Late Medieval Ireland Research Articles

Select document: The last will and testament of Diarmaid Ó Conchobhair, prior of Cluain Tuaiscirt na Sionna

AbstractIt was not common for members of religious orders in the late middle ages to make a last will and testament because profession as a regular removed their testamentary capacity. This article prints the Latin text of the testament of Brother Diarmaid Ó Conchobhair, prior of Cloontuskert na Sinna, O.S.A., County Roscommon, drawn up in 1462 and proved a year later in London, along with a translation. It also offers a discussion of the testament, including Ó Conchobhair's stated intention of going on pilgrimage to Rome, in the light of other evidence relating to both its testator and to the monastic orders in general in late medieval Ireland and England.

:Mapping Death: Burial in Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Ireland

:<i>Mapping Death: Burial in Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Ireland</i>

Mapping Death: Burial in Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Ireland. By ElizabethO’Brien. Dublin, Four Courts Press. xiv + 289 pp. with 74 figures, 25 colour plates, 8 maps. €55. ISBN 978 1 84682 859 1 (hardback).

Early Medieval EuropeEarly View Book review Mapping Death: Burial in Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Ireland. By Elizabeth O’Brien. Dublin, Four Courts Press. xiv + 289 pp. with 74 figures, 25 colour plates, 8 maps. €55. ISBN 978 1 84682 859 1 (hardback). Roy Flechner, Roy Flechner University College DublinSearch for more papers by this author Roy Flechner, Roy Flechner University College DublinSearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 June 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/emed.12654Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland, by Brian James Stone

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland, by Brian James Stone

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland by Brian James Stone (review)

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland by Brian James Stone (review)

Review of B. J. Stone, Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland

Review of B. J. Stone, Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland

Script modification in late medieval Ireland: a case-study of Tadhg Ua Ríghbhardáin (fl. 1470s)

This article presents a palaeographical and codicological examination of RIA MS 3 B 22 and RIA MS 3 B 23, two fifteenth-century volumes thought to have originally belonged together, written by Tadhg Ua Ríghbhardáin. RIA MS 3 B 23 contains a copy of The Monastery of Tallaght and an interpolated copy of Apgitir Chrábaid, both of which display certain palaeographical ‘peculiarities’ not found elsewhere in either manuscript volume. According to Gwynn and Purton (1911–12), these ‘peculiarities’ were probably copied from an exemplar. It is argued here, however, that these ‘peculiarities’ were introduced by Ua Ríghbhardáin himself and that he was assisted by another scribe who also employed unique palaeographical features. It is shown that Ua Ríghbhardáin deviated from his typical graphic repertoire and consciously modified his script when copying these texts. An overview of script modification in medieval Ireland is offered first, outlining the sources from which letterform variations were derived and the purpose for which scribes used them. This is followed by a palaeographical study of Ua Ríghbhardáin’s main scribal characteristics and, in turn, the ‘peculiarities’ employed by him and his assistant. Lastly, palaeographical and codicological features in the two manuscripts are reconsidered and it is suggested that they may not have been associated until much later in their history, contrary to previous suggestions that the two originally formed a single codex.

Brian James Stone, The rhetorical arts in Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Ireland

Brian James Stone, <i>The rhetorical arts in Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Ireland</i>

The challenge of writing histories of ‘women’: the case of women and the law in late medieval Ireland

AbstractCritiques of women's history based on intersectional analysis have demonstrated the importance of recognising differences between women and the perils of assuming commonality of experience based on gender. The idea that we can treat women as a group in some meaningful way is further complicated in medieval legal history by the fact that women's legal entitlements differed depending on their marital status. This paper examines women's experiences of the law in the English colony in late medieval Ireland. It argues that, despite the importance of ethnicity, social status and marital status in shaping different women's experiences of the law, gender played a significant role in their legal arguments and the ways in which juries and justices perceived them. Women's experiences at law were influenced in myriad ways by shared societal assumptions about their vulnerability and subordination to men. These assumptions influenced women regardless of the many social divisions and circumstances that made each woman unique. This study finds, therefore, that ‘women’ is a legitimate and productive category for historical research in the late medieval legal context but urges historians to interrogate more robustly why ‘women’ is an appropriate analytical category for their specific historical questions.

‘Behold the Wounds on Christ’: Crucifixion Imagery in Late Medieval Ireland

Crucifixion scenes in late medieval Ireland, as was typical elsewhere in Europe at the time, largely present a pitiful image of a wounded and tortured Christ. This paper examines the iconography of these scenes across various media including manuscript illumination and sculpture in stone and metalwork from the late fourteenth to the mid sixteenth century. The iconography is situated within the wider European artistic tradition and within the context of contemporary religious sentiment in Ireland as expressed through the literature and material culture. Finally, the interaction between image/object and the viewer is explored, and it is proposed that such imagery encouraged and often required an active rather than passive participation on behalf of the devotee.

