Bibliographical Notes
Chapter 1: Woman of the Burren
The content for this chapter draws heavily on the report of excavations at Poulnabrone tomb published in 2014, as well as the findings of recent analysis of ancient DNA carried out at Trinity College Dublin.
The portrait of the Woman of the Burren is constructed from the detailed findings outlined in Dr Ann Lynchâs Poulnabrone: An Early Neolithic Portal Tomb in Ireland, Archaeological Monograph Series: 9, 2014. I am very grateful to Dr Barra OâDonnabhain, author of the chapter on the bioarchaeology of human remains with Dr Mara Tesorieri, for sharing his many insights with me.
I am also very grateful to Dr Lara M. Cassidy who spoke about her research in ancient DNA. Her findings are outlined in âNeolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and the establishment of the insular Atlantic genomeâ, Lara M. Cassidy, Rui Martiniano, Eileen M. Murphy, Matthew D. Teasdale, James Mallory, Barrie Hartwell and Daniel G. Bradley, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, September 2015; âScientists Sequence First Ancient Irish Human Genomesâ, tcd.ie, 28 December 2015.
The notes on Ătzi come from South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology http://www.iceman.it/en/clothing/.
Chapter 2: Macha
I am very grateful to Damien Houlahan and the staff at Navan Centre and Fort in Armagh for showing me around this singular site and explaining its many aspects.
Thank you too to Kate Fitzpatrick, whom I met there, for taking the time to explain her work with Celtic myth. It is outlined in beautifully written detail in her book, cited below.
The story of Macha was drawn from the version told at Navan Centre and Fort and the one recounted by Kate Fitzpatrick.
Works cited:
Fitzpatrick, Kate, Machaâs Twins: A Spiritual Journey with the Celtic Horse Goddess (Imran Publishing, 2017).
Lynn, Chris, Navan Fort: Archaeology and Myth (Wordwell, 2003).
Lynn, Chris, McSparron, Cormac, and Moore, Peter, Excavations at Navan Fort, Data Structure Report: Navan Fort, Co. Armagh, Centre of Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queenâs University Belfast, 2002.
Mallory, J.P., and Stockman, G. (eds), Ulidia, Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Ulster Cycle of Tales, Belfast and Emain Macha (December Publications, 1994).
Raftery, Barry, Pagan Celtic Ireland, The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age (Thames & Hudson, 1994).
Waddell, John, Archaeology and Celtic Myth (Four Courts Press, 2015).
Waterman, D.M., Excavations at Navan Fort, County Armagh 1961â71, completed and edited by C.J. Lynn; general editor Ann Hamlin (The Stationery Office, Belfast, 1997).
Warner, Richard B., âPtolemyâs Isamnion Promontory: Rehabilitation and Identificationâ, Emania 21, 2013.
Articles and online sources:
An Trumpa Creda, Archaeology Ireland, Winter 2000, Vol. 14, No. 4, Issue No. 54, also at Ancient Music Ireland, http://ancientmusicireland.com/page/papers-articles.html.
Lönze, Holger, âExploring the Alchemy of Soundâ, Archaeology Ireland, Winter 2018, Vol. 32, No. 4, Issue No. 126.
Moriarty, Colm, and Corless, Adrienne, âA Barbary Ape Skull from Navan Fort, Co Armaghâ, irisharchaeology.ie.
TĂĄin BĂł CĂșailnge, recension 1, https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T301012/text001.html.
Chapter 3: St Dahalin
I owe a great deal to historian and author Bryan MacMahon who shared his research and very many insights into the history and archaeology of Kerry Head.
Sincere thanks are also due to Dr Elva Johnston, Associate Professor at the School of History, University College Dublin, who was so generous with her time and offered suggestions based on her extensive research on Irish saints and early medieval Ireland. She also explained the etymology of Dahalinâs name.
Iâm indebted to local people Joe Slattery, the Gentleman family (Billy, Amanda and Patrick), Dr Maurice OâHalloran and Ciaran Walsh, who told me about the wellâs history and its enduring legacy.
