Early Medieval Ireland: Sources

Vocabulary flashcards based on the sources and themes related to early medieval Ireland as discussed in the lecture notes.

Annal

A contemporary record of an event under the year of its occurrence.

Chronicle

A type of text sometimes used to describe a lengthy and elaborate narrative of events, extending over a range of years.

Brehon Laws

Ancient Irish laws that survived in manuscript form and provided a body of legal literature unique in the early medieval west.

Genealogies

Collections that represent primary source material for the political history of early medieval Ireland.

Data Overload

A phenomenon faced by historians attempting to extract meaning from numerous annalistic entries.

Iona Monastery

An island monastery off the western coast of Scotland, key in the early origins of Irish annals.

Easter Table

A form of calendar used in early Ireland, where marginal notes may have led to the development of annals.

Kalendae Ianuarii

The term used to indicate the beginning of each year in the Irish annals, marking entries.

Senchas

The term for historical tradition in early Irish culture, referring to 'old lore'.

Prosopography

The study of collective biography, or the compilation of dossiers containing every known reference to an individual in ancient or medieval sources.

Banshenchas

A text that preserves the names of women important in early medieval Irish political affiliations.

Data Annotation

The process of adding historical records to existing texts for context and reference.