Every so often, a book appears that combines scientific archaeological investigation with textual evidence to form a truly holistic picture of a bygone age, in this instance the early medieval Irish past.
Patrick Gleeson’s Landscapes of Kingship in Early Medieval Ireland, AD 400-1150 is one such book. Meticulously researched, exceptionally detailed and utterly absorbing, Gleeson examines ways in which Ireland’s early rulers used their environment to maintain power. Although the institution of medieval Irish kingship has been previously studied, invariably this has been done via analysis of extant written primary sources, with less attention paid to the results of archaeological inquiry. Given the ever-expanding evidence thrown up (literally) by excavations regularly carried out across the country, such evidence, at the very least, invites us to re-evaluate the past.
Gleeson, a senior lecturer in Archaeology at Queen’s University Belfast, reassesses the nature and development of early Irish kingship between the fifth and 12th centuries. His findings challenge a long-held perception of Irish kings as an odd bunch with little actual power and more in common with a distant mythical prehistory than with their medieval European counterparts. Gleeson paints instead a picture of Irish royal houses who were acutely aware of geopolitical events and who actively projected and consolidated their position through control and manipulation of the physical and historical landscape in which they lived.
This is no small task, considering there were up to 600 kings operating in early medieval Ireland. Granted, many of these individuals governed modest territories and were subordinate to higher-status kings. In this context, therefore, Gleeson chooses two of the largest political confederations (the Éoganachta and the Síl nÁedo Sláine) as case studies for understanding how Irish kingship developed.
The book first introduces the reader to early Irish kingship with a review of scholarship on the subject. The next chapter discusses royal landscapes; their meaning and how Irish kings used them to create and govern their kingdoms. Then there is a chapter on the role of the assembly (óenach) for the practice of kingship and how this event changed in meaning over time.
Four subsequent chapters are dedicated to the Éoganachta, a southern dynasty based primarily at Cashel, and later eclipsed by another Munster group, the Dál Cais (of Brian Boru fame). Gleeson discusses the origins, rise and decline of the Éoganachta, and Cashel’s progression from fortress to royal capital. Some of Cashel’s kings were clerics, like Cormac mac Cuilennáin, compiler of Cormac’s Glossary, a type of encyclopedic dictionary.
Another two chapters examine the Síl nÁedo Sláine, the kings of Brega, a kingdom roughly comprising the geographical area of counties Meath, Louth and Dublin. The Síl nÁedo Sláine, part of the powerful Uí Néill confederation, used the Hill of Tara as their main site for royal activities including inaugurations, assemblies and feasting. While there is much written about Brega, Tara and the Uí Néill, Gleeson’s work offers a fresh perspective to that scholarship.
There is also a chapter looking at general changes to the institution of early Irish kingship over nearly 800 years. Gleeson makes a fascinating argument for the evolution of a highly stratified society, based on status and rank, that came about in response to the growth of regional royal hegemonies. This, he argues, is reflected in material culture (settlement architecture, ecclesiastic sites, burials) and the formation of a new legal and judicial system (the so-called Brehon law). A short concluding chapter reaffirms the book’s central ideas and puts out a call for scholars to follow suit by researching other aspects of medieval Ireland.
The book is beautifully laid out. Each chapter is divided into headed subsections and has a concise conclusion. There is a wealth of detailed images that inform and support the writing throughout. High-quality colour photographs, genealogical tables, comprehensive maps (very helpful for locating places mentioned in medieval Irish written sources), graphs, drawings, genealogical diagrams and 3D representations made using ground penetrating technology of sites such as the Rock of Cashel (where Gleeson excavated as a field archaeologist) and the hills of Uisneach and Tara. An extensive bibliography and index bring the book to a close.
Landscapes of Early Medieval Kingship is an accessible, in-depth exploration of the ever-changing institution of Irish kingship and of the all-important relationship that existed between those rulers, their people and the landscape. Gleeson concludes this pivotal book with a wish for his work “to make the past of early medieval Ireland somewhat less foreign”. There is certainly plenty here for the archaeologist, historian, student, expert or anyone with a keen interest in early Irish culture, society and history.
Dr Chris Doyle is a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Galway
