Late Medieval Ireland Research Articles

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

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

Castles and Connectivity: Exploring the Economic Networks between Tower Houses, Settlement, and Trade in Late-Medieval Ireland

Castles and Connectivity: Exploring the Economic Networks between Tower Houses, Settlement, and Trade in Late-Medieval Ireland

Differential diagnosis of pathologically induced upper and lower limb asymmetry in a burial from late medieval Ireland (CE 1439–1511)

This paper reports a case study from 15 to 16th century Ireland of a mature adult male with upper and lower limb asymmetry. All of the bones of the right upper and lower extremity were atrophied and demonstrated limb shortening. This individual also had severe scoliosis and accessory facets on the superior aspect of the distal ends of the right metatarsals. These facets were most likely caused by the individual walking predominately on his toes to make up for the height difference between the lower limbs. Based on the patterning of affected bones and associated pathological changes, the individual was diagnosed as suffering from cerebral palsy with right-sided hemiplegia. Few definite cases of cerebral palsy have been identified in the archaeological record and most often only include the shortening of one or two long bones. The case from Ballinderry provides one of the most definitive archaeological cases to date.

Mobility and migration in late Iron Age and early Medieval Ireland

Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis has been performed on a selection of human teeth dating from late Iron Age and early Medieval Ireland to test the hypothesis that the appearance of new burial rites was associated with phases of migration from, and contact with, the Roman and Late Antique world. In particular, the appearance of crouched inhumations from the beginning of the 1st century CE, and the appearance of extended supine inhumations alongside the reappearance of crouched burials after the c. 4th century CE are investigated. Isotopic data favours the presence of non-local individuals during both periods. As parallels for virtually all of these new burial practices can be found elsewhere, for example throughout Iron Age and Roman Britain, the data are seen to support previously proposed theories that such burial practices were intrusive and reflected new rites associated with migrant peoples. This adds to the increasing body of evidence demonstrating that rather than being isolated, Ireland was very much part of a connected Europe throughout the entire period of Roman administration in the western provinces, and in the centuries after its demise.

Brendan Smith, Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330-1450

Brendan Smith, <i>Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours</i>, 1330-1450

Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330–1450. By Brendan Smith. Pp. xviii, 260. ISBN: 9780199594757. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. £65.00.

<i>Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330–1450.</i> By Brendan Smith. Pp. xviii, 260. ISBN: 9780199594757. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. £65.00.

Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330-1450.ByBrendan Smith. Oxford University Press. 2013. xviii + 260pp. £65.00.

HistoryVolume 100, Issue 341 p. 447-449 Reviews and Short Notices Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330-1450. By Brendan Smith, . Oxford University Press. 2013. xviii + 260pp. £65.00. Peter Crooks, Peter Crooks Trinity College DublinSearch for more papers by this author Peter Crooks, Peter Crooks Trinity College DublinSearch for more papers by this author First published: 24 June 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.12112_8Read 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 Volume100, Issue341July 2015Pages 447-449 RelatedInformation

Brendan Smith. Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330–1450.

Brendan Smith's central tenet in this book is that the English in Ireland were part of a larger English world. In doing so, he acknowledges an intellectual debt to the pioneering work of Robin Frame, whose work emphasized that Englishness did not end at the frontiers of England. What distinguishes Smith's work, though, are his chosen methods. Smith focuses on the English of Louth, a region in Ireland possessing both a coast and a deeper hinterland. Louth, through its ports, was an integral part of the medieval English maritime empire, in contrast to towns such as Ardee and Kells, which were located in the marches and exposed to the great Irish princely families of south Ulster. While Smith's approach is avowedly regional, his is also a study of English nobility, drawing upon the earlier work of K. B. McFarlane and Robert Rees Davies. Smith advocates that the history of medieval Ireland is very different when viewed through the prism of a regional case study, challenging old interpretations. Fortunately for Smith, the surviving medieval source material relating to the English of Louth is relatively plentiful in comparison to other parts of Ireland, although Smith freely admits that there are gaps in comparison to those available for the counties of England. Even so, he marshals the evidence with skill to set forth a convincing case for the Englishness of the Louth colony, drawing upon family deeds and charters relating to land and marriage, church records detailing Louth's holdings, as well as the surviving revenue records and parliamentary proceedings of the colony. In turn, he blends this mix with Irish annalistic sources, depicting the settlers at war with the Irish.

Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330-1450, by Brendan Smith

Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours, 1330-1450, by Brendan Smith

BrendanSmith, Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330–1450 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. xvii + 260. 6 maps. 4 tabs. ISBN 9780199594757 Hbk. £65)

The Economic History ReviewVolume 67, Issue 4 p. 1156-1157 BOOK REVIEW Brendan Smith, Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330–1450 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. xvii + 260. 6 maps. 4 tabs. ISBN 9780199594757 Hbk. £65) Sparky Booker, Sparky Booker Trinity College DublinSearch for more papers by this author Sparky Booker, Sparky Booker Trinity College DublinSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 October 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0289.12089_2Read 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 Volume67, Issue4Special Issue: The Renaissance of African Economic HistoryNovember 2014Pages 1156-1157 RelatedInformation

Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330–1450. By Brendan Smith. Pp 261. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2013. £65

Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330–1450. By Brendan Smith. Pp 261. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2013. £65

Crisis and survival in late medieval Ireland: the English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330-1450

List of maps and tables Preface Abbreviations Introduction PART ONE: CRISIS AND SURVIVAL 1. False Dawn, 1330-1369 2. Friends Like These: William Windsor and Edmund Mortimer, 1369-1381 3. Richard II and his Legacy, 1382-1405 4. 'The Poor Commons', 1405-1450 PART TWO: SETTLER SOCIETY 5. The Church 6. The Towns 7. The Marches Conclusion Bibliography Index

French Connections in Late Medieval Ireland: The Case of Geoffrey de Geneville (c. 1226-1314)

French Connections in Late Medieval Ireland: The Case of Geoffrey de Geneville (c. 1226-1314)

The Earls of Kildare and their Books at the End of the Middle Ages

The two surviving inventories of the library of the Fitzgerald Earls of Kildare bear witness to a particularly large and diverse collection of books in the Earls' castle at Maynooth, Co. Kildare. Between them, the lists record well over one hundred separate items in four languages: Latin, French, English and Irish. This paper traces the history of the library and analyses the Fitzgeralds' particular interests as book collectors and as readers. It provides the first full published set of suggested identifications and bibliographical details for the books at Maynooth. It also includes a fresh transcription of the library lists and a discussion of the manuscript context in which they are preserved. Sources like the Kildare library lists provide valuable evidence for the potential circulation of a wide range of non-native manuscripts and prints in late-medieval Ireland.

FAMILY, LOCALITY, AND NATIONALITY: VERNACULAR ADAPTATIONS OF THE "EXPUGNATIO HIBERNICA" IN LATE MEDIEVAL IRELAND

This paper examines two late medieval abridgements of Gerald of Wales’ Expugnatio Hibernica, one in Hiberno-English and one in Irish. The manuscripts in which these adaptations survive all date from the late fifteenth century and appear to bear witness to a sudden and pronounced interest in Gerald’s text. Drawing on evidence from the extant manuscripts, this paper explores the readerships of, and the nature of their interest in, these adaptations. A key conclusion is that the Expugnatio, which gives prominence to Gerald's own relatives, the Fitzgeralds, was valued as a family history by the Fitzgerald Earls of Kildare and their allies. The Earls were at the height of their power in the period in which these manuscripts were produced. Examination of this neglected evidence of the adaptation and readership of the Expugnatio in late medieval Ireland suggests that, for some medieval readers at least, the primary identities Gerald’s text expressed were familial and local rather than colonial or national.

Late Medieval Ireland and the English Connection: Waterford and Bristol, ca. 1360–1460

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Gaelic Ireland's English frontiers in the late Middle Ages

