Castles in Ireland: Feudal Power in a Gaelic WorldThe castles of Ireland are an essential part of the study of medieval Europe, but were, until recently, a subject neglected by scholars. A lord's power and prestige were displayed in the majesty and uniqueness of his castle. The remains of several thousand castles enable us to reconstruct life in Ireland during these crucial centuries. Castles in Ireland tells the story of the nature and development of lordship and power in medieval Ireland. Ireland formed the setting to the interplay of the differing roles of competing lordship: English and Irish; feudal European and Gaelic; royal and baronial. Tom McNeill argues that the design of the castles contest the traditional view of Ireland as a land torn by war and divided culturally between the English and Irish. |
Contents
Before 1166 | 7 |
Early castles of stone | 27 |
Early castles of earth and timber | 56 |
Castles and the establishing of English lordships in Ireland | 75 |
1 | 85 |
7 | 91 |
75 | 102 |
Castles in a divergent tradition | 118 |
Summary | 131 |
The fourteenth century | 171 |
dates and distribution | 201 |
structure and use | 211 |
The later middle ages and the end of castles in Ireland | 224 |
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1st floor angle towers Antrim Askeaton castle Ballymoon baronial built Burgh Carlingford Carrickfergus Carrickfergus castle Castle Kirke Castle Roche castles in Ireland centres chamber tower Connacht courtyard crannogs curtain wall defence ditch Donegal door Dublin Dunamase Dundrum Earldom of Ulster earlier earthwork castle east enclosure castles England English lordships excavation Figure fireplace first-floor level fourteenth century Gaelic Galway gate house gate passage gate tower Greencastle ground floor hall-houses identified Irish Jope king land late medieval later latrine Leask Leinster Limerick linked Lough Louth machicolation manor McNeill Meath middle ages motte and bailey mural towers Nenagh Nenagh castle Newcastle Newcastle West Orpen period polygonal rectangular remains rooms Roscommon castle round towers royal castles second floor side sixteenth century south-east south-west stair stone castles structure surviving Sweetman tenants thirteenth century timber Tipperary tower-houses Trim castle turrets Ulster Journal vault wall-walk Waterman