D. Blair
Gibson
Works authored
Contributions to journals
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.
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.
