Academic Programs

Since 2010, UMass Lowell has offered a course in Irish Politics. 

For students of Politics, Ireland is perhaps one of the most fascinating examples of a territory that has undergone, and continues to undergo dramatic transformations in its governing structures, its passionate struggles for freedom, civil wars, colonial resistance and modern nationalism.

This class studies the political history of Ireland before and during its time as a part of the United Kingdom, through the partition of the island into two states, and up to the modern politics of both the Republic of Ireland and the British state of Northern Ireland. Students will examine the results of the 1998 "Good Friday Agreement". Then dissect and evaluate modern Irish institutions of government, in the Republic and in the North. Students will research the competing ideologies and present arguments supporting the parties and organizations that propound these ideologies, like Sinn Fein, the IRA, the Uster Unionist Party and Unionist paramilitaries in the North; the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in the South.

UMass Lowell offers and excellent course in American Studies that may appeal to Irish students interested in seeking greater knowledge of American history, politics, literature, music and the arts. 

In 1822 a group of 30 Irish laborers led by Hugh Cummiskey arrived in the new industrial town of Lowell to assist with the excavation of the Pawtucket and Merrimack canals. By 1831 their numbers had swelled to over 400 and Kirk Boott, mill manager, had donated a plot of company land for a Catholic church – St. Patrick’s Church. This event marked the permanent settlement of the Irish in the town, with the area around the church becoming known as the “Irish Acre,” the “Paddy Camps” or “New Dublin”.

In August of 2010, archaeologists from Queen’s University Belfast, undertook a first-ever historical archaeological dig on the grounds of St. Patrick’s Church in Lowell’s Acre neighborhood, site of the first Irish habitation in the 1820s. Led by the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork at Queen’s: Dr. Colm Donnelly, Dr. Harry Welsh, and Ronan McHugh oversaw the excavation in collaboration with six UMass Lowell students.  The team discovered over 1,300 artifacts from the period. Students were able to unearth evidence of early Irish immigrants who flocked to the city in the early 1800s. Artifacts recovered included: rosary beads, clay pipes, oyster shells, animal bones, nails, pottery shards, bottles, and metal work - providing clues to the history of the first wave of Irish immigrants who settled in the city’s Acre neighborhood.

In the three years that followed, the team expanded the scope to include one week of excavation at St. Patrick’s Church in Lowell and one week excavation in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, at the site of the Hugh Cummiskey homestead that students from UMass Lowell had the opportunity to participate in.

The Irish-American Heritage Archaeological Program enables students to gain a deeper understanding of the life of the Irish before and after the Great Irish Famine and the role played by the Irish in the development of America during the 19th century. It provides students with a unique opportunity to participate in a global program that will increase their understanding of a particular monument, the period in which it belongs, and their knowledge of the archaeology of the region in which it is set. Finally, it provides students with an international experience and perspective needed to succeed as leaders and decision makers in a global society.

Launching partnerships such as the one this Program represents creates new bridges for global citizenship. Our partnership with Queen’s University enables us and our students to go beyond what each university can do on its own, while enhancing teaching and research.

- Maria Millett '10, History major and Latin American Studies minor, Bradford, Mass.