Space and settlement in medieval Ireland

Vicky McAlister & Terry Barry, editors

‘This volume of essays emerges from the Space and Settlement conferences held annually in Trinity College Dublin since 2010 and builds on traditional strengths in medieval studies there. Four of the eleven papers deal with aspects of Irish tower houses, for example, an area in which Terry Barry and his postgraduate students have been producing important research for decades … an over-arching characteristic of the collection as a whole is a certain broad curiosity about the traditional Irish focus on ethnic divisions as the key factor in Irish medieval history and a willingness to explore new approaches and alternative influences … A noteworthy feature of the book as a whole is the fact that, while many contributors have close connections with Trinity, there is great diversity in their current locations, both within and without traditional spheres of academic employment’, Cathy Swift, Irish Literary Supplement (Spring 2017).

‘Space and Settlement brings together under one cover 11 selected papers from those presented at the first three “Space and Settlement in Medieval Ireland” conferences held annually since 2010 in Trinity College Dublin. The content is wide-ranging … Taken together, [the essays] demonstrate real advances in the study of this important component of the Irish medieval landscape … Copiously footnoted and with a comprehensive bibliography … Contributors, editors and publishers are to be congratulated on this book for advancing our understanding of the landscape history of Ireland’, Robin Glasscock, Medieval Settlement Research (2016).

‘This volume … provides compelling discussions as well as starting points for future research … [An] exciting and thought-provoking volume’, James G. Schryver, Eolas (2017).