Bibliography

Simms, Katharine, “Nomadry in medieval Ireland: the origins of the creaght or caoraigheacht”, Peritia 5 (1986): 379–391.

journal article

Citation details

Contributors

Simms (Katharine)

Article

“Nomadry in medieval Ireland: the origins of the creaght or caoraigheacht”

Periodical

Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland 5 (1986)

Peritia 5 (1986).

Volume

5

Pages

379–391

BibTeX

Download (concise)

Description

Abstract (cited)

The Irish word caoraigheacht, Hiberno-English ‘creaght’, signified a herd of miscellaneous livestock with its attendants, grazing or passing through other people’s lands, with or without the landowners’s permission. The terms has not been noted as occurring earlier than the late fourteenth century, and from this period onwards the leaders of such herds could be members of either the Irish or the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. A creaght could be formed by the settled population of a district temporarily displaced in time of war, moving as a train of refugees, or aggressive migrants, under the leadership of their own chief. There were also certain classes within society – landless nobles, wandering poets or mercenary soldiers – who were accustomed to migrate from one landlord to another, with their band of followers and livestock. It is suggested that an increase in this class of landless noblemen and the warfare associated with the Tudor reconquest combined with an existing pattern of transhumance to bring about the situation in 1610 where society in mid-Ulster was perceived as being organised in creaghts or ‘herds’ rather than into villages.

Subjects and topics

Headings

medieval Ireland 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century

Approaches

archaeology

Language

Lexical itemSingle words, morphemes or phrases.

English creaght • Irish caoraigheacht

Keywords

warfare settlements migration Tudor reconquest nomadry landless nobles Anglo-Irish

web page identifiers

page name: Simms 1986a