The study of Gaelic Ireland has witnessed something of renaissance in the last two decades. Building upon the pioneering scholarship of Kenneth Nicholls and Katharine Simms, numerous works on pre-modern Irish society from the English invasions of the 1160s through to the early seventeenth century have been completed. Interdisciplinarity, chiefly the combination of archaeological and historical methods (with a firm grounding in the vernacular literature of the period), has been central to this success. Elizabeth FitzPatrick’s brilliant new book very much continues this rich tradition: furthermore, it draws upon the author’s own extensive body of published research including the equally impressive monograph, Royal inauguration in Gaelic Ireland, c.1100–c.1600 (Woodbridge, 2002).
The book under review here deals with the Gaelic literati. The Gaelic learned classes were an elite social group and, broadly speaking, comprised several sub-groups, including poets, historians, musicians, physicians, legal experts and craftspeople. The most skilled among these were known as ollamhain. They were a hugely influential presence in Irish society and served their masters on a hereditary basis. In many respects, a good deal of scholarship has been produced on the intellectual and political culture of pre-modern Ireland: thanks to the blossoming of research, we know quite a lot about the importance of poetry in society, the transmission of learning and manuscripts, and the linguistic and literary evolution of early modern Irish (c.1200–c.1650). However, relatively little work has been undertaken on what could perhaps be described as the lived experience of this intellectual caste. Using the lens of landscape history, FitzPatrick’s book seeks to uncover the learned classes’ position within Gaelic Irish society by exploring their built heritage and position within and relationship to the more powerful Gaelic lordships.
The introduction and opening chapter provide a succinct overview and discussion of scholarship on the literati (and lordship more generally) in pre-modern Ireland, before considering the source base and approaches to this topic. FitzPatrick provides an incredibly detailed discussion on the terminology (in both the introduction and throughout) pertaining to the literati as well as a clear outline of the book’s core methodology. Ninety-four sites were examined for this study, which, as the author notes, is not exhaustive, very much underlining the rich potential of this subject. The second chapter explores the settlement of learned kindreds within a selection of territories: the Erne Estuary, Slieve Callan and Calraighe. These regions can be characterised as ‘borderlands’ in that the geography of the landscape provided a natural frontier or that they were located in a region abutting a neighbouring territory. In a fascinating discussion, FitzPatrick demonstrates that the settlement of learned kindreds — such as the Uí Chléirigh historians in Tír Chonaill — needs to be understood within the context of a complex political, cultural, and dynastic ecosystem: these lands were often associated with Irish mythology or antiquity and bestowed upon the literati as a sign of royal favour. Chapter three examines another fundamentally neglected aspect of pre-modern Gaelic Ireland: the rural economy. Focusing on place-names (but drawing upon a rich meld of wider sources), the chapter details the economic activities of the literati — it will be essential reading for anyone interested in studying farming, hunting and resource management (including mineral extraction) in later medieval Ireland. The next chapter examines the dwellings of the learned classes. It has often been assumed that the indigenous Irish displayed little in the way of innovation when it came to their built heritage. In another illuminating investigation, FitzPatrick traces the evolution of elite dwellings in Ireland, considering how the literati repurposed and reused older sites such as the caisel (a stone enclosure) and crannóg (lake-island dwelling) during the later middle ages. As the chapter demonstrates, there was a clear link between these sites and the prestige of the learned classes: indeed, by the dawn of the sixteenth century, the majority of ollamhain lived in tower houses. The chapter also offers a window into the intriguing world of the pre-modern Irish aristocratic royal court, held in a residence known as a pailís: the pailís was not only a space for performance; rather, there is evidence to suggest that members of the learned also resided here.
Chapter five explores the fundamental link between the learned classes and the Irish church. Members of learned kindreds often secured positions as comharbai (heads of churches) or airchinnigh (hereditary church tenants). Not unlike dwelling places, the learned classes who connected with ecclesiastical sites modified them to suit their particular craft. An interesting example is presented in the form of the church built at Kilbarron by an Ó Cléirigh ollamh in the early fifteenth century: as FitzPatrick suggests, the building should perhaps be seen less as a church enabling cultural activity and more a creative space that also facilitated religious ceremonies. The final chapter examines school-houses. As FitzPatrick notes, these buildings were the ‘focal points of secular Gaelic learning in the late medieval and early modern period’ (233). Studying them, however, can be challenging: some were attached to religious lands, while others were purpose-built. The chapter scrutinises a number of case studies pertaining to sites in Counties Clare, Wexford, Galway and Tipperary and relating primarily to legal kindreds (but also embracing schools of poetry and medicine). Schools, as noted, were foundational to Irish learning, yet the buildings were often (by today’s standards at least) small or unremarkable. The chapter cautions against viewing this as evidence for a lack of architectural sophistication. Instead, buildings were often little more than temporary structures, erected seasonally at the discretion of the schools; the lack of stone or long-lasting buildings at a known site may also have reflected the desire of the ollamh to be outside and draw inspiration from nature.
Overall, this is a hugely impressive piece of scholarship and ranks as one of the most ambitious and important works produced on pre-modern Ireland in many years. It should be essential reading to anyone working on political culture or society in medieval and early modern Ireland. Furthermore, the range of expertise on display and the interdisciplinary nature of the study should attract a wide readership well beyond the arena of Irish history.
