070054 GR Guided Reading (2017W)

This module will introduce students to the history of medieval Ireland, covering the period circa 400 to 1500. It will offer a chronological overview ranging from the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century to the eve of the Tudor reconquest. Students will be made familiar with some of the key debates in Irish medieval studies, including those concerning the notion of Ireland's early medieval "Golden Age", the impact of the Vikings on the island, the circumstances of the English/Anglo-Norman invasion and the effect of ethnicity on societal developments in the later medieval period. The question of peripherality and the supposed singularity of the political, legal, social and ecclesiastical structures of Irish society will be discussed with due regard to the evidence for interaction with Britain and the Continent.

Each issue will be broached by means of the critical reading and discussion of medieval sources and secondary literature. The primary sources (all available in English translation) will include St. Patrick's Confessio, Adomnán's Life of Columba, the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ("The war of the Irish against the foreigners") and Giraldus Cambrensis' Topography of Ireland.