Catherine
Swift s. xx–xxi
Works authored
This volume evaluates the historical role of Knowth and wider Brugh na Bóinne. It explores the history, settlement and society of Knowth and the wider Brugh na Bóinne district - from the emergence of political power in the Boyne Valley to the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The first chapter deals with the earliest references to the region in the seventh and eighth century as an important place within the kingdom of North Brega and as, from the eighth century, its royal residence. The ogham and vernacular inscriptions found in the Knowth passage tombs - the tomb ‘graffiti’ comprising five scholastic oghams and sixteen personal names in the vernacular style - are also discussed.
Chapter II focuses on the Medieval period from the demise of the old Brega kingship and its replacement by a Cistercian monastic order in 1142. Changes in the pattern of settlement, from the occupation of the area by the Anglo-Normans to the Reformation, are examined.
Chapter III discusses the emergence of the Protestant landed gentry in the eighteenth century and the economic development of the area right through to the present. It considers the acquisition by the Irish state of the large mound at Knowth, the programmes of excavation and conservation at the site and development of Brugh na Bóinne as a place of mass tourism.
This landmark publication reveals in its full scope how the material world of Brugh na Bóinne was collectively carved and constructed through the centuries.
This volume evaluates the historical role of Knowth and wider Brugh na Bóinne. It explores the history, settlement and society of Knowth and the wider Brugh na Bóinne district - from the emergence of political power in the Boyne Valley to the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The first chapter deals with the earliest references to the region in the seventh and eighth century as an important place within the kingdom of North Brega and as, from the eighth century, its royal residence. The ogham and vernacular inscriptions found in the Knowth passage tombs - the tomb ‘graffiti’ comprising five scholastic oghams and sixteen personal names in the vernacular style - are also discussed.
Chapter II focuses on the Medieval period from the demise of the old Brega kingship and its replacement by a Cistercian monastic order in 1142. Changes in the pattern of settlement, from the occupation of the area by the Anglo-Normans to the Reformation, are examined.
Chapter III discusses the emergence of the Protestant landed gentry in the eighteenth century and the economic development of the area right through to the present. It considers the acquisition by the Irish state of the large mound at Knowth, the programmes of excavation and conservation at the site and development of Brugh na Bóinne as a place of mass tourism.
This landmark publication reveals in its full scope how the material world of Brugh na Bóinne was collectively carved and constructed through the centuries.
Contributions to journals
Norman dynasts who were awarded lands in Ireland have tended to be examined as the creators of novel aristocratic power blocks whose power derived from their military capabilities. In this paper, it is suggested that the early de Burgo leaders profited greatly from their progenitor’s marriage alliance with the daughter of Domnall Mór Ua Briain, king of Munster at the time of the Norman invasion. Careful reading of contemporary sources illustrates how the thirteenth-century De Burgos, like their Uí Briain predecessors, built up local power-bases in Limerick in ecclesiastical as well as secular circles and how such processes impacted on the careers of the wider kin-group of both families and on those they patronised.
Norman dynasts who were awarded lands in Ireland have tended to be examined as the creators of novel aristocratic power blocks whose power derived from their military capabilities. In this paper, it is suggested that the early de Burgo leaders profited greatly from their progenitor’s marriage alliance with the daughter of Domnall Mór Ua Briain, king of Munster at the time of the Norman invasion. Careful reading of contemporary sources illustrates how the thirteenth-century De Burgos, like their Uí Briain predecessors, built up local power-bases in Limerick in ecclesiastical as well as secular circles and how such processes impacted on the careers of the wider kin-group of both families and on those they patronised.
Were we dependent on the pre-Norman Irish annals alone, we should know nothing of the early history of the church of Drumlease, near Dromahair, Co. Leitrim. Like many of the other churches of Connacht, Drumlease suffers from the comparative neglect of the western province's early ecclesiastical history on the part of the surviving collections of annals. The ‘Patrician’ texts in the Book of Armagh, however, provide a snap-shot of Drumlease in the later seventh and eighth century, indicating that it was a church of considerable significance in north Connacht at that time. This study comprises two parts. The first, by Colmán Etchingham, introduces the references to Drumlease in the Book of Armagh and examines in detail the relevant passages of the eighth-century text known as the Additamenta. The second part, by Catherine Swift, places Tírechán's reference to Drumlease in the broader context of that seventh-century clergyman's portrayal of the Patrician churches of Connacht in general.
Were we dependent on the pre-Norman Irish annals alone, we should know nothing of the early history of the church of Drumlease, near Dromahair, Co. Leitrim. Like many of the other churches of Connacht, Drumlease suffers from the comparative neglect of the western province's early ecclesiastical history on the part of the surviving collections of annals. The ‘Patrician’ texts in the Book of Armagh, however, provide a snap-shot of Drumlease in the later seventh and eighth century, indicating that it was a church of considerable significance in north Connacht at that time. This study comprises two parts. The first, by Colmán Etchingham, introduces the references to Drumlease in the Book of Armagh and examines in detail the relevant passages of the eighth-century text known as the Additamenta. The second part, by Catherine Swift, places Tírechán's reference to Drumlease in the broader context of that seventh-century clergyman's portrayal of the Patrician churches of Connacht in general.