Details of what sixth-century religious, daily and political life might have been like were drawn from the following archaeological and historical sources:
Harney, Lorcan, âChristianising pagan worlds in conversion-era Ireland: archaeological evidence for the origins of Irish ecclesiastical sitesâ, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. 117C (Royal Irish Academy, 2017).
Johnston, Elva, âThe Saints of Kerry in the Early Middle Agesâ, forthcoming.
OâSullivan, Aidan, and Nicholl, TrĂona, âEarly medieval settlement enclosures in Ireland; dwellings, daily life and social identityâ, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. 111C (Royal Irish Academy, 2010).
OâSullivan, Muiris, and Downey, Liam, âEarly Churches â Agriculture and Foodâ, Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring 2017), pp. 18â21.
During a tour, Annie Birney at the National Museum of Ireland opened a fascinating window into the period by explaining the relevance of some of the artefacts that survive from early medieval Ireland.
Other works cited include:
Johnston, Elva, âThe âpaganâ and âChristianâ identities of the Irish female saintâ in Mark Atherton (ed.), Celts and Christians: New Approaches to the Religious Traditions of Britain and Ireland (University of Wales Press, 2002); âPowerful women or patriarchal weapons? Two medieval Irish saintsâ, Peritia, 15. pp. 302â10 (Brepols, 2001).
Johnson, MĂĄire, âIn the Bursting of an Eye: Blinding and Blindness in Irelandâs Medieval Hagiographyâ, in âWounds and Wound Repair in Medieval Cultureâ, Explorations in Medieval Culture, Volume: BRILL (2015).
MacMahon, Bryan (ed.), Our Christian Heritage (Ballyheigue Parish History and Heritage Group, 2012).
MacMahon, Bryan, The Story of Ballyheigue (Oidhreacht, 1994).
O Donovan, J., The antiquities of the county of Kerry (Royal Carberry Books Ltd, 1841), pp. 46â7.
Ă Riain, PĂĄdraig, A Dictionary of Irish Saints (Four Courts Press, 2011).
Tarrant, Bernadette, Exploring the Rich Heritage of the North Kerry Landscape (Listowel Archaeological and Historical Committee, 1990).
Toal, Caroline, North Kerry Archaeological Survey (Brandon, 1995).
Stokes, Whitley (ed.), Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore (Oxford, 1890), pp. 72â3, lines 2431â7, details the exchange between Canir and SenĂĄn. Available online: https://archive.org/details/LivesOfSaintsFromTheBookOfLismore/page/n5. Translation courtesy of Dr Elva Johnston.
Journals and newspapers:
Bitel, Lisa M., âWomenâs monastic enclosures in early Ireland: a study of female spirituality and male monastic mentalitiesâ, Journal of Medieval History Vol. 12 (1986) pp. 15â36.
Cogitosus, âLife of St Brigitâ, Sean Connolly and J.M. Picard, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 117 (1987), pp. 5â27.
âThe Danes in Irelandâ, report of a talk by The Very Rev. T. Lee to Cork Young Menâs Society, Cork Examiner, 9 December 1897, which contains the description of the Vikings.
OâShea, Rev. Kieran, âBishop Davis Moriartyâs Diary, 1856â, extracts in Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, No. 17, 1984, pp. 113â26.
The testimony from Michael Godley, Dromatoor, Co. Kerry, and collected by Eily Godley is part of the National Folklore Collection UCD, www.duchas.ie.
Chapter 4: Gormlaith
I am very grateful to Dr Catherine Swift, Lecturer in History at Mary Immaculate College Limerick.
Works cited:
Clarke, Howard B., âSitriuc Silkbeard (Sitric, Sigtryggr Ălafsson Silkiskeggi)â, Dictionary of Irish Biography (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
Cusack, M.F., Illustrated History of Ireland, from the Earliest Period (Longmans, Green, & Co., 1871).
Duffy, Sean, Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf (Gill & Macmillan, 2013).
Mac ShamhrĂĄin, Ailbhe, âGormlaithâ, Dictionary of Irish Biography (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
NĂ BhrolchĂĄin, Muireann, âWho was Gormlaithâs mother? A d...