Alexander modules of irreducible $C$-groups

We give a complete description of the Alexander modules of knotted $n$-manifolds in the sphere $S^{n+2}$ for $n\geqslant2$ and the Alexander modules of irreducible Hurwitz curves. This description is applied to investigate the properties of the first homology groups of cyclic coverings of the sphere $S^{n+2}$ and the complex projective plane $\mathbb C\mathbb P^2$ branched respectively along knotted $n$-manifolds and irreducible Hurwitz (in particular, algebraic) curves.