The Geraldines and Medieval Ireland

The Making of a Myth

Peter Crooks, Sean Duffy

• Publisher: Four Courts Press
• Year: 2020
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781846828843
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: History

From the earliest moments of their involvement in Ireland, the Geraldines (or FitzGeralds) - the greatest of the Anglo-Norman dynasties established in Ireland after 1169 - became shrouded in myths, often of their own creation. This fund of mythology was later appropriated for political and polemical uses by writers across the post-medieval centuries up to the early decades of the Irish Free State. This book, the proceedings of the inaugural Trinity Medieval Ireland Symposium, examines the 'myth of the Geraldines' in two senses: the literary and historical evidence from the Middle Ages and its reception from the 16th century onwards; and the myths and misconceptions that have encrusted around aspects of Geraldine history in historical scholarship. Contributors include: Huw Pryce (U. of Wales, Bangor), Colin Veach (U. of Hull), Brendan Smith (U. of Bristol), Paul MacCotter (U. College Cork), Robin Frame (U. of Durham), Linzi Simpson (ind.), Sparky Booker (QUB), and more. [Subject: Medieval History, Anglo-Normans, FitzGerald Family, Irish Studies]

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Dedication
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of abbreviations
• List of contributors
• Preface
• 1. Gerald of Windsor and the origins of the Geraldines
• 2. Giraldus and the Geraldines
• 3. The Geraldines and the conquest of Ireland
• 4. The early Geraldine castles of Ireland: some case studies
• 5. Geraldine lordship in thirteenth-century Ireland
• 6. The dynastic ramifications of the Geraldines
• 7. Rebellion and rehabilitation: the first earl of Desmond and the English scene
• 8. The ascent and descent of Desmond under Lancaster and York
• 9. The Geraldines and Gaelic culture
• 10. The Geraldines and the culture of the wider world
• 11. The Geraldines and the Irish: intermarriage ecclesiastical patronage and status
• 12. The Great Earl of Kildare (1456-1513) and the creation of the English Pale
• 13. Geraldine endgame: reassessing the origins of the Desmond rebellion, 1573-9
• 14. The myth of ‘Silken Thomas’
• 15. The battle for the Geraldines: a contested legacy in nineteenth-century Ireland
• Index