In this episode, Dr Niamh Wycherley and Dr Catherine Swift (Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick) take a deep dive into the complex contexts of the ultimate Queen of medieval Ireland, Gormlaith, daughter of Murchad, son of Finn (King of Leinster). Famous as the mother of kings and wife to kings, she was born into Leinster aristocracy and is remembered in the Annals of Inisfallen as the Queen of Munster. Gormlaith's life was marked by a series of important events, most notably the Battle of Clontarf, 1014, in which two sides of her family battled for the control of Dublin.

Suggested reading:

In addition to the works mentioned in the episode, see Máire NÍ Mhaonaigh, 'Tales of three Gormlaiths in early Irish literature', Ériu 52 (2002), 1–24; Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin, 'The battle of Glenn Máma, Dublin and the high-kingship of Ireland', Medieval Dublin II, ed. S. Duffy (Dublin, 2001). For the suggestion of an early marriage between Gormlaith and Mael Sechnaill (King of Tara), see A. Woolf, From Pictland to Alba: 789–1070  (Edinburgh, 2007).

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & Science Foundation Ireland/The Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

Was Brigit a true feminist icon? Was she even real? Or merely made up by a man to exploit the veneration of a 'pagan' goddess? All this and more in our special St Brigit's Day episode with Prof. Catherine McKenna (Harvard University) to celebrate the Brigit 1500 commemorations in 2024. Happy St Brigit's Day!

Niamh's suggested reading: Since the podcast aired Dr Elva Johnston published an excellent article, available free online, which references all the relevant reading on St Brigit, including my book (The cult of relics in early medieval Ireland) which discusses the relics of Brigit in detail and the glory of Kildare, Prof McKenna's article on Maud Gonne and the development of Brigit the goddess, and the translations of the earliest texts on St Brigit which are online. See Elva Johnston, 'Making St Brigit real in the early middle ages', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 124C (2024), 1–26.

Hosted by Dr Niamh Wycherley.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & Science Foundation Ireland/The Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

Suggested reading now added below. Were towns introduced by vikings? Were the Irish settled around monastic centres? What actually is a 'town' and what is 'monastic'? In this episode, Dr. Niamh Wycherley invites Dr. Michael Potterton, lecturer in the Department of History at Maynooth University, to discuss some key aspects and intersections between medieval history and archaeology. One of the subjects discussed here is the ongoing 'monastic town' debate, which has been around for decades in academic circles.

(Disclaimer: No, you haven't gone back in time. It is 2024. We recorded before Christmas and weren't clever enough to say 2024 instead of 2023 when mentioning the year.)

Suggested reading. The first two articles detailed below were mentioned during the podcast and they are both by influential historians of early Ireland. There are many more brilliant articles listed in the article by Etchingham detailed below and it is available free online (as of Feb 19th, 2024). I add a third article by John Soderberg to provide a more recent, and archaeological, perspective.

1) Charles Doherty, ‘The Monastic Town in Early Medieval Ireland’, in The Comparative History of Urban Origins in Non-Roman Europe, ed. H.

2) Colmán Etchingham, 'The Irish ‘monastic town’: is this a valid concept?', Kathleen Hughes memorial lectures 8 (Cambridge, 2010).

3) John Soderberg, 'Anthropological "civitas" and the possibility of monastic towns', The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 144/145 (2014–2015), pp. 45–59.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & the Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

This episode explores the networks and social relations involving arguably the most famous woman of the Irish Middle Ages, Ireland's 'Helen of Troy' — Queen Derbforgaill of Bréifne. Host Dr Niamh Wycherley chats with Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies about her independent wealth and status, whether she caused the English invasion of Ireland, and whether she and her husband Tigernán Ua Ruairc were the hot power couple of 12th century Ireland.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & the Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

Santa is not the only bearded guy bringing gifts around this time of year, the vikings are here!

In this episode, Dr Niamh Wycherley explores the so-called viking age in medieval Ireland with Prof. Clare Downham, Professor of Medieval History at the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & the Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

Was Christmas a big deal in medieval Ireland? In this bonus episode host Dr Niamh Wycherley interviews some contributors to the recently launched Christmas and the Irish: a miscellany (Wordwell, 2023) edited by Salvador Ryan, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at St Patrick's College Maynooth.

Featuring: Prof David Stifter (MU), Tara Shields (QUB), Dr Denis Casey (MU), Dr Siobhán Barrett (MU).

Nollaig shona daoibh go léir!

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & the Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music

An introduction to the Irish medieval world, including inequality, druids (or lack thereof), kings, and romantic notions of the past, with Dr. Elizabeth Boyle.

This is a long one but stayed tuned to the end to hear Niamh and Lizzie chat about how medieval Ireland was just as exceptional as anywhere else and about how medieval Irish historians are an endangered species.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

X (formerly Twitter): @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & 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

Welcome to The Medieval Irish History Podcast!

In this trailer episode, Dr. Niamh Wycherley will introduce the podcast and we will give you a brief excerpt of the upcoming episode with Dr. Elizabeth Boyle. Enjoy!

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter/X: @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & Science Foundation Ireland/the Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music