Computerizing Celtic kings and clerics: towards a prosopography of early medieval İreland

TOWARDS A

PROSOPOGRAPHY

OF

EARLY MEDIEVAL IRELAND

DAVID E. THORNTON

Itis

_perhaps

self-evidentthat the

_{prosopographical}

_study

of the elites of any

historical

_society

is

_{dependent partly}

upon the

political

and social structures characteristic of that

_society

and

_partly

_{upon the} nature and content of the relevant

_primary

sources.

However,

when

studying

the

prosopography

of the

early

medieval InsularCeltic

_peoples,

this

_point

is

_{especially meaningful.}

This articlereviewstherecentresearchforthe

_early

medieval Celts

_(and

_especially,

the

_Irish)

and outlines

_possible

avenues for future research in the

light

ofa

brief

_commentary

on the

_{socio-political}

structures and a

description

of the

pertinent

primary

sources.The second half of the article will

briefly

describe anautomated

_{prosopographical}

databaseonwhich

compilation

hasstarted and

also sketch its

_prospective

_development

in the future.

At the_outset,itcanbe statedthat

prosopography

hasnot

figured

as

signifi-cantly

in medieval Celticstudies asit hasfor other

_parts

of

Europe during

the

early

and

_high

Middle

_Ages,

and

_especially

notwith reference to

computers.

Indeed,

it would

_probably

not be inaccurate to

_suggest

that searches of the

InternationalMedieval

_Bibliography

CD-ROM

_using

the title

_keywords

'Celtic'

(or

'Ireland', 'Wales', etc.)

and

_{'prosopography'}

would

_generate

_{very few} hits. Ofcourse, as will be indicated

below,

Celtic historians have

engaged

in

certain fields of

_study

whichcanbe considered

part

of the

prosopographical

approach

-for

_{example, genealogy}

and

_kinship,

_onomastics,

inheritance and

succession,

etc.

-but these are

_yet

to be

_incorporated

into a

fuller,

compre-hensive

_{prosopography}

ofmedieval Celtic elites. This is not to

_suggest

that

prosopographical

studies arenot

_possible

for the Celts

-far from it

-northat

Celtic historiansarenotunawareof the

possibilities,

and thereare_veryrecent indications that this

_deficiency

is

_{currently being}

rectified.

During

the

_period

_c.500-c.H00,

the elites of what are now

Ireland,

Scotland and Wales were

predominantly

royal

and

religious,

andoftenthetwo

History

and

_Computing,

12

(1) 2000,

31-41 ISSN0957-0144

were not

unconnected,

that is to say that these

Celtic-speaking

lands were

dominated

_by

hierarchies of

_polities

whichcanbedescribed

loosely

as

king-doms and whose rulers therefore claimed

_royal

status.

_Thus,

for

_example,

in

the

_early

_post-Roman

centuries

(the

sixth and seventh

_centuries),

each Irish túath

_(lit.

_people),

which in some cases

probably

extended to an area_not morethanafew _square

miles,

wasruled

by

a

king

(rí

túaithe)

and constituted

a

kingdom.

_Furthermore,

these lesser

kings,

like the

higher grades

of

king,

were members _of

dynasties,

all of whose members could

_accordingly

claim

royal-if

not

_specifically

kingly

-status.

_{Consequently,}

the fundamental unit for

_political

_{association and power}forour

_present

_purposeswasthe

kingdom

or,more

significantly,

the

dynasty

and

membership

thereof. These

kingdoms

might expand

(or contract)

interms of

territory,

and in some cases evenshift

their focus over

_time,

or a

dynasty

could extend its

sphere

of influence

by

exerting

overlordship

ofanumber of

neighbouring kingdoms

(and

ultimately

tothe level ofthe

_{provincial overkingship),}

and

_yet

the

_primary

unit remained

the

_dynastic

_kingdom.

In terms of

_planning

a

prosopography

of

early

Irish

secular elites

_therefore,

the main focus will

_inevitably

be on _such

_kings

and

their

_dynastic

kinsmen.

Furthermore,

the character of the

_religious

elite

_(higher

_clergy)

of

_early

medieval Ireland also hada

strongly dynastic,

and therefore

secular,

element.

It has

_long

been

_recognised

that control ofmany of the numerous monastic

churches

_throughout

Ireland could lie in the hands ofa

single

clerical

family,

often with the abbatialsuccession

_passing

from fatherto

_son(s).

For

_example,

membersofthe well-known Clann

_Shinaig

(Descendants

of

_Sinach)

dominated the church of

_Armagh

from the mid-tenth into the twelfth

_century.

Further-more, many ofthese clerical families were

(or

claimedto

_be)

_{genealogically}

affiliatedtooneof the local secular

dynasties,

perhaps representing

acadetor

politically

unsuccessful

_segment

of this

_dynasty.

