Archaeology and Irish BA

This course offers a Joint Honours degree programme examining both the wider human past and contemporary Irish language as well as Gaelic heritage and identity from a broad humanities-based perspective, including the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in working with archaeological material and undertaking fieldwork. Archaeology explores a wide range of evidence that documents the human past from artefacts, monuments and settlements to entire landscapes and from these interprets how societies have adapted and developed. Modules focus on different periods of World, European and Irish/British archaeology, from human origins to modern times and practical archaeology and heritage practice.

Queen's University Belfast is one of the best places to study Archaeology in the UK, second place for quality of teaching in the National Student Survey 2025 and second place for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2025. The emphasis in Irish is on the modern language and culture. Students on this course will receive intensive tuition in the Irish language.

A range of modules will provide them with a broad understanding of diverse aspects of Irish culture and society and include filmmaking, the short story, the novel, and modern poetry. The growth of Gaelic identity is also explored and insight into the country’s wider heritage is developed through the study of mythology, folklore and Scottish Gaelic. The combined disciplines progressively develop general and specific knowledge and skills, through excavation, fieldwork, overseas fieldtrips, laboratory and practical work.

A wide range of career options are available to our graduates including careers in commercial archaeology, survey, heritage management and many more, both within and beyond the heritage sector. As well as the Joint Honours BA in Archaeology and Irish, Queen's offers Single Honours degrees in Archaeology (BA) and Archaeology-Palaeoecology (BSc) along with other degree programmes which combine Archaeology (the study of past human activities) with other subjects (Languages, History, Anthropology and Geography). All of those Single Honours and Joint Honours degrees offer a module pathway that is fully accredited by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and University Archaeology UK (UAUK).