Martin Golberg, Senior Curator at the National Museums of Scotland, travelled to the British Museum to give audiences perspective on the various pieces in the exhibit as well as an introduction to what constitutes “Celtic” art.
Medieval Books: 5 Great New Releases!
November 12, 2015 By
Black Friday is around the corner – here are a few books that have just been released!
Sacrificial Magic and the Twofold Division of the Irish Ritual Year
October 31, 2015 By
The historical development of St. Martin’s Day in Ireland, and its relationship with the more ancient festival of Samhain is examined, revealing circumstances that saw much of the ritual nature of Samhain being adopted within a Christian context in the medieval period.
Who Were The Celts? The British Museum Offers Answers with New Exhibition
September 28, 2015 By
The British Museum just opened its latest exhibit, Celts: Art and Identity this past Thursday, covering 2,500 years of Celtic history. The exhibit explores Celtic identity and how it eveolved from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the present through art, culture, daily life, religion and politics.
5 Cool Celtic Things at the British Museum
September 27, 2015 By
I attended the opening of the British Museum’s, Celts: Art and Identity exhibit on Sept 24th. It showcases stunning art, jewellery, weaponry, daily and religious objects to tell the story of the Celtic people.
Halls, ‘hall-houses’ and tower-houses in medieval Ireland: disentangling the needlessly entangled
September 25, 2015 By
This short paper addresses what I regard as two critical issues in Irish castellological research: the definition of the ‘hall-house’, and the relationship of buildings so identified with the tower-houses of the later middle ages.
Fallen tree reveals medieval skeleton in Ireland
September 17, 2015 By
Last May a storm in northwest Ireland blew over a 215-year old tree. It also unearth an unusual find – the skeletal remains of a young man who lived nearly a thousand years ago.
Drone Technology Aids in Discoveries at Medieval Irish Sites
August 26, 2015 By
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been gaining attention in the news for the last few years, but archaeologists like Saint Louis University history professor Thomas Finan, Ph.D., have always appreciated what aerial photography could accomplish.
The Scale of Slave Raiding and the Slave Trade in Northumbria and Ireland, 7th-11th Centuries
August 16, 2015 By
Slave raiding and the slave trade in early medieval Northumbria and Ireland were transcultural and inter-regional processes, involving the enslavement and transportation of people across permeable borders.
Movie Review: Tristan and Isolde
August 13, 2015 By
As far as medieval movies go, Tristan and Isolde definitely isn’t the worst I’ve seen. I was looking for a movie to watch after work, and I thought, hey, James Franco, Sophia Moyles, Henry Cavill, and Rufus Sewell, all directed by Ridley Scott?! – this can’t be that bad. Well, it was pretty bad, but it wasn’t the worst 2 hours of my life. So what went wrong?
Why did they stop building tower house castles in Ireland?
August 12, 2015 By
One of the most visible reminders of Ireland’s medieval history are the tower house castles that are scattered throughout the country. For centuries they were the homes and fortresses for the native Irish elites as well as the English and Scottish settlers. However, by the early seventeenth-century it seems that they were now being abandoned and left the fall into ruin. What happened?
Festival of Archaeology at Dunluce Castle today
July 25, 2015 By
Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland will host a family friendly archaeological event on Saturday 25 July from 10.30am – 4.30pm.
‘Naked and Unarmoured’: A Reassessment of the Role of the Galwegians at the Battle of the Standard
July 24, 2015 By
Accounts of the Battle of the Standard, fought in 1138 between the army of David I, King of Scots and the northern English forces rallied by Thurstan, Archbishop of York, have unvaryingly placed the blame for the Scottish defeat on David’s Galwegian warriors who, against armoured English ranks, fled in confusion.
Investigating ‘peasant conversion’ in Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England
July 11, 2015 By
It is somewhat surprising that we find very little in the way of propaganda bent on stressing positive changes that Christianity could bring, propaganda of the kind that Bishop Daniel of Winchester scripted for Boniface in the oft-cited letter which he advised the missionary to lure converts by contrasting the economic prosperity of Christian communities with the backwardness of the non-Christian.
The Afterlife of the Dead: Reform in Attitude Towards Medieval Burials, Corpses and Bones
July 7, 2015 By
The International Medieval Congress is taking place at the University of Leeds, I’m on hand this week to report on the conference. This blog post reports on my first session.
KZOO 2015: Session #42 – Magna Carta in Context
May 18, 2015 By
This coming week I’ll be featuring summaries on some of my favourites sessions and papers from #KZOO2015. I kicked off my first session on Thursday with the Magna Carta.
The Multilingual Origins of Medieval Irish Surnames
May 6, 2015 By
Surnames came into widespread use in Ireland at a time where five vernacular languages were in operation – Irish, English, Norse, Welsh and Norman French.
Why Ireland was like a ‘Garden of Eden’ during the Middle Ages
April 26, 2015 By
Tourism officials in Ireland are busy trying to promote the country to the world. If this was the Middle Ages, the would have a much easier time.
The Strategy of Challenges: Two Beheading Games In Medieval Literature
April 26, 2015 By
The Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and its Old Irish ancestor The Feast of Bricriu recount a remarkable stranger’s challenge to the hero, in effect, ‘You can chop off my head if you’ll let me return the blow.’
‘The Halved Heads’: Osteological Evidence for Decapitation in Medieval Ireland
April 25, 2015 By
This paper examines the osteological evidence for decapitation from 30 skeletal assemblages dated to the medieval period (6th to 16th century) from Ireland.
Ireland’s Ancient East campaign to showcase country’s medieval sites
April 19, 2015 By
The Irish government has started a tourism campaign – Ireland’s Ancient East – in hopes that the country’s heritage will attract another 600,000 overseas visitors per year.
Tabula Gratulatoria for Clerics, Kings and Vikings
April 14, 2015 By
Four Courts Press invite you to subscribe to the Tabula Gratulatoria for Clerics, Kings and Vikings, a collection of essays on medieval Ireland in honour of Donnchadh Ó Corráin,
Which Irish Saint Are You?
March 29, 2015 By
Brendan, Columba, Patrick – find out which Irish Saint you are most like!
BOOKS: Medieval Ireland
March 17, 2015 By
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, here are some great books on medieval Ireland!
15th century ruins discovered near Dunluce Castle
January 20, 2015 By
Historians have known that a 17th-century town existed near the iconic Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland, but new research has uncovered new evidence of an earlier settlement, dating back to the 15th century.
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