Who were the Scotti? The Féni? The Gaels? We were delighted to get Dr Patrick Wadden, from DCU and Belmont Abbey College, NC, USA on the podcast this week to explore the evidence for the existence of the Irish nation as a concept in the early medieval period. Dr Wadden guides us through a variety of texts, in both Latin and the vernacular, which depict the people of Ireland as a community of birth, language, law, religion and, sometimes, politics, from Columbanus, Adomnán and Auraicept na n-Éces the whole way through to Lebor gabála Érenn and the Sex Aetates Mundi. We discuss the role of the Irish language in expressions of Irish identity in the Middle Ages and Wadden reminds us to note the difference between modern scholars identifying something as being key to medieval identity and people at the time seeing it as significant.

Suggested reading:

Patrick Wadden, 'Church, Apostle and People in early Ireland', Medieval Worlds 5 (2017), pp. 143–169

Kane, Brendan, and Patrick Wadden, eds, An Eoraip: Gaelic Ireland in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Leiden, 2025)

Wadden, P., ‘Theories of National Identity in Early Medieval Ireland’ https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:49c662b9-4e14-41b3-972e-ed8475f324c5

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by the Arts & Humanities Institute, Maynooth University, the Dept of Early Irish, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

"Great was the darkness of that night and its horror, and demons would appear on that night always."

Oíche shamhna shona daoibh go léir! Happy Hallowe'en! To accompany you on any trick or treating or early morning/late night wakenings this weekend we bring you our spooky Samhain special! Dr Hannah Mac Auliffe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Maynooth University, explains how the festival of Samhain appears in medieval Irish literature as a time for feasting and merriment, with the High King’s Feast of Tara taking place on Halloween in several medieval stories. And just as we gather together and tell stories of demons and ghouls each October 31st, so too did the people of medieval Ireland. We hear of everything from zombies, threefold deaths and beheadings to werewolves, witches and kidnappings by the fairy armies of the sídhe. Be careful out there!

Recommended reading:

Hannah Mac Auliffe, 'Great was the darkness': Spooky stories from medieval Ireland, RTÉ Brainstorm: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2023/1023/1412430-ghost-stories-medieval-ireland-folklore-halloween-samhain/

Lára Ní Mhaoláin, 'Preserving Samhain - Halloween in the Schools’ Collection of Irish folklore': https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spotlight-research/preserving-samhain-halloween-schools-collection-irish-folklore

Elizabeth Boyle, 'How authors in medieval Ireland made Samhain a good read': https://blogafragments.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/how-authors-in-medieval-ireland-made-samhain-a-good-read/

Primary sources mentioned (thanks Hannah for the references!):

ECHTRA CORMAIC: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T302000.html

Stokes, Whitley (ed. and tr.), ‘The Irish ordeals, Cormac's adventure in the Land of Promise, and the decision as to Cormac's sword’ in Windisch, Ernst, and Whitley Stokes (eds), Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch, vol. 3:1 (1891) pp 183-221.

TOCHMARC EMIRE: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301021.html

Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.), ‘The Wooing of Emer’, Archaeological Review 1 (1888), pp 68-75; 150-155; 231-235; 298-07.

ECHTRA NERAI: https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/academic/seanmeanghaeilge/cdi/texts/Meyer-Echtra-Nerai.pdf

Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.), 'Echtra Nerai (The Adventures of Nera)', Revue Celtique 10 (1889), pp 212-228.

MACGNÍMARTHA FIND: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T303023/index.html

Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.), ‘Macgnimartha Find’, Ériu 1 (1901), pp 180-190.

TOGAIL BRUIDNE DÁ DERGA: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301017A/

Stokes, Whitley (ed. and tr.), ‘The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel’, Revue Celtique 22 (1901), pp 9-61, 165-215, 282-329, 390-437.

METRICAL DINDSHENCHAS: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500D/

Gwynn, Edward (ed. and tr.), The Metrical Dindshenchas, Volume 4; Second reprint (Dublin, 1991) (first published 1906) (reprinted 1941).

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music by: Sascha Ende

This week Prof. Deborah Hayden, our Head here in the Dept. of Early Irish, Maynooth University, explains what it was like both to go the, or become a, doctor in medieval Ireland! Taking us through a chronological development from the early medico-legal texts through the surge in scientific writing in the later Middle Ages she explains everything from how to cure a broken heart and how much to pay for surgery to where medical knowledge came from and how much more we have to learn from the understudied corpus of Irish medical manuscripts.

