Social memory, reputation and the politics of death in the medieval Irish lordship

Joanna MacGugan

“Stories of murderous monks, tavern brawls, robberies gone wrong, tragic accidents and criminal gangs from court records reveal how the English of medieval Ireland governed and politicized death and collectively decided what passed for ‘truth’ in legal proceedings ... The study also examines ‘Ireland’s place in the history of medieval literacy’”. History Ireland, September/October 2023 

"MacGugan builds on the work of recent scholars by concentrating on the subelite strata of English and Irish communities in the lordship. One of the strengths of Social Memory, Reputation and the Politics of Death is that MacGugan clearly explains the workings of the legal processes in the lordship. She also underpins her analysis of the sources with wide reading in the historiography of literacy, social memory, and reputation in medieval England and Europe. This breadth allows her to move beyond a binary of English versus Irish access to English law and explore how both groups interacted and used the law in everyday life a century or more after initial colonization. MacGugan’s book is an important reminder that even well-known sources benefit from fresh analysis." Dianne Hall, Speculum 100/1 (January 2025)