This volume contains a wealth of new research on Dublin's medieval past, including paired papers by Joseph Harbison and Rene Gapert that re-examine skulls found on the site of the Hospital of St John the Baptist, Thomas Street. Alan Hayden reports on his excavation of property plots fronting onto Kevin Street and New Street and what they tell us about the supposed fourteenth-century decline of Dublin, and Aisling Collins explains the significant findings from the dig of the church and graveyard at St James's. Antoine Giacometti examines a medieval tanning quarter that showcases leatherworking and shoemaking in medieval Dublin, complementing work by John Nicholl that analyses footwear styles in the late medieval city based on evidence excavated from Chancery Lane. This aspect of life is illustrated too in the findings of Paul Duffy's excavations in Thomas Street, which reveal a great deal about crafts in the western suburb of medieval Dublin. Franc Myles reports on the findings of his excavation at Keysar's Lane beside St Audeon's church in High Street, including some fascinatingly decorated medieval floor tiles; Jon Stirland reports on the discovery of two parallel ditches of possible early medieval/medieval date located to the rear of nos 19-22 Aungier Street; and Edmond O'Donovan describes his discoveries while excavating in the internal courtyard at the site of the Bank of Ireland at College Green, marked on Speed's 1610 map of Dublin as 'the hospital'. Historical papers include Denis Casey's analysis of Dublin's economy in its twelfth-century Irish context and Brian Coleman's study of taxation and resistance in fifteenth-century Dublin. Thomas W. Smith shines light on papal provisions to ecclesiastical benefices in thirteenth-century Dublin, while Stephen Hewer examines the oldest surviving original court roll of the Dublin bench, dating from 1290.

"The conference was ... the 16th in a sequence of annual symposia organized by the Friends of Medieval Dublin, the proceedings of which appear annually ... published by Four Courts Press"--Page 14.

Walking through Dublin Castle or along the surviving medieval city walls, you can see only glimpses of what it would have been like to live in the city centuries ago. Tales of Medieval Dublin provides a chance for modern audiences to meet the Irish, Norse, and English men and women who lived in this colorful medieval city, and to hear their fascinating stories. While providing the most up-to-date research, the 14 tales in this book are written to appeal to anyone interested in the city's past. They span almost 1,000 years of Dublin 's history and trace the lives of warriors, churchmen, queens, bards, and barons, as well as those individuals who are so often ignored in the historical record, like housewives, tax collectors, masons, lawyers, notaries, peasants, and slaves. This volume serves both as a history of the medieval city, and as a window into the day-to-day lives of the men and women who lived there.

Medieval Ireland is often described as a backward-looking nation in which change only came about as a result of foreign invasions. By examining the wealth of under-explored evidence available, Downham challenges this popular notion and demonstrates what a culturally rich and diverse place medieval Ireland was. Starting in the fifth century, when St Patrick arrived on the island, and ending in the fifteenth century, with the efforts of the English government to defend the lands which it ruled directly around Dublin by building great ditches, this up-to-date and accessible survey charts the internal changes in the region. Chapters dispute the idea of an archaic society in a wide-range of areas, with a particular focus on land-use, economy, society, religion, politics and culture. This concise and accessible overview offers a fresh perspective on Ireland in the Middle Ages and overthrows many enduring stereotypes.

Among the subjects covered in this celebration of medieval Dublin are: cross-cultural processes between Scandinavian settlers and the native Irish; spiritual and secular aspects of the city; and representations of Viking and medieval Dublin in texts and maps.

Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia brings together in one authoritative resource the multiple facets of life in Ireland before and after the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169, from the sixth to sixteenth century. Multidisciplinary in coverage, this A–Z reference work provides information on historical events, economics, politics, the arts, religion, intellectual history, and many other aspects of the period. With over 345 essays ranging from 250 to 2,500 words, Medieval Ireland paints a lively and colorful portrait of the time. For a full list of entries, contributors, and more, visit the Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages website.

Now available in paperback, this book describes, for the first time, the nature of the unique economic areal system of Gaelic Ireland as it developed and changed between the Early Medieval and Anglo-Norman periods, with special emphasis on the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The origins of this system are explored in their European context, and the components of the system: local kingdom, tricha cet, late-tuath and baile biataig, are explored, described and understood. Special attention is given to the role of kingship in this early society, as well as to the lesser grades within society. A large part of this work of political geography is taken up with the task of listing and describing the area of each cantred/tricha cet by use of a newly developed methodology of boundary study. These are then represented cartographically. This methodology reveals the close relationship between Gaelic and Anglo-Norman areal units in a remarkable pattern of continuity. The various component units of the tricha cet, from the townland upwards, are examined of themselves and in addition shown to have great relevance for the study of such subjects as taxation, corporate kinship landholding, military levy, and even the origins of the rural Irish sense of place. This is the first book to be published on this neglected and important area of study, the areal Irish medieval landscape. It has been described variously by Irish and British reviewers as 'a seminal work', 'a landmark publication', as having 'the potential to be a paradigm shifting work', and as 'essential reading for anyone involved in the study of Early Ireland'. In addition to its relevance to Irish medieval history, the book has been described as providing a new approach 'to land tenure elsewhere, particularly but not exclusively in the British Isles'. [Subject: History, Medieval Studies, Irish Studies]Ã?Â?Ã?Â?