Arts - Folklore
Our BA degree programme at University College Cork is the gateway to the immense and exciting possibilities of education. We offer a wide variety of subjects across diverse fields – this allows you the flexibility and opportunity to choose your career pathway or postgraduate route.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | Major |
| Awarding Body | National University of Ireland |
| NFQ Level | Level 8 NFQ |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) | Major | National University of Ireland | Level 8 NFQ |
Duration
3 years, full-time.
Specific Subjects or course requirements
Leaving Certificate Entry Requirements
At least six subjects must be presented. Minimum grade H5 in two subjects and minimum grade O6/H7 in four other subjects. English and Irish are requirements for all programmes unless the applicant is exempt from Irish. Applicants will need to meet the following minimum entry requirements:
English O6/H7
Irish O6/H7
Other Language O6/H7
Leaving Certificate Vocational Progamme LCVP
Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme LCVP
Distinction 66 points
Merit 46 points
Pass 28 points
QQI FET Applicants General Information
Careers / Further progression
Skills and Careers Information
Graduates from this course have pursued careers in the following areas:
academia
media (audio-video)
primary and secondary school teaching
archive assistance
heritage sector (museums, with the Heritage Council)
translation
writing
community-based folklore and arts
local history projects.
The course also equips you with a range of useful transferable skills for journalism, television production, urban planning and environmental planning.
Further information
September 2026
CK101 Arts: Approximate Available Places 50
Find out about the mature entry requirements at https://www.ucc.ie/en/study/undergrad/entryreqs/matureapplicants/
CK101 Arts: Approximate Available Places Overall 500
Entry 2026
Early online application (discounted): Fee €35 Closing Date: 20 January 2026 at 5pm
Normal online application: Fee €50 Closing Date: 1 February 2026 at 5pm
Late online application - restrictions apply (see page 3 2026 CAO Handbook): Fee: €65 Closing Date: 1 May 2026 at 5pm
Change of Mind - restrictions apply (see page 3 2026 CAO Handbook): Fee: Nil Closing Date: 1 July 2026 at 5pm
Be sure to complete any action well in advance of closing dates. You should avoid making an application close to a closing date. No extensions to closing dates will be allowed and all application fees are non-refundable.
LATE APPLICATIONS
Late Applications are those which are received after 5pm on 1 February 2026. The closing date for late applications is 5pm on 1 May 2026, subject to the restrictions listed on page 3 of the 2026 CAO Handbook. The online facility for late applications opens on the 5 March 2026 at 12:00 noon - a fee of €65 applies.
Restrictions
As a CAO applicant you may experience one or more of the following restrictions based on your course choices, your category of application, or restrictions imposed by the HEIs that you wish to apply to. Please read the section on 'Restrictions' on page 3 of the 2026 CAO Handbook carefully. This section includes information on:
General Restrictions
1. Making a late application
2. Making changes to your course choices
Restricted Courses
3. Applying for a restricted course
Mature Applicants
4. Mature applicants
Supplementary Admissions Routes
5. Applying for DARE and/or HEAR
This programme gives you the space to explore your options. Ultimately you will not only excel in specific subject knowledge you will develop those intellectual, social and management skills essential for today’s working environment.
Our Arts CK101 programme is a full-time three-year honours programme, based at the College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences (CACSSS). If you wish to spend a year abroad at one of our partner institutions in Europe and beyond, you can apply to our four-year Arts (International) CK108 programme which is open to language and non-language students.
Subject options on registration: Students choose four subjects from the list below in Year 1, with not more than one subject from any group.
Students continue with 2 of these subjects in Years 2 & 3:
Group 1: Asian Studies, Computer Science***, History, Portuguese
Group 2(a)*: History of Art
Group 2(b)*: European Studies, Folklore, Gaeilge/Irish, Greek and Roman Civilisation, Studies in Psychology****
Group 3: Archaeology, Chinese Studies, German, Latin***, Mathematical Studies, Politics
Group 4: French, Sociology, Studies in Music
Group 5: Béaloideas, Economics, English, Greek***, Religions and Global Diversity
Group 6(a)**: Geography, Italian
Group 6(b)**: Celtic Civilisation, Philosophy, Spanish
*Groups 2(a) and 2(b): Students can combine History of Art with any subject from Group 2(a) in Year 1 only.Students can only study one subject from Groups 2(a) and 2(b) in Years 2 & 3.
**Groups 6(a) and 6(b): From Year 2, students may combine Italian with Spanish, but students may not combine Italian with Celtic Civilisation or Philosophy; or Geography with Celtic Civilisation, Philosophy or Spanish.
***These subjects are available in First Arts and thereafter only as a 10-credit subject in the Single Subject Programme
****This subject is available in Year 1 only
Ireland has one of the world's largest folklore archives. Folklore has been a vital aspect of Irish identity for hundreds of years, contributing to its literature, history and culture. Folklore, however, is not just in the past or in the countryside, it’s also in the contemporary world and in cities. It remains a significant element in the ongoing cultural process of popular traditions and expressions.
Folklore at UCC introduces the main areas of the discipline, such as narratives, stories, festivals, rituals, tools, technologies and material culture, before developing the theories, ideas and methods of Folklore, including the theories of fieldwork, original research, archives and community identity.
Year 1 Module
FL1004 Introduction to Irish Folklore and Ethnology (15 credits)
This module will introduce you to the subject from the beginning. Moving from art to artifice, from the natural to the supernatural, it presents a colourful range of narratives and stories, festivals and rituals, not forgetting the tools, technologies, and material culture so essential to human life.
You will be introduced to the study of human culture as it expresses itself through language, behaviour, and artefact. This module encompasses stories and storytelling, rituals, popular religion and festivals, material culture, and lifestyle.
Year 2 Modules
We offer 30 credits, three 5-credit modules in Semester 1, and three 5-credit modules in Semester 2:
Festival and Ritual in Popular Culture; Singers and Songs in Irish Tradition; Exploring the Otherworld; Popular Belief and Symbols; What is Folklore? Paradigms and Theories; Archives and Folklore in Ireland; Special Topics in Folklore.
Year 3*/4 Modules
We offer 30 credits, three 5-credit modules in Semester 1, and three 5-credit modules in Semester 2:
Exploring Material Culture and Folklore; Studying Stories, Theory and Method; Musical Traditions and Cultural Contexts; Indigenous Knowledge: Herbs and Healing in Irish Folklore; Fieldwork and Folklore; The Ethnographic Interview: An Introduction
*BA International students spend their third year studying in an approved foreign university in a country of the student's major language or subject and return to complete their final year in UCC in year 4.
Dr Clíona O'Carroll
c.ocarroll@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 2599
http://www.ucc.ie/en/bealoideas/
Bláthnaid Begley
b.begley@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 3935