Thus,

the aforementioned

Clann

Shinaig

wererelatedtothe

_ruling

dynasty

ofthe

_kingdom

ofInd

_Airthir,

within whose

_{territory Armagh}

was situated.

Prosopographical

study

of the

religious

elites of

_early

medieval Ireland is to someextenttherefore amatter of

_dynastic

_{reconstruction,}

not too dissimilar from that of secular

_politics,

though (as

will be illustrated

_below)

the

_{prosopographical}

_information

sup-plied

in the relevant

_primary

sourcesabout the

political

and

religious

elites is

by

no meansidentical.

As I have discussed

elsewhere,

there are

essentially

two

_types

of

_primary

source from which the

prosopography

of these elites canbe

studied,

namely

the medieval chronicles and

_{royal genealogies.1}

For

_{reconstituting dynastic}

kinship

groups

(especially,

secular ones, but to some extent certain clerical

ones

too)

and

thereby

for

reconstmcting

succession

_patterns,

the often very

detailed and

_{highly segmented genealogical}

sources are

obviously

of

value,

notfound in the

_{surviving genealogies.}

In

_particular,

wehave very few

genealo-gies

of clerical families and therefore

_{prosopographical}

information about

early

Irish churches and their elites are tobe found

mostly

in the chronicles.

Consequently,

the annalistic and

_genealogical

sources tosome_extent

comple-ment one another. It follows therefore that any

proposed prosopographical

databaseof

_early

medieval Ireland should be

_designed

around thesetwomain

sources. In

addition, however,

there are a number of other

_types

of source

which can

provide

useful

prosopographical

information: for

example, regnal

andabbatiallists

_(which

are

relatively

few in

number),

saints'

genealogies

and

martyrologies, epigraphic

sources,and

'saga'

narratives.

As stated

_above,

todate there has beenno

_attempt

at

_{comprehensive}

proso-pographical

studies for the

_{Celtic-speaking}

_{regions during}

the Middle

_Ages,2

although

there have been many individual studies which involve what

might

be termed a

prosopographical

element or which

clearly

are relevant to the

prosopographer.

This statementis both true forrecent as well as for earlier

research. For

_instance,

_given

the

_importance

of the

_genealogies,

then it would be necessary to consider the

_problems

of

_using

them as

_primary

sources

or,3

beyond

that,

a_broaderconsideration_ofmedieval Celtic

kinship

asrevealed in

these and other sources.4

_Also,

atthe 'local

_history'

_level,

there has

_been,

and continues to

_be,

interest in

_{reconstructing}

the

_genealogies

oflocal

_dynasties

and

_families,

sometimes

_using

_unpublished

_material,

whichcan

certainly

_{be of}

prosopographical

interest.5

Furthermore,

becausewe are

dealing largely

with

royal dynasties,

then research into the

_patterns

of successionto

_kingship

will

obviously

servetoilluminate the

dynamics

of those

dynasties.6 Similarly,

the

study

of

_personal

namesand

naming

_patterns

among the

early

medieval Celts is an area_ofinterest_tothe

_{prosopographer,}

though

a lotofworktodate has been more

linguistically

than

historically

orientated.7 For the

religious

elite,

similarcommentscouldbe made: the reconstruction ofabbatial and

_episcopal

succession has been undertaken for many

important

churches,8

but the fuller

prosopographical

study

of

_particular

houses or for the whole

region

is still

awaiting

to be undertaken on _any

significant

scale.9 It should be stated

that,

despite

thecommentsmade

_above,

thereisa

good

numberofrecentindividual

studies,

_especially

for secular

_subjects,

which can be described as

prosopo-graphical

in character.10

Finally,

it must be stressed that _{very little} recent researchin thisareahas involved the activeuseof

_computer

technology.

There are

exceptions

to

_this,

suchasthe

Corpus

of Electronic Texts

(CELT)

project

basedatthe

University

of Cork orthe Celtic Inscribed Stone

Project (CISP)

basedatthe

_University

of

_London,

but thisrelativelack of

computer

applica-tions istobe

_regretted

since,

asI will endeavourtodemonstrate

_below,

a

large

amountofsource-materialfrom the Celtic

_early

Middle

_Ages

does lenditself

quite

readily

to

_analysis

_by

_computers,

_especially

from a

prosopographical

perspective.11

I am

currently working

on a

long-term

prosopographical study

of

early

medieval

_Ireland,

which includes the

_design

and use of a

prosopographical

database;

and theremainderof thisarticle will discusssome of the main

ele-ments

(and

problems)

of this research. It should be added thatthework is still inits

_infancy

but a_sufficientamounthas been

_completed

to

_permit

the illus-trationofanumber of

important points.

