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Gibson, D. Blair, “‘The Cíarraige chiefdom alliance’”, Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies 10 (2017): 16–32.

  • journal article
Citation details
Contributors
Article
“‘The Cíarraige chiefdom alliance’”
Periodical
Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies 10 (2017)
Tracy, Larissa (ed.), Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies 10 (2017), American Society of Irish Medieval Studies.
Volume
10
Pages
16–32
Description
Abstract (cited)

This paper presents a new translation of a text found in the Laud collection of genealogical material that is here called “The Cíarraige Chiefdom Alliance.” This translation is complete and hews as closely as possible to the language of the original text, rendering social nuances more precisely. The discussion that follows proposes that the tale presents a wishful alternative reality to the ninth century political circumstances of the Cíarraige composite chiefdom with regard to their foes, the Iarmumu of Loch Léin. Whereas there is geographical and historical evidence from the annals that suggests that the Cíarraige had lost territory to an invasion by Iarmumu in the eighth century, the text situates their adversarial relationship in the sixth century and shows the Cíarraige gaining a measure of autonomy. The tale provides valuable insights into how relationships between dominant and subordinate complex Irish chiefdoms were negotiated in the early Middle Ages.

Subjects and topics
Headings
Irish genealogies
Approaches
textual translation
Sources
Manuscripts
History, society and culture
Agents
CíarraigeCíarraige
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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IarmumanIarmuman
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
July 2021