MA EUROPEAN HISTORY
- Qualification
- Master Of Arts Degree
- CAO/MU Apply code
- MHP66
- Award Type and NFQ level
- TAUGHT MASTERS (9)
- Study Mode
- Full time
- Closing Date
- 01 August 2027
Overview
The MA in European History is offered as a one-year full-time programme. It introduces participants to wider debates in European history and prepares them to complete a minor research thesis in conjunction with taught modules. The breakdown for this programme is 60 credits relating to taught modules and 30 credits relating to the thesis.
Participants are offered a mix of required and optional modules. Compulsory taught modules familiarise participants with significant contributions to the field and major historiographical debates in early modern and modern European history from 1500 to the present, currently including the history of genocide, the two World Wars and cultural history. Participants may also choose optional modules from other taught MAs within the Department and may undertake language courses.
Participants commence independent consultations with their supervisor on a proposed thesis during the first semester, concentrating on research and writing for the minor thesis in the second. A total of 30 credits are awarded for the thesis, with an option to conduct additional independent readings guided by their supervisor.
MA participants are also encouraged to collaborate with fellow postgraduates and departmental staff at social occasions, seminars and conferences. There are limited opportunities for well-qualified candidates to act as a tutor in the undergraduate programme, enabling them to gain valuable teaching experience.
Assessment is through a mix of written assignments, in-class participation and presentations. Participants also develop an extended thesis on a topic agreed upon with the supervisor and subject to departmental guidelines. For the thesis, emphasis is on independent study in close consultation with the supervisor. Taught modules are conducted during the week according to the regular student timetable.
Course structure
Duration: 1 year full-time
The MA in European History introduces students to vital debates in European history while developing their critical research and writing skills. Students are offered a combination of compulsory and optional modules, and must also write a minor research thesis. Compulsory taught modules familiarise students with significant contributions to the field, introduce them to the nature of postgraduate research, and prepare them to write the thesis. These are complemented by optional modules drawn from this and other MA programmes within the Department. Students are assigned a thesis supervisor in the first semester and must complete their thesis alongside their coursework throughout the year.
Disclaimer
The modules below are indicative of the content associated with this course of study.
The modules are subject to change as the curriculum is revised and reviewed annually.
Important: The information on this page is for prospective students, MU current students and staff should use Programme Directory.
Careers after your Masters
A taught Masters degree in European History equips students with a sound basis for pursuing an advanced research degree (e.g. PhD), or careers in education, journalism, the civil service, academia, research and arts administration, both in Ireland and the European Union more generally. Many have gone on to pursue careers or further education in the arts and heritage sector, in galleries, libraries, museums, archives and cultural institutions. This qualification can also be of use in diplomatic service, politics, law, public relations and public administration including with EU bodies.
Some graduates subsequently embark upon PhD programmes in Maynooth University or another third-level institution and their experience of independent research sets them in good stead to engage in future postgraduate research and apply for funding on a competitive basis.
Entry Requirements
Applicants must hold a minimum of a Bachelor Honours degree (NFQ Level 8) or equivalent with a high Second-Class Honours, Grade 2 (58%) in History or a cognate discipline. Arts and Social Sciences disciplines may be considered. Applicants who hold a minimum of a lower Second-Class Honours, Grade 2 (2:2) may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
If you do not meet the standard entry requirements then you may be eligible to apply under the University's Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy. Please click here for further information.
Applicants for whom English is not their first language are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study. For information about English language tests accepted and required scores, please see here.
Research Interests
Maynooth University is one of the principal centres of research into the history of Ireland. The department offers direction of research in every period of Irish history, including local history. The research specialisations of staff are as follows:
- Dr Hussam Ahmed specialises in the social and cultural history of the modern Middle East. Other research interests include Arab intellectual history, minorities in the Middle East, colonialism, statecraft and institution building.
- Professor Terence A Dooley specialises in Irish social and political history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly the land question, the fortunes of great houses and estates, the work of the Irish Land Commission and the local politics of the revolutionary period. Has expertise also in policy matters concerning heritage and restoration.
- Dr Alison FitzGerald specialises in Irish design history and material culture, in particular the study of Irish goldsmiths, jewellers and allied traders.
- Dr David Lederer specialists in Global history, Renaissance and Reformation, early modern Germany,history of emotions, gender studies.
- Professor Marian Lyons specialises in Irish migration to Europe and migrant experiences on the continent in the early modern period, with particular emphasis on France and specifically Jacobite migrants in Paris, c.1690–c.1730. Franco-Irish diplomatic and political relations in the sixteenth century. Ireland’s trading associations with France in the early modern era. Thomas Arthur, MD, of Limerick (1590–1675). The Kildare dynasty in fifteenth and sixteenth-century Ireland. Women in late medieval and early modern Ireland.
- Dr Dympna McLoughlin specialises in gender and class nineteenth century Ireland, poverty and subsistence nineteenth century Ireland, emigration and the poor law, children, nineteenth century Ireland.
- Dr JoAnne Mancini specialises in history of the United States and its colonial antecedents, intersections of American and world history.
- Dr David Murphy specialises in military history with a particular interest in Irish regiments in British and continental service, the Crimean War, and French military archives.
- Dr John Paul Newman specialises in in Balkan and Yugoslav cultural history with a particular interest in the First World War and its legacy in the region.
- Professor Thomas O’Connor specialises in Irish in Europe 1550–1800, Jansenism in 17th century, Roman Inquisition seventeenth century, political thought 1550–1700.
- Dr Michael Potterton specialises in the archaeology and history of Ireland from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, especially urban and rural landscapes, settlement and society.
- Dr Jennifer Redmond specialises in Irish emigration to England in the twentieth century, gender and sexual politics, demography and population change, modern Ireland, women and education, Irish women in the labour force, digital humanities.
- Professor Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses lectures in Spanish and Portuguese twentieth century history, the First World War and the development of fascism, and Europe’s colonial empires in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Research interests are centred on the First World War and Twentieth-century Portugal and its colonies.
- Professor Ian Speller specialises in the field of military history and strategic studies, focusing in particular on maritime strategy and naval policy, the history of the Royal Navy and of expeditionary operations in the twentieth century.
- Dr Jonathan Wright a historian of Ireland and the British world in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, his research addresses two core areas: politics and political cultures in the age of revolution and reform (c.1789-1832), and British and Irish imperial history (with a particular emphasis on the Ulster experience of empire).
How to apply
Applications must be made via the MU Apply portal. Please click here to start your application.
When making your application, please ensure you prepare any documents listed below. You may be required to submit documents in two stages. You will be required to upload and submit the following documents with your application:
- Full academic transcripts for all semesters/ years completed to date
- Graduation Certificate if you have graduated
- A copy of your passport
- Up to date CV
You will be required to upload the following documents after you submit your application:
- An academic reference (Not required for Maynooth University students)
- If English is not your first language, you may be required to upload evidence of English language proficiency. For information please click here.