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