In 1909-11 Robert Lloyd Praeger brought a team of 100 scientific specialists from all over Europe to map the flora, fauna, geology and archaeology of Clare Island, a small, exposed Atlantic island off the west coast. The gathering led to the publication of the path-breaking 'Clare Island Survey'. A century later the survey was repeated as the 'New Survey of Clare Island' (1992-2009) and both works were published extensively by the Royal Irish Academy. This fourth volume in the series is devoted to the Abbey on Clare Island - a national monument in State care - which has retained much of its medieval wall paintings. It documents the images, illustrates them in colour and places them in the context of late medieval Irish art.
The first in a series of volumes presenting the new survey of Clare Island, this text introduces the history and folklife of this island in Clew Bay, County Mayo. Topics covered include folklife farming and fishing practices, the evolution of the landscape and the island's place names.
This publication is primarily a study of the various aspects of the use and situation of the land held by the Cistercian order in medieval Leinster. A number of key topics form the central elements of this study. These include an examination of the physical landscape into which the Cistercian order settled and the changes that occurred within that landscape during the later medieval era. The book examines whether the location of the monasteries indicated any underlying nuances or if the monks were happy to settle wherever they were given land. The involvement of the Cistercian order in the agricultural and economic life of Leinster is also examined. A breakdown of the acreage and land type that the monasteries possessed is presented and, in the final section the state of the monasteries immediately prior to the dissolution of the religious houses in the period 1536-41 is determined. With regard to this final section the areas of interest are in relation to the physical remains of the monasteries, the productivity or otherwise of the associated lands, the organisation and location of that land and the general attitude of the Cistercian monks at that particular time in history. There are many different areas of study that were examined. These include the identification of the lands, the land type and trends or differences in this type when compared with other parts of the country. The organisation of the land and the uses of it in relation to the monastery are an essential aspect of the work and is possible to identify economic and social change by discussing the uses of that land. The identification of granges and grange buildings was not originally intended as part of this work, however, research has allowed some evidence to emerge in relation to these buildings and is included. In relation to the approach, a short chapter outlining the origins of monasticism and the emergence of the Cistercian Order is included. A brief outline of the governing rules of the Cistercians is included in chapter one as is a short discussion on the spread of the order up to its arrival in Ireland. The second chapter is merely intended to give an idea of the pattern of the distribution of the Cistercian monasteries in Ireland. Most of the information is in table form giving the monastery, its location, date of foundation and founder. From this a number of observations are be made. The principal area of study is Leinster, therefore chapter three deals with this territory, discussing its boundaries, both internal and external and the kingdoms that made up medieval Leinster. The fact that the monasteries of Leinster were situated in very well defined territories means that, although the study is of Leinster as a whole, these smaller, somewhat independent units were still an important element in both the landscape and the social framework of the period. As such, it was necessary to ensure that each of these units was represented in any category of study. The location of the monasteries is the focus of the second portion of chapter three. Both the natural and man-made features of the landscape are examined here. The proximity of road and route ways to the monasteries has been mapped and discussed and any trends or patterns commented upon. Chapter four deals with the monastic complex and the associated features. It discusses the way in which the monastery and its lands were organised and the reasons for this. This chapter deals more with the day-to-day requirements of the monks and indicates how both the land and the buildings within the complex were equally important and key elements in the functioning of the monasteries. Following from chapter four, and keeping earlier comments in mind, the next portion of the work deals with other land that particular monasteries may have held at any time from foundation up to the time when the extents of the monastic possessions were drawn up. Instead of looking
Paperback 128pp; 297x210mm; published 2001. The first Clare Island Survey of 1909-11 was the most ambitious natural history project ever undertaken in Ireland and the first major biological survey of a specific area carried out in the world. The New Survey constitutes a fresh baseline study using up-to-date methodology to provide a comprehensive description of the island from its bedrocks to its biotic communities. The survey traces the history of human occupation and the impact of human activity on Clare Island. It has revealed almost a century of environmental change and will provide an invaluable source for future environmental monitoring. This second volume examines the geology of Clare Island. The island's physical appearance today reflects a geological history of over 500 million years. Major geological boundaries, now expressed as faults, run through the island. Repeated movements along these faults have produced the complex distribution of rock types that continues to fascinate geological researchers. Articles in this volume provide an introduction to the geology of the island and its Silurian and Carboniferous rocks, interpret the age of the Ballytoohy Formation of the northern part of the island using fossil microflora, describe the enigmatic fossil Peltoclados clarus found in the Silurian rocks, discuss rocks that have intruded from considerable depth beneath the island and consider the history of the last two million years, the Quaternary period, using evidence from fossil pollen.
Inspired by our age-old fascination with equids, Materiality of the Horse brings the latest academic research in equine history to a wider readership. Themes examined within the book by specialist contributors include explorations of material culture relating to horses and what this discloses about the horse-human relationship; fresh observations on significant medieval horse-related texts from Europe and the Islamic world; and revealing insights into the effect of the introduction of horses into indigenous cultures in South America. Thought-provoking and original, Materiality of the Horse is the second volume in Trivent Publishing's innovative "Rewriting Equestrian History" series.
This book contains essays devoted to the medieval art and architecture of Limerick in the Munster province of South-West Ireland. It underpins the degree to which Irish craftsmen and builders engaged with the rest of Europe, and the nature of their relationship with English practice.
Gaelic literati were an elite and influential group in the social hierarchy of Irish lordships between c. 1300 and 1600. From their estates, they served Gaelic and Old English ruling families in the arts of history, law, medicine, and poetry. They farmed, kept guest-houses, conducted schools, and maintained networks of learning. In other capacities, they were involved in political assemblies and memorializing dynastic histories in landscape. This book presents a framework for identifying and interpreting the settings and built heritages of their estates in lordship borderscapes. It shows that a more textured definition of what this learned class represented can be achieved through the material record of the buildings and monuments they used, and where their lands were positioned in the political map. Where literati lived and worked are conceived as expressions of their intellectual and political cultures. Mediated by case studies of the landscapes of their estates, dwellings, and schools, the methodology is predominantly field based, using archaeological investigation and topographic and spatial analyses, and drawing on historical and literary texts, place-names and lore in referencing named people to places. More widely, the study contributes a landscape perspective to the growing body of work on autochthonous intellectual culture and the exercise of power by ruling families in late medieval and early modern northern European societies.
