"A Good Reder": the middle English Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy, instruction, publics, and manuscripts

The present work is a study of the Middle English prose text known as The Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy, a consideration of its transmission and reception history, and a survey of its manuscript witnesses; it also incorporates an edition of the text from two of its manuscripts. The text is a cosmological treatise of approximately five thousand words, written for the most part in English, with astronomical and astrological terms in Latin, though the English translation is frequently given. It is written anonymously, and survives in thirty-three manuscripts.

Archbishop William King (1650-1729) and the Constitution of Church and State

Accepted Version

An Irish apostle: articulating and actualising apostolicity in the early Irish church

This thesis examines the earliest extant Latin Lives of Brigit and Patrick; Cogitosus’s Vita Brigidae and Muirchú’s Vita Patricii as evidence for a seventh-century debate on Irish apostolicity. While often dismissed as mere propaganda, this thesis shows they are highly sophisticated demonstrations of the continuing connection that Kildare and Armagh had to their patron saints and their authority. It examines the importance of this connection for concepts of ecclesiastical organisation, teaching authority and episcopal succession against the backdrop of the seventh-century Easter question in the Insular Church. This will show that apostolicity was considered to be intrinsically linked with orthodoxy and universality. A textual focus brings forth general patristic themes and ideas that Irish hagiographers evoked through specific words and phrases. The thesis contextualises hagiographical material using evidence from Hiberno-Latin and early Insular exegetical commentaries, referring to major patristic exegetes such as Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great as support. The introduction discusses the importance of apostolic ideology for the seventh-century Irish Church, and outlines a methodology for examining such abstract themes. The first chapter looks at how developments in apostolic ideology led to ideas of apostolic primacy seen in the Insular material. Chapters two, three, and four examine metaphors of food and feeding, the fountain and the stream, and the head and the body, as significant articulations of apostolicity. Chapter five examines how corporeal relics were understood as the visible proof of this continuity and preserved a saint’s authority for their episcopal heirs. Chapter six looks at how Muirchú engaged with Patrick’s connection to the universal Church and his self-professed lack of disciplina to reconcile his apostolicity with seventh-century norms. Chapter seven places the issues considered thus far in a thoroughly Insular context by examining how the earliest English sources present the Irish legacy in Northumbria after the synod of Whitby. Chapter eight looks at how the text of Patrick’s Confessio in the Book of Armagh relates to a wider seventh-century campaign by Armagh to rehabilitate Patrick’s apostolicity. The conclusion briefly summarizes the thesis, and suggests further avenues for researching this topic in the Insular material

Stair na Gaeilge i gContae Thiobraid Árann 1700-1901

Stair na Gaeilge i gCo. Thiobraid Árann i rith na tréimhse 1700-1901 atá á ríomhadh sa tráchtas seo. Tar éis a cúlra agus a comhthéacs a shuíomh i gCaibidil a hAon, déantar scríobhaithe an cheantair a áireamh, fara tráchtaireacht orthu, i gCaibidil a Dó. I gCaibidlí a Trí agus a Ceathair, féachtar ar thionchar na hEaglaisí Caitlicí agus Eaglais na hÉireann (i measc eaglaisí Protastúnacha eile) ar an dteangain. I gCaibidil a Cúig, faightear spléachadh ar ghnéithe éagsúla de shaíocht an chontae, ag tabhairt léargais ar tháirgí na scríobhaithe, ar leabhair a clóbhualadh sa réigiún, agus ar fhilí móra na háite, leithéidí Liam Daill Uí Ifearnáin, ag sonrú limistéir faoi leith, an t-oirdheisceart, mar shampla. Léirítear éifeacht na gcumann Gaelach agus na ndíograiseoirí iomadúla a bhain leo. Ábhar suime, leis, feidhm na Gaeilge sna cúirteanna dlí. Tugtar faisnéis i gCaibidil a Sé ar fhianaise cuairteoirí ar an Ghaeilge mar urlabhra i dTiobraid Árann. Is anseo chomh maith a deintear anailís ar Dhaonáirimh na mblianta 1861-1901, le mórchuid adhmaid á baint as ceann 1901 go háirithe. Breactar as ainmneacha sagart agus múinteoirí le Gaeilge, agus tráchtar ar aicmí suntasacha eile, na póilíní agus na saighdiúirí a raibh an teanga sin ina mbéal acu. Tugtar le chéile dá réir na snáithíní difriúla eolais ar an dúiche ar bhealach nár tharla cheana don gcontae casta fairsing seo le haghaidh na tréimhse atá idir lámha ag an saothar.

Northern Ireland, America and the emerging church movement: Exploring the significance of Peter Rollins and the Ikon collective

The Emerging Church Movement (ECM) is a primarily Western religious phenomenon, identifiable by its critical ‘deconstruction’ of ‘modern’ religion. While most prominent in North America, especially the United States, some of the most significant contributors to the ECM ‘conversation’ have been the Belfast-based Ikon Collective and one of its founders, philosopher Peter Rollins. Their rootedness in the unique religious, political and social landscape of Northern Ireland in part explains their position on the ‘margins’ of the ECM, and provides many of the resources for their contributions. Ikon’s development of ‘transformance art’ and its ‘leaderless’ structure raise questions about the institutional viability of the wider ECM. Rollins’ ‘Pyrotheology’ project, grounded in his reading of post-modern philosophy, introduces more radical ideas to the ECM conversation. Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ and ‘marginal’ location provides the ground from which Rollins and Ikon have been able to expose the boundaries of the ECM and raise questions about just how far the ECM may go in its efforts to transform Western Christianity.

Review of The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity, by Gerardo Marti and Gladys Ganiel

Published Version