Book Review: Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and the Irish of the Four Obedient Shires

Book Review: Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and the Irish of the Four Obedient Shires

Reflections on the Medieval and Early Modern Insular Identities

The article reflects on the monograph by Sparky Booker Cultural exchange and identity in late medieval Ireland: The English and the Irish of the four obedient shires (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018) which offers a revised perspective on the issue of assimilation and acculturation in late medieval Ireland on the basis of the material of the four obedient shires: Dublin, Meath, Louth, and Kildare. The scholar presents a complex and multi-faceted image of interethnic interplay in the region distinguishing between cultural and legal dimensions. She demonstrates that cultural practices were not the main resource of identity in the late medieval Ireland in which political allegiance and descent were prioritized. She highlights two aspects: the discursive level and the level of everyday interaction. Despite the obvious merits of the book, the material presented there requires more theoretical consideration of the issue of medieval identities. The authors of the article argue that the situation of interethnic interplay in the four obedient shires described by Booker could have been suitable for the emergence of consensual identity. Having coined this term, the authors define it as the type of identity which originates in the situation of interethnic interplay; entails intercultural switching; and has supragentile character, i.e., not insisting on common descent. The discourse of consensual identity did not emerge in the four shires during the period under consideration because of the absence of common subjecthood of the English and the Irish as well as prevalence of gentilism but its full potential was realized during the Early Stuarts.

Climate, disease and society in late-medieval Ireland

Climate, disease and society in late-medieval Ireland

Climate, disease and society in late-medieval Ireland

Climate, disease and society in late-medieval Ireland

Sparky Booker. Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires.

Sparky Booker. Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires.

By Land and by Sea: The Role of the Maritime Sphere in the Expansion of O'Donnell Power ca. 1380–1500

Over the course of the late 14th century and throughout the 15th century, the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell established themselves as one of the most powerful aristocratic dynasties in Ireland. By the early 16th century, the authority of the lords of Tyrconnell extended across most of the northern half of Ireland. Their rise to prominence has received a considerable amount of scholarly attention. Much of this has focused on the expansion of O'Donnell power within Ulster—namely the ability of successive O'Donnell chieftains to raise considerable military forces within the lordship of Tyrconnell, which they then used to impose their overlordship upon large areas of Ulster. O'Donnell power and prestige, however, extended well beyond Ulster, and much of their strength derived from their ability to create and uphold a broad web of dynastic alliances stretching across the island of Ireland—a topic which has received very little attention within the historiography of late Medieval Ireland. Moreover, a strong maritime dimension underpinned many of their alliances. The O'Donnells' capacity to raise fleets from among their MacSweeny urrithe (sub-kings, or vassals) within Tyrconnell and their ability to create alliances with powerful maritime kindreds such as the O'Malleys and Burkes of Mayo in Connacht gave them a major tactical and strategic advantage over their traditional rivals, the O'Neills of Tyrone. Drawing upon a broad range of material from within the wider Gaelic world (including Ireland and Scotland) as well as English and Scottish governmental material, this essay explores the maritime dimension underpinning the O'Donnells' rise to prominence during the later Middle Ages, charts the development of the O'Donnell lordship within its maritime context, and demonstrates the importance of maritime power within Gaelic Irish politics during this period.

Sparky Booker. Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, 4th series, 109. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2018. Pp. 298. $99.99 (cloth).

Sparky Booker. Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, 4th series, 109. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2018. Pp. 298. $99.99 (cloth). - Volume 58 Issue 1

Cultural exchange and identity in late medieval Ireland: the English and Irish of the four obedient shires. By Sparky Booker. Pp xvi, 298. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 2018. £75.

Cultural exchange and identity in late medieval Ireland: the English and Irish of the four obedient shires. By Sparky Booker. Pp xvi, 298. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 2018. £75.

Ireland in Late Antiquity

It is often assumed that Ireland entered recorded history with the emergence of organized Christianity on the island at some point in the fourth or fifth century C.E. This assumption has meant that the histories of late antique and early medieval Ireland are primarily viewed through the lens of conversion. Religious identities, frequently imagined as a binary opposition of “Christian” and “pagan,” have been a dominant historiographical focus. This essay argues that it is more fruitful to examine the relationship between Ireland and its neighbors from c. 150–c. 550 C.E. through a frontier dynamic, a dynamic in which religious identity was but one factor among many. By recasting the Irish experience in this way, it is possible to take a more comparative approach which cuts against the grain of Irish exceptionalism. Moreover, situating Ireland within the scholarly discourse of late antiquity allows for a new and nuanced understanding of the social and religious changes that characterized this period on the island.

Violence and authority: the sheriff and seneschal in late medieval Ireland

Violence and authority: the sheriff and seneschal in late medieval Ireland