A new book by scholars at Bristol University which should greatly enhance future research into medieval Irish history will be launched today [22 February 2005] by the Irish Ambassador, Mr Daithí Ó Ceallaigh, at the Irish Embassy in London.  

Entitled Handbook and Select Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ireland in the National Archives of the United Kingdom, the book is jointly edited by Dr Brendan Smith, Head of the Department of Historical Studies at Bristol, and Dr Paul Dryburgh, post-doctoral researcher on the project. 

The Department of Historical Studies at Bristol has a long tradition of working closely with the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office), now based at Kew in south-west London, to produce handbooks, or guides, to various types of records which the government has collected over the centuries. 

This handbook will significantly advance our understanding of the nature and extent of English conquest and colonisation in Ireland, which began in the late twelfth century.  The establishment of English rule in Ireland involved the introduction of administrative practices based on those of England.  In the 13th century a chancery, an exchequer, and courts of law centred on Dublin developed which produced written records of their operations.  The fact that the lord of Ireland was also the king of England meant that Irish affairs were also well represented in the records produced by the English government at Westminster.

These two sets of records were created and kept independently by both administrations, but a series of disasters stretching from the 13th century to the 20th means that almost all of the Irish archive has been lost.  Fortunately, the National Archives of the United Kingdom continues to hold a wealth of material relating to Ireland in the medieval centuries.

This book provides a guide to records which reflect many facets of this period in Irish history, including relations between natives and settlers, the church, life on the manor, trade and commerce, land-holding, Anglo-Irish relations, and the operation of the law.  It should serve as the starting-point for future research into many aspects of the medieval Irish past.

Dr Brendan Smith said: “By identifying and describing the range of records relating to medieval Ireland, the handbook will make the job of researchers interested in this historical topic much easier.  Financial and time constraints make it particularly important for postgraduates to be able to find and use the relevant records quickly, and the handbook should be especially valuable to this part of the scholarly community.”

Handbook and Select Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ireland in the National Archives of the United Kingdom is jointly published by the National Archives and by Four Courts Press, the leading Irish academic publishing house.

Funding for the projects which underpin the production of these handbooks comes from research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, which allows post-doctoral students to be employed at Kew to examine the records.