Further resources can be found here:

https://leigheas.maynoothuniversity.ie/the-first-physicians-of-ireland/

https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/1114/1010637-what-was-it-like-to-go-to-the-doctor-in-medieval-ireland/

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

Welcome back for season three! Hope you missed us as much as we missed recording our chats on all things medieval Ireland! Today we have Dr Elizabeth Boyle back for the first episode of the new season (as is becoming tradition) to learn about poets and poetry. We discuss everything from Poet-President Michael D. Higgins, the power of satire, constrained poetical forms, and the high status of poets to the popularity of the blackbird in Irish poetry (!), Seámus Heaney, whether medieval Irish poetry rhymed, how to become a poet and much more!

Suggested reading:

– Elizabeth Boyle, Fierce Appetites (Dublin and London, 2022)

– Liam Breatnach, "Satire, praise and the Early Irish poet", Ériu 56, no. 1 (2006), 63-84

– Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na Ríar: The Poetic Grades in Early Irish Law, Early Irish Law Series II (Dublin, 1987)

– Robin Chapman Stacey, Dark Speech: The Performance of Law in Early Ireland (Philadelphia, 2007), pp. 95–134

– https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0401/1504619-irish-medieval-poet-conchobhar-ruadh-mac-con-midhe-satire-exile/

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

Welcome to the last episode of season two! Thank you everyone for their continued support. Today we chat to one of the foremost experts on the Penitentials, Dr Elaine Pereira Farrell, who explains how these prescriptive documents list various sins and the corresponding recommended penances (e.g. fasting, prayers, fines). We learn how the Penitential texts are valuable sources to the historian as they were used by priests engaged in pastoral work and as such can be reflective of societal behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs.

Further resources:

https://penitentials.com/

Elaine Pereira Farrell, 'Penance and Punishment in Early Medieval Ireland' Peritia (2021) 32, 57–78

Rob Meens, Penance in Medieval Europe, 600–1200 (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, especially the International Centre for Irish Cultural Heritage, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

We are back this week in the National Museum of Ireland, Archaeology, on Kildare Street, in Dublin City centre, which is open 7 days a week and free to the public. We are joined by Maeve Sikora, Keeper of Irish Antiquities, and Assistant Keeper Matt Seaver. In addition to chatting more about the Words on the Wave exhibition, Maeve and Matt tell us about their jobs preserving Irish material heritage and culture and many of the cool artefacts the public can view in the museum including the Ardagh Chalice, the Faddan More Psalter, the Springmount tablets, the Tara brooch and some of the precious items on display from medieval Clonard.

The Words on the Wave exhibition is running May 30th to Oct 24th. For more details see https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Archaeology/Exhibitions/Words-on-the-Wave-Ireland-and-St-Gallen-in-Early-M

Exhibition Advisors: Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Cornel Dora, Philipp Lenz, John Gillis, Bernard Meehan, Raghnall Ó Floinn, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Timothy O'Neill.

Lending Institutions: Stiftsbibliotek St. Gallen; L'abbaye de Saint Maurice d'Agaune; Cork Public Museum.

Lead Partners: Department of Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport; Office of Public Works.

Supporting Partners: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; The Embassy of Switzerland in Ireland; The Embassy of Ireland to Switzerland; The Houses of the Oireachtas, The Discovery Programme; The Inks and Skins Project, Department of Modern Irish, University of Cork; The Royal Irish Academy; The School of Genetics and Microbiology, Trinity College Dublin; The School of Archaeology, University College Dublin; National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Department of Archaeology, University College Cork; Transport Infrastructure Ireland; Limerick County Council; Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit; Archaeology Plan; Courtney Deery Archaeology; Icon Archaeology; Archaeology Management Solutions; Vikingeskibmuseet, Roskilde; The Hunt Museum, Limerick; Eureka Secondary School (Kells, Co. Meath); Flade Klosterschulhaus (St. Gallen); Gallen Community School (Ferbane, Co. Offaly); Coláiste Muire (Ballymote, Co. Sligo).

Expert Assistance: Edward Bourke, Daniel Bradley, Sadbh Carrick, Ian Doyle, James Eogan, Silvio Frigg, Fenella G. France, Anna Hoffman, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Pierre-Alain Mariaux, Ursula Mattenberger, Valeria Marriangeli, Griffin Murray, TImothy O'Neill, John Sheehan and Andrew Woods.

