Commemorating Women in Irish History, 1912-1922

This is a pilot project to create a website identifying places in Ireland that relate to the history of women, 1912-1922. I have also submitted a grant application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to extend this project to a longer chronological period. This is a collaborative project with Professor Bernadette Whelan in the University of Limerick.

History and Salvation in Lebor na hUidre

This chapter argues that the scribes of Lebor na hUidre show a persistent concern with eschatology, and in particular with the salvation of souls and the Last Judgement. In some cases the texts are overtly religious, but in a substantial number of cases they are explicitly or implicitly historical. The pivotal event is the mission of St Patrick, which is identified in several of the texts examined here as the origin of Christianity in Ireland. Pagans are repeatedly brought into contact with Christians/saints or other representatives of God, revealing the victory of Christianity and the subjugation of paganism. It is argued that the stories are to be placed within the medieval western theory of history according to which God’s plan for humanity was revealed through a study of the events of the past.