1. IRELAND
----------

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 O Corrain 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 Tene".  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 DAL
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 O Corrain. 
     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.
A more narrative account:
     <Ancient Ireland>.  Nick Constable.  London: Sunburst Books, 1996.
     There is no bibliographic guidance but the presentation is more
     readable and rather longer than O Corrain's.

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
     archaeology and early mediaeval history.  Maintained by Thaddeus
     Breen. <http://www.xs4all.nl/~tbreen/ireland.html>

Early mediaeval:
+    <Early Medieval Ireland.  400-1200>.  Daibhi O Croinin.  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:
     Dorothy Africa for H-ALBION, August, 1996.
     <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=13820849986131>
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 
     O Croinin 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...).
	
Not entirely traditionalist but of most interest from that point of view:
     <Irish Literature, Mythology, Folklore and Drama> is a rich
     collection of resources and links kept by Anniina Jokinen, and
     includes some history-related material. 
     <http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/>

NOTE

This entry in the FAQ contains references 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 changed addresses
and the like when notified of them, and will certainly do so when/if
those addresses' owners ask me to, 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.txt>
[An FTP location would be good to have.]