“I, too, am a Christian”: early martyrs and their lives in the late medieval and early modern Irish manuscript tradition
This paper examines part of that future: late medieval and early modern Gaelic Irish devotion to the early Christian martyrs as evidenced in the vernacular manuscript tradition.
Dead virgins: feminine sanctity in medieval Wales
Examines literature on the medieval traditions associated with Welsh holy women. Prerequisites for feminine sanctity; Biographical pattern of the female saints; Implications of the popularity of the Welsh women saints.
Zoomorphic Penannular Brooches in 6th and 7th Century Ireland
In this thesis the author examines the evolution, manufacture, and societal significance of zoomorphic penannular brooches, a type of metal dress fastener used in early medieval Ireland that is often decorated.
The Enigma of the Picts
The Picts are the first chapter in Scottish history. Indeed, they are really more of a foreword or a preface: for it is only with their merger with the kingdom of Scotti of Dalriada (in Argyllshire) in 843 A.D. that we have a kingdom called ‘Scotland’ for the first time.
The Earls of Desmond in the Fourteenth Century
This thesis explores these ambitions and relationships. It looks at the complex, sometimes violent, relationships between the earls of Desmond and local gentry, neighbouring magnates, absentee landholders, the royal government and the English crown as well as with the Irish.
Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish History, 1171-1555
Thomas Fitzanthony’s Borough: Medieval Thomastown in Irish History, 1171-1555 Marilyn Silverman In the Shadow of the Steeple VI, Duchas-Tullaherin Parish Heritage Society (1998)…
Witches, Spies and Stockholm Syndrome, Life in Medieval Ireland
In this unique book, Dublin based historian Finbar Dwyer has created a captivating picture of life in the Late Middle Ages from fatal tavern fights to football; sex to sea travel and other topics often neglected by histories of the period
Newest Irish coin features medieval landmark
The coin features the Rock of Cashel, the traditional seat of the kings of Munster.
Converting Childhood: Shifting Perceptions of Childhood in Early Irish Ecclesiastical and Secular Law
In early medieval Ireland, children could be reared in foster families or by the church.
Medieval Fortress discovered in Ireland
‘There is no doubt in my mind that we are looking at a major, unstudied settlement.’
The Transformative Nature of Gender: The Coding of St. Brigit of Kildare through Hagiography
The Transformative Nature of Gender: The Coding of St. Brigit of Kildare through Hagiography Liliane Catherine Marcil-Johnston Master of Arts, The Department of…
Love Magic in Medieval Irish Penitentials, Law and Literature
I exemplify this striving for ‘neutral’ research in this study of love magic, which starts with a case study on an episode from the Life of Saint Brigit.
Voyagers in the Vault of Heaven: The Phenomenon of Ships in the Sky in Medieval Ireland and Beyond
This paper explores the phenomenon of ships voyaging in the sky.
Crime and Punishment in Early Irish Law
Is it possible to tell from the information we have if hanging entered the laws due to the influence of the Church and biblical law, or if it existed as a punishment before the rise of the Church’s influence?
A Revival of Female Spirituality: Adaptations of Nuns’ Rules during the Hiberno-Frankish Monastic Movement
Before Columbanus, Irish abbots demonstrated little interest in producing monastic rules as we know them from the traditions of Benedict of Nursia and Caesarius of Arles. Preferring instruction by example to any documented tenets, Irish monasticism emphasized the conduct of the founding or ruling abbot or abbess as a model to imitate.
War dogs among the early Irish
In the Celtic world, as elsewhere, canines were admired for their senses of sight, smell and hearing. Dogs were used on hunting expeditions and to guard homes, as domestic pets and as a source of food
That Melodious Linguist: Eloquence and Piety in Christian and Islamic Songbirds
That Melodious Linguist: Eloquence and Piety in Christian and Islamic Songbirds Cam Lindley Cross University of Chicago, December 8 (2010) Abstract “Birds,” writes Albertus…
The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler
In 1324, Richard Ledrede, bishop of Ossory, declared that his diocese was a hotbed of devil worshippers. The central figure in this affair was Alice Kyteler, a wealthy Kilkenny woman who stood accused of witchcraft by her stepchildren.
Were there heretics in medieval Ireland?
In her article, ‘Heresy in Ireland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries’, Bernadette Williams uncovers some cases where people were accused and convicted of heresy, including insulting the Virgin Mary and denying the Jesus was the son of God.
A short exploration of the inauguration of kings in late medieval Ireland, and its depiction in bardic poetry
The status and image of a king was, at least partially, derived from the sacral king of sagas, such as that of Niall Noígiallach. In these sagas it is conveyed that under a righteous and unblemished king of royal ancestry there is peace and prosperity…I will give an overview of the elements of these ceremonies, the sources in which they are mentioned, and the developments during the high and late medieval period.
Religious and Cultural Boundaries between Vikings and Irish: The Evidence of Conversion
If we compare sources from England, the horror with which viking attacks were viewed is immediately apparent. The heathenism of vikings is stressed as one of their dire attributes in Alcuin’s famous response to news of the attack on Lindisfarne in 793. Literary accounts of vikings also became more lengthy and imaginative over time.
The Hospitallers’ and Templars’ involvement in warfare on the frontiers of the British Isles in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries
Although in theory they were independent religious orders answerable only to the pope, in the British Isles the Templars, and particularly the Hospitallers, were increasingly secularised institutions, serving the king of England and playing important roles in royal government
Medieval Irish chronicles reveal persistent volcanic forcing of severe winter cold events, 431–1649 CE
We present a uniquely long historical record of severe short-term cold events from Irish chronicles, 431–1649 CE, and test the association between cold event occurrence and explosive volcanism.
Rhetoric and Ethnicity in Gerald of Wales
This paper was given at the 2013 Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Meeting at the University of Toronto.