Lordship in medieval Ireland

Image and reality

Linda Doran & James Lyttleton, editors

'Lordship in Medieval Ireland—Image and Reality is a surprisingly rich resource for the genealogist and consists of nine essays on various aspects of the subject, each written in a very readable and accessible style ... With an extensive bibliography this volume is an excellent resource for the genealogist and historian', MM, Ireland’s Genealogical Gazette (2008).

‘Contributes to the broader European debate over the structure of medieval society. In this aim, the book is very successful', Colin Veach, Irish Economic and Social History (2013).

‘Many essays in this volume make a valuable contribution to understanding the ways in which those who held power at a local level in medieval Ireland, whether of Irish/Gaelic stock or of English/settler origin, exercised their authority ... [This volume of essays] serves as an excellent stimulus to thinking about how we conceptualize the use of power in a divided island in the Middle Ages’, Brendan Smith, H-Albion (Online review, July, 2008).

‘... a useful book in taking a step back from the usual view of medieval Ireland as a warlike and unsettled place and taking a closer look at a key element of political and territorial organisation’, Books Ireland (March 2008).

'…this book is a valuable addition to the field of medieval Irish studies…Its emphasis is on the expression of lordship: on rights, rather than responsibilities; on material possessions, rather than personalities. These parameters are, however, the only limitations to what is an admirably conceived and attractively executed work of fresh and lively scholarship', Jenifer Ní Ghrádaigh, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (December 2008).

‘Overall this is a very worthwhile collection of essays, fulfilling the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement’s (GSIHS) twin goals of regional studies and interdisciplinarity … The GSIHS, the editors, and the individual authors are to be congratulated', Katharine Simms, Speculum – A Journal of Medieval Studies (April 2008).

‘One of the most attractive features of this volume is the willingness displayed by many of the contributors to allude to the wider British and European experience of “lordship” … Many of these essays are unequivocally first rate … let us hope that the excellent essays … gathered together will stimulate further research', Peter Crooks, Irish Studies Review 17:2 (May 2009).