Frontiers' or 'borderlands' offer a useful conceptual framework for the exploration of Irish history in the late Middle Ages. Insufficient scholarly attention, however, has been devoted to the study of the Gaelic polity - the 'other side' of the frontiers that existed in late medieval Ireland between regions of Gaelic and English political, social and cultural domination. What follows seeks to begin a broad reconceptualisa- tion of the study of the Gaelic world and its frontiers by approaching these frontiers from a contemporary Gaelic perspective and by scrutinising contemporary Gaelic terminology used to describe borders. In this study, Ireland emerges as the historic and cultural centre of a wider Gaelic world, or Gaedhealtacht, which extended to parts of Scotland. The exploration of Gaelic Ireland's English frontiers presents a more complete picture of society in late medieval Ireland and sets Gaelic society in Ireland apart from its counterpart across the North Channel. Introduction One might expect that a consequence of the continued existence of an international border on an island as small as Ireland would be the interest of its historians in the study of frontiers or borderlands. That the border separating the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland would serve both as a reminder of the divisions - political, linguistic and economic - in Ireland's past and as a starting point for understand- ing them. Yet the study of Ireland's frontiers has not figured prominently in most accounts of Irish history. This is especially true of nationalist histories, which would seek to underscore the unity of 'Ireland' throughout history so as to show that the modern border is unhistorical and artificial. The approach of historians to the late medieval period, however, represents a partial exception to this tendency to overlook frontiers. This period - standing as it did between the emergence in Ireland of poli- tical and cultural frontiers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the steady dis- appearance of frontiers under the later Tudors - has been approached, more than any other period in Irish history perhaps, through the exploration of its borders. Since Robin Frame's memorable description over 30 years ago of the medieval lordship of Ireland as a land of many marches (as frontiers were then commonly known in

Whose Island?: Sovereignty in Late Medieval and Early Modern Ireland

Whose Island?: Sovereignty in Late Medieval and Early Modern Ireland

Contested island: Ireland, 1460-1630

1. Introduction: The Battle of Knockdoe 1504 2. Late Medieval Ireland 3. From Lordship to Kingdom 4. Expansion and Resistance 5. The Wars of Ireland 6. Wild Fruit from Savage Soil 7. The Third Kingdom 8. Religion and Nation 9. Epilogue: New English, New Irish?

The Annals of Ireland by Friar John Clyn (review)

Reviewed by: The Annals of Ireland by Friar John Clyn Brendan Smith The Annals of Ireland by Friar John Clyn. Edited and translated by Bernadette Williams (Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2007. Pp. 303. $75.00.) Historians of late medieval Ireland make frequent reference to the annals of the Kilkenny Franciscan, John Clyn, in their work and will be delighted to have this new edition at their disposal. Not only is it supported by a parallel English translation, copious footnotes, and a helpful bibliography, but it also boasts an introduction that encompasses one-third of the entire volume, and that suggests many interesting lines of future research. The same historians will be pleased to know that the editor, Bernadette Williams, is now engaged in producing an edition of the other main medieval Irish annal of settler [End Page 562] English provenance, the Pembridge or Dublin annals. Making key texts such as these accessible is essential if study of this period, which has withered in Irish universities in recent years, is to be pursued at a scholarly level by future generations. Dr Williams' intense familiarity with the text allows her to make persuasive arguments about its manuscript tradition, the career of its compiler, and the nature of the chronicle itself, though it is unfortunate that more is not said about where Clyn's annals sit in the contemporary milieu of Franciscan chronicle writing in the British Isles as a whole. Such contextualization is, by contrast, a particularly strong feature of her discussion of some of the ways in which the text can be used by historians: issues such as feud, reputation, loyalty and betrayal, and knighthood are commonplace in discussions of political society in fourteenth-century Britain and France, but have yet to be fully explored in Ireland. There is less excuse for such conservatism with this edition of Clyn now in hand. It is unfortunate in a work of such importance that so many mistakes are included in its pages. Robin Frame is thanked for having read an early draft, but one can be certain that that careful scholar was not involved at the proofing stage. Typographical errors, words and passages omitted or repeated, and poor syntax are all too common, as for instance at pages 66, 70, 89, 103 (repeated at 180), 105, and 107. Clyn's arithmetical failings with regard to the date of Richard Marshal's death (p. 156) go uncorrected, and the editor herself misdates the death of Edward II to 1328 at p. 188, n. 74. Poor Roger Mortimer, first earl of March, fares particularly badly, appearing in the translation—but not the original—as Richard on p. 200 and Robert on p. 228. Individually these are minor matters, but the cumulative effect is to leave the reader less sure than he would like to be of the reliability of much of what is before him. This is a great pity, because despite these problems, this is a very good edition of a very important text. Brendan Smith University of Bristol Copyright © 2008 The Catholic University of America Press