnglishSociety

Further Study Opportunities

Students can apply for cognate postgraduate taught modules in the Faculty such as:\ \ MA in English Literary Studies\ MA in Broadcast Literacy\ MA in Poetry: Creativity and Criticism\ MA in Creative Writing\ MSc in Software Development (conversion course)\ MLaw in Law (conversion course)\ PGCE in Education\ \ Alternatively, we offer a research-led MRes in Arts and Humanities.

"When I started at Queen's it was just another institution to me. Classes to attend, assignments to submit. However, over the course of my degree, Queen's opened up a whole new world to me. I chose a Joint Honours programme that allowed me to study English and Sociology. I had the chance to study the greats in English - Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, and then turn to Sociology to study gender equality, human rights, how to challenge societal norms, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.\ My subjects are fascinating, my lecturers make them come to life, and the amazing friends I have made here make it so much more than just any other institution. For me, all of the above make Queen's home."\ \ Lucy Gault\ BA English and Sociology Graduate

"I am so grateful that I spend each day studying what I love under the watchful gaze of experts in the fields of literature that really inspire my thirst for knowledge, in an environment so welcoming that I am proud and comfortable to truly speak my mind and share my opinions. As clichéd as it may be (and though this notion may be shunned in the art of creative writing!), the community of QUB English really is one big supportive family. I employ not one ounce of hyperbole when I say that choosing to study English at Queen’s was the greatest decision I ever have (and probably ever will) make in my life." \ \ Niamh Lundy \ BA English Graduate

“On starting English Literature degree in 2015, I never thought that I'd be dreading final year just for the fact I wouldn't be a part of English at Queen’s anymore. I've had the chance to study such a breadth of prose, poetry and drama across all sorts of periods under some of the most fantastic lecturers. Probably my favourite aspect of studying at Queen's is the community and friends that I've made within English. From being able to attend my lecturers' research seminars to peer mentoring first years, it feels like a (fantastically literary) family and I feel I couldn't have made a better choice.”\ \ Micheal McCann\ BA English and Creative Writing Graduate

"When I started at Queen's it was just another institution to me. Classes to attend, assignments to submit. However, over the course of my degree, Queen's opened up a whole new world to me. I chose a Joint Honours programme that allowed me to study English and Sociology. I had the chance to study the greats in English - Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, and then turn to Sociology to study gender equality, human rights, how to challenge societal norms, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.\ My subjects are fascinating, my lecturers make them come to life, and the amazing friends I have made here make it so much more than just any other institution. For me, all of the above make Queen's home."\ \ Lucy Gault\ BA English and Sociology Graduate

"I am so grateful that I spend each day studying what I love under the watchful gaze of experts in the fields of literature that really inspire my thirst for knowledge, in an environment so welcoming that I am proud and comfortable to truly speak my mind and share my opinions. As clichéd as it may be (and though this notion may be shunned in the art of creative writing!), the community of QUB English really is one big supportive family. I employ not one ounce of hyperbole when I say that choosing to study English at Queen’s was the greatest decision I ever have (and probably ever will) make in my life." \ \ Niamh Lundy \ BA English Graduate

NEXT \ Course content

[##### Take a Virtual Tour of Campus

Explore our immersive 360 degree tours of campus buildings, facilities, accommodation and Belfast city.](https://virtualexperience.qub.ac.uk/)

[##### Undergraduate Events

Join us for an insight into life at Queen's and advice on your journey to university.](https://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/Undergraduate/events/)

[##### Your Future Career

Queen’s is ranked 9th in the UK for Graduate Prospects (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026).](https://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/Undergraduate/careers-and-employability/)

[##### Student Accommodation

The most affordable, purpose-built student accommodation in Belfast.](https://www.qub.ac.uk/accommodation/)

Course location

Arts, English and Languages

Can't find something?

We're here to help with any questions or queries you may have about this course

Ask a question