The expanded second edition has been fully updated to take into account the most recent research in the history of Ireland in the early middle ages, including Ireland’s relations with the Later Roman Empire, advances and discoveries in archaeology, and Church Reform in the 11th and 12th centuries. A new opening chapter on early Irish primary sources introduces students to the key written sources that inform our picture of early medieval Ireland, including annals, genealogies and laws.
The social, political, religious, legal and institutional background provides the context against which Dáibhí Ó Cróinín describes Ireland’s transformation from a tribal society to a feudal state. It is essential reading for student and specialist alike.
Dáibhí Ó Cróinín is a Professor of History at NUI Galway. His previous publications include Whitley Stokes (1830-1090): the lost Celtic notebooks rediscovered (2011) and A New History of Ireland, vol. 1: prehistoric and early Ireland (2005).