Ireland in the Medieval World
AD 400-1000
Landscape, kingship and religion
Edel Bhreathnach
Published by Four Courts Press, 2014
Aimed at the student and general reader, this is a
study of Ireland's people, landscape and place in
the world from the late antiquity to the reigh of
Brian Bórama. It narrates the story of Ireland's emergence
into history, using anthropological, archaeological,
historical and literary evidence. Subjects covered include
the king, the kingdom and the royal household; religion
and customs; free and unfree classes in society; exiles and
foreigners. The rural, urban, ecclesiastical, ceremonial and
mythological landscapes of early medieval Ireland anchor
the history of early Irish society in the rich tapestry of
archaeological sites, monuments and place-names that
have survived to the present. A historiography of medieval
Irish studies presents the commentaries of a variety of
scholars from the seventeenth-century Franciscan Micheál
Ó Cléirigh to Eoin Mac Neill, the founding father
of modern scholarship.
Edel Bhreathnach is the chief executive officer of the
Discovery Programme, and has published extensively on
a wide range of topics relating to medieval Irish history
and culture.
(The text above comes from the back of the book)