The writing of Irish medieval history

• Published in: Irish historical studies 1990-11, Vol.27 (106), p.97-111
• Main Author: Cosgrove, Art
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Historiography; History instruction; Irish culture; Irish history; Irish literature; Irish nationalism; Irish politics; Irish rebellion; Irish studies; Nationalism; Terminology
• ISSN: 0021-1214; 2056-4139
• DOI: 10.1017/S0021121400018253

This paper has been prompted by two recent articles in Irish Historical Studies. Both are by distinguished historians from outside Ireland — Professor Michael Richter from Germany (to which he has recently returned) and Dr Steven G. Ellis from England — who have spent many years teaching in the history departments of University College, Dublin, and University College, Galway, respectively. Their different backgrounds and experiences enable them to bring fresh perspectives to bear upon the history of medieval Ireland and have led them to question some traditional assumptions about the Irish past. Here I should confess that coming as I do from Northern Ireland I am something of an outsider myself, and my own origin and background must inevitably influence my interpretation of the past. Professor Richter took the opportunity granted by a review of an important collection of essays to challenge ‘the unquestioned assumption that the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland marked a turning point in Irish history’. Arguing that the event should be seen in a wider context, both geographical and chronological, he suggested that a close parallel to the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland is provided by the German expansion into western Slav territories and that a comparison with the Scandinavian impact in the three centuries prior to 1169 would help to get the importance of the English in medieval Ireland into perspective.