The chronology and sources of the early Irish annals

Chronological divergence between the different early Irish annals has hampered the use of their many unique records of events in Ireland, Britain and the European continent as historical sources. This paper reviews recent work which has demonstrated that their original chronological apparatus consisted of a kalend (Kł) followed, until at least the mid-seventh century, by the ferial of 1 January, and from this a consistent chronology has been restored for the annals over the years AD 1–722. In addition, critical examination of their regnal and episcopal successions has established that the 'world history' section of these annals and Bede's Chronica maiora are not mutually dependent, but rather share a common source which has been identified as a kalend-plus-ferial chronicle composed by Rufinus of Aquileia in the early fifth century.     

The Irish rebellion of 1798

The Rebellion in Wicklow 1798 Ruan O'donnell, 1998 Dublin, Irish Academic Press pp.441, ISBN 0.7165.2659.X, £39.50 (hb)

On the Road to Rebellion: The United Irishmen and Hamburg 1796–1803 Paul Weber, 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp.205, ISBN 9.781851.82311.6, £30.00 (hb)

The Summer Soldiers: The 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down A. T. Q. Stewart, 1995 Belfast, The Blackstaff Press pp. 294, ISBN 0.85640.558.2, £12.99 (pb)

1798: Rebellion in County Down Myrtle Hill, Brian Turner & Kenneth Dawson (eds), 1998 Gortrush, Colourpoint pp.286, ISBN 1.898392.44.7, £8.99 (pb)

The Sites of the 1798 Rising in Antrim and Down Bill Wilsdon, 1997 Belfast, The Blackstaff Press pp. 191, ISBN 85640.615.5, £7.99 (pb)     

The Economy of the Irish Rath

THE DISCOVERY of a Viking-Age burial in the Kilmainham-Islandbridge cemetery, Dublin, comprising skeleton, spear, sword-fragments and beads, is described from antiquarian MSS sources. The surviving pieces are detailed and the deposit tentatively dated to the late 9th or early 10th century. The grave-goods indicate one, possibly two, burials, one female. A brief survey of similar pagan burials in the British Isles and a close examination of this one would suggest a mixed Irish-Scandinavian cultural milieu for it.     

The transformation of the Irish border

This article introduces a special issue dealing with partition and the reconfiguration of the Irish border. Notwithstanding southern nationalist refusal to accept the partition of Ireland in 1921, the border gradually consolidated its position. The article describes the transformation in relations across the Irish border which first found a place on the political agenda in the early 1970s, but which was given full institutional expression only following the Good Friday agreement of 1998. This new configuration has two aspects, which seem at first sight to be in conflict with each other: it marks a new, unreserved acceptance of the legitimacy of the border by Irish nationalists (though moderated by British agreement to end partition if the two parts of Ireland so wish), and it is characterised by a significant growth in public sector bodies which span the border.     

The Victorian Fathers Of The Irish Literary Revival

This essay won the Inaugural British Association of Irish Studies Postgraduate Essay Prize. Lucie received her prize of £500 of Cambridge University Press books at the Irish Embassy on 4 May 2005.     

The Heroic Outlaw in Irish Folklore and Popular Literature

As a symbolic figure in Irish folklore and popular literature, the outlaw embodies folk morality in conflict with the self-interest and inequity of the state. In the aftermath of British colonisation, the Irish outlaw is represented as more than a criminal. He provides a hero through whom ordinary Irishmen and women can vicariously enjoy brief victories, and imagine their collective dignity in the midst of political defeat and its consequences. Legends, ballads and chapbooks portraying the outlaw are the products of hard-pressed people representing themselves to themselves, reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses, and contemplating issues of morality and justice.     

The earls of Desmond and the Irish of south-western Munster

As a result of the incomplete English conquest, the relationship between the English in Ireland (the Anglo-Irish) and the native Irish is a major theme in the history of Ireland in the later middle ages. Since these connections were negotiated locally rather than centrally, each relationship is as individual as the Anglo-Irish lords and Irish leaders who negotiated them. This article explores the relationships between the Desmond Geraldines and two Irish dynasties which maintained semi-autonomous kingdoms to the north and southwest of the earldom of Desmond: the Uí Bhriain (O'Briens) and the Mic Charthaigh (Mac Carthys). The Desmond Geraldines developed relationships not just with the ruling lines but also with cadet branches of these dynasties. The connections which formed between the Desmond Geraldines and these Irish lineages demonstrate several of the key types of relationships which developed throughout Ireland as well as indicating the importance these associations played in both maintaining and disrupting the stability of the English lordship in Ireland.