Replicas: Potted History; Laura Quinn Design; John Nicholl; Brendan O'Neill.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, especially the International Centre for Irish Cultural Heritage, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

This week Matt Seaver, Assistant Keeper of Irish Antiquities and Dr Diarmuid Ó Riain, curatorial researcher, welcomed us in to the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St. to see the unique new exhibition: Words on the Wave. This is an incredible display of precious manuscripts from the Abbey of St Gall, Switzerland — some returning to Ireland for the first time in 1000 years — alongside spectacular objects from the Irish world from which they emerged. Running May 30th to Oct 24th. For more details see https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Archaeology/Exhibitions/Words-on-the-Wave-Ireland-and-St-Gallen-in-Early-M

Exhibition Advisors: Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Cornel Dora, Philipp Lenz, John Gillis, Bernard Meehan, Raghnall Ó Floinn, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Timothy O'Neill.

Lending Institutions: Stiftsbibliotek St. Gallen; L'abbaye de Saint Maurice d'Agaune; Cork Public Museum.

Lead Partners: Department of Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport; Office of Public Works.

Supporting Partners: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; The Embassy of Switzerland in Ireland; The Embassy of Ireland to Switzerland; The Houses of the Oireachtas, The Discovery Programme; The Inks and Skins Project, Department of Modern Irish, University of Cork; The Royal Irish Academy; The School of Genetics and Microbiology, Trinity College Dublin; The School of Archaeology, University College Dublin; National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Department of Archaeology, University College Cork; Transport Infrastructure Ireland; Limerick County Council; Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit; Archaeology Plan; Courtney Deery Archaeology; Icon Archaeology; Archaeology Management Solutions; Vikingeskibmuseet, Roskilde; The Hunt Museum, Limerick; Eureka Secondary School (Kells, Co. Meath); Flade Klosterschulhaus (St. Gallen); Gallen Community School (Ferbane, Co. Offaly); Coláiste Muire (Ballymote, Co. Sligo).

Expert Assistance: Edward Bourke, Daniel Bradley, Sadbh Carrick, Ian Doyle, James Eogan, Silvio Frigg, Fenella G. France, Anna Hoffman, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Pierre-Alain Mariaux, Ursula Mattenberger, Valeria Marriangeli, Griffin Murray, TImothy O'Neill, John Sheehan and Andrew Woods.

Replicas: Potted History; Laura Quinn Design; John Nicholl; Brendan O'Neill.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, especially the International Centre for Irish Cultural Heritage, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

In this episode, we chat about the incredible academic and public resource that is the Library in the Royal Irish Academy. Academy Librarian Barbara McCormack tells us all about the collection of medieval manuscripts including some of Ireland's oldest manuscripts the Cathach of Columba and the Stowe Missal. Please visit the library yourself or check out the collections: https://www.ria.ie/library/visiting-the-library/ and https://www.isos.dias.ie/collection/ria.html

Barbara is responsible for the strategic direction of the Library and Archive, the information services provided by the Library, and the curation of the world’s largest collection of manuscripts in the Irish language, as well as numerous other manuscript and archival collections, books and collections in other formats.

You can get tickets to the events Barbara discussed here: https://www.ria.ie/events/

For more on the Stowe Missal see the blog by Lars Nooij here: https://www.ria.ie/blog/bringing-the-stowe-missal-to-life/

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

X (formerly Twitter): @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by Maynooth University, especially the International Centre for Irish Cultural Heritage, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

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Dr Victoria McAlister from Towson University, Maryland, on everything you ever wanted to know about castles! Featuring all the big hits, Maynooth Castle, Bunratty, Blarney, Trim, the Rock of Dunamase, Clonard castle, Ferrycarrig, Carrickfergus, Irish castles, Anglo-Norman castles, Tower houses, colonialism, we cover it all. Dr McAlister busts some myths and explains how new advances in technology can assist the archaeologist and historian in their understanding of settlement around castles and the importance of considering the things we cannot see.

Suggested reading:

-Victoria McAlister, The Irish Tower House: Society, Economy and Environment c. 1300-1650 (Manchester University Press, hardback 2019, paperback 2021)

-https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-castles-of-europe

-Tom McNeill, Castles in Ireland: feudal power in a Gaelic world (Routledge, 1997)

-Tadhg O'Keeffe, Ireland Encastellated, AD 950–1550; Insular castle-building in its European context (Four Courts Press, 2021)

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: [email protected]

X (formerly Twitter): @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Dept of Music, Dept of History, Maynooth University, & Taighde Éireann (formerly Science Foundation Ireland/Irish Research Council).

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music