1. IRELAND
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EXTENT
Ireland, the island, and the small islands near it.
SOURCES
Rare notices in
Greek and
Latin literature from c AD 75;
Old Irish
inscriptions from 3rd century AD; local Latin and Old Irish literature
from no later than 5th century AD, on which see especially Byrne
(below). Controversy exists between academics and enthusiasts (see
below) over traditional accounts of periods before 6th century AD (these
records are many centuries later but Irish oral tradition is known to
have been exceptionally faithful); Byrne is best cite I found on this.
There is no comprehensive guide to sources but see
- The Sources for the Early History of Ireland. An Introduction and Guide,
in Two Volumes. Volume One. Ecclesiastical. James F. Kenney. A volume
of 'Records of Civilization: Sources and Studies', Austin R. Evans, general
editor. New York: Columbia University Press, 1929. Volume Two, so far as
anyone seems to know, never appeared. This one is considered utterly canonical.
Online, many sources can be found at:
- CELT.
Also known as Thesaurus Linguarum Hiberniae. An incipient
repository of old texts from Ireland, including Old Irish and Latin,
being done by the University College Cork under the direction of
Donnchadh Ó Corráin et al. <http://www.ucc.ie/celt/>
Historiography of ancient Ireland has undergone considerable
revisionism in the past thirty or so years; at the same time, all
things Celtic, including the traditions of ancient Ireland, have
become infinitely popular in the West generally. As a result, the
stories told by traditionalists and enthusiasts diverge radically from
those told in recent historical publications. I found no traditionalist
book whose bibliographic citations focused enough on Ireland to make it
worth citing here (in general they are much concerned with the spiritual
unity of all Celtic-kind), but I have listed some traditionalist web
sites (which much outnumber historians'). So far as I can tell, nearly
all work in each camp is done in English, with a small part in Gaelic
and still less in any other language. My money, of course, is on the
historians.
PERIODISATION AND TERMS
Late prehistory, as in Great Britain, was the "Iron Age" and Celtic;
often referred to as "Irish La Tène". Traditional accounts take history
back to c 300 BC (Milesians), or even beyond, and portray Tara as
capital of an often united island kingdom after Cormac, c AD 275.
Traditions of Tara's centrality are now downplayed by historians, who
depict a hopelessly confusing political situation, particularly with
records earlier than King Diarmait (544-565), last king at Tara,
generally suspect. Nor is St. Patrick's date (late 5th century AD?) or
role clear. Irish people raided the west coast of Great Britain
beginning in the 4th century AD and founded colonies including
Dál
Riata. On politics, again see Byrne. Up to the Viking invasions, c AD
800, period names like "early Christian" or "early medieval" are
typical.
INTRODUCTORY
- "Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland".
Donnchadh Ó Corráin. In
The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland, R. F. Foster, editor,
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, pages 1-52.
A brief (most of the pages concern later periods)
but solid introduction with bibliographic
guidance.
Alternatively:
- Ancient Ireland. Nick Constable. London: Sunburst
Books, 1996. There is no bibliographic guidance but the presentation is
more readable than Ó Corráin's. Thus went my original
recommendation for this book, although I also claimed (incorrectly) that
its discussion was longer. In reality only pp. 38-63 (with outliers on
pp. 68 and 80) concern the period from the Iron Age to AD 700, and of
those, the text is present on only ten pages. Worse, the lack of
bibliographic guidance disguises the near-plagiaristic extent to
which Constable relies, in fact, on Ó Corráin's chapter.
But he does reduce the level of detail somewhat, which is much of
why he's more readable; he takes a very different view of contact
with Rome; and the book also covers earlier prehistory as well as
later times up to AD 1691. And the pages without text have lots of
pretty pictures.
RESEARCH
Iron Age:
- Pagan Celtic Ireland. The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age. Barry
Raftery. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994.
A detailed synthesis, but bibliographically weak.
Supplement this with
- Irish
Archaeology Home Page. An excellent list of links,
commented, most links scholarly. The topics actually include both
archæology and early mediæval history. Maintained by Thaddeus
Breen. <http://www.xs4all.nl/~tbreen/ireland.html>
Early mediæval:
- Particularly Recommended
Early Medieval Ireland. 400-1200. Dáibhí
Ó Cróinín. Volume 1
of 'Longman History of Ireland', Steven G. Ellis, editor. London and
New York: Longman, 1995. A
superb reference with a detailed evaluative bibliography.
Particularly strong on social history, particularly weak (by design,
in order to dovetail with a long-delayed volume in 'A New History of
Ireland') on catalogues of archaeological finds and of rulers.
A review online:
For politics and archaeology, pending the 'New History' volume, see:
- The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. Nancy Edwards.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.
Basically a descriptive catalogue of finds (i.e.,
precisely what Ó Cróinín lacks; he does a fine job of synthesis).
- Irish Kings and High-Kings. Francis John Byrne. London: B. T.
Batsford, 1973. Primarily a political history, with
extensive information on the individual regions, genealogical
tables, etc. Also includes a good discussion of the uses of the
older sources, and a good evaluative bibliography with many pointers
to those sources (which can be very difficult to find, since the
traditionalists who so love them rarely bother to tell you where to
find them...).
Traditionalist:
Not entirely traditionalist but of most interest from that point of view:
Note
This entry in the FAQ contains links to Web sites. Please note that the
entire FAQ, which is huge and difficult to do, is on an extremely
slow update schedule. While I may correct broken links when notified of them,
and will certainly do so if/when those links' maintainers request, I will not
be actively checking links, and will have other things on my plate.
Created July 27, 1997. Last updated February 15, 2001. Next due for full
update July 27, 2002. Note that as of this writing, I have been notified
of new editions of several relevant books, but have not yet seen any of
these. This update consisted of adding Constable's book and removing
several persistently broken links, only.
Reviewed by old-irish-list. Thanks to Rod McDonald, Rachel Cailliach, and Lisa
Spangenberg for suggestions.
URL: <http://turing.postilion.org/these-survive/regions/ireland.html>
Back to
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Copyright
1997-2001 Joe Bernstein. Electronic transfer permitted.