Women and the Church in Medieval Ireland, c.1140-1540

Dianne Hall

• Publisher: Four Courts Press
• Year: 2021
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781846829956
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: History

A major study of women and the medieval Irish church, this book includes ground-breaking investigations of medieval nunneries in Ireland, their personnel, patrons, buildings and estates and their strategies for ensuring the productivity of their resources. The author argues for the existence of close ties between the supposedly cloistered nuns and the surrounding lay communities. Medieval women not among the small number who actually joined nunneries channelled their pious energies towards such activities as patronage of local churches and monasteries, pilgrimage and requests for papal and Episcopal privileges. These pious activities are examined in detail and placed within their European context. This exploration into a previously neglected aspect of the history of monastic and church life in medieval Ireland is aÃ?Â?Ã?Â?major contribution to the history of women in Ireland and Europe.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• List of illustrations
• Author's note
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• Introduction
• 2. Women's patronage of religious institutions
• 3. Foundation of nunneries in medieval Ireland
• 4. Convent buildings and estates
• 5. Income, management and conflict
• 6. The permeable cloister
• 7. Elicia Butler and Kilculliheen
• 8. The end of the medieval period
• Appendix 1: Convents in medieval Ireland
• Appendix 2: List of all the names of individual women
• Bibliography
• Index