CONTENT ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATIONS

As stated

_above,

the two most

_important

types

of

_primary

source for the

prosopographical

study

of

_early

medieval Ireland are the annalistic and

genealogical

textsand

_consequently

itis thesesourceswhich shouldformthe

basis of any

_planned

database. Since the

_design

of an historical database

should

_begin

_by

_considering

what are the

_categories

of information

(in

this

case,

prosopographical)

contained within the relevant documents and which willdictate the

_particular

'fields' ofa

_database,

it willbeuseful heretooffera content

_analysis

of therelevantIrishsources.

Furthermore,

in myownwork I

have started with the

_chronicles,

and so I _propose to illustrate this work

_by

drawing

upon anannalistic

example

here.

Specifically,

I will examine the

so-called 'Annalsof Ulster'

(one

of themost

_important

medievalIrish

_chronicles)

fortheyear 788

(in translation):12

Kalendsof

_{January [}

_].

A.D. 977alias 978. 1.

_Fiachra,

_erenagh

_[abbot]

of

Iona,

rested.

2. A battle between Brianmac

Cennétig

and Mael

Muad,

king

of

Desmumu,

in which MaelMuadfell.

3. The battle ofBithlann

_[was

_won]

overthe

Laigin by

the

Foreigners

of

Dublin,

in which fell the

_king

of

Laigin, namely

Úgaire

mac

Tuathail,

and many others.

4. A battle-rout

_[inflicted]

_by

the

_Airgialla

on theCenél Conaill inwhich

fell NialluaCanannáinand many others.

5. Corkof Munsterwassacked

by

fire.

6. LismoreofMoChutu was

_plundered

andburned.

As this

_sample

indicates,

forour_{purposes, it is}

possible

to

analyse

theevents

recorded in the annals into twomain

_types.

_Firstly,

there are what

might

be

termed

_'anonymous'

events,

describing

notable naturalorsometimes

miracu-lous

_phenomena

or human-caused events

_relating

to

_{particular places}

(the

plundering

and

_burning

of the church at Lismore and the

_{conflagration}

of the church at Cork

_above).

_{Such entries may be very}

_important

in terms of what

_they

describe

but,

since

they

are

'anonymous', they

have less value

prosopographically.

On the other

_hand,

most of the events related in the chronicles are concerned with named individuals

-most are Irish men

(in

which

_category

I would include 'Hiberno-Scandinavians'or_Irish

_vikings),

but

there are also a few references to famous non-Irish

_figures

and alsoa small

numbertoIrishwomen.

_Obviously,

it_issuch named_{individuals who}will_form

the basis of a

prospective

database. The next

_question,

therefore,

mustbe: what are the main and

_relatively

consistent

_'categories

of information'

con-cerning

the individuals named in the_{chronicles which may}form the fieldsof this

_proposed

database?13

Fortunately,

and

_despite

the

_clearly

narrative character of the

chronicles,

the

format andcontentofmostannal-entries for the

_early

Middle

_Ages

are

fairly

regular

so

_that,

I would argue,the

designing

ofadatabasestructureis

_certainly

feasible.

_Firstly,

all chronicles are

organized chronologically

into

_separate

annals for successive years-some, as in the

example

above,

are

assigned

Anno Domini

_dates,

_though

_{these may}not

_necessarily

be thecorrectdates

(in

the

_example

_above,

a later scribe has added the 'correct'

year);

other

chroni-cles lack absolute dates but indicatenew_years

using

KaV

('calends'),

in which casethe modern editorcan

_possibly

reconstructthe

_{underlying chronological}

scheme.

_Secondly,

sincewe are concerned witha

_{prosopographical}

database,

then the

_{anthroponymic}

information contained in the annal-entries is

impor-tant.

Now,

thereare anumber of

potentially complicating

factors whichmust be taken intoaccounthere. Thevast

majority

ofindividualsarereferred in the

chroniclesto

_by

their forename

_(for

_example,

FiachraorBrian

above).

They

may then befurther

distinguished

by

meansofa

patronymic:

thiswas

usually

in theform mac

('son')

plus

father's name inthe

genitive

case

(for

instance,

mac

Cennétig,

'sonof

Cennétig'

above);

but,

sometimes itwas ua

('grandson')

plus grandfather's

name

(ua

_Canannáin,

'grandson

of

Canannán', above,

but see

below).

Very occasionally, perhaps

both father and

grandfather

would be

included,

thus

_supplying

three

_generations.

_Furthermore,

_by

the late tenth

century

and

_{especially during}

the

_eleventh,

we see the

beginnings

of a shift

towards the use of

hereditary

surnames derived _from the two

_types

of

patronymic

described here: in the

_example

_above,

the form Mali Ua

Canannáin,

'Niall

_{O'Canannán',}

is

_perhaps

be

_preferred

_though

thetextitself

gives

no indication of this.

Finally,

certain

figures

are also

assigned

a

nick-name

_(no

_examples

above).

Patronymics

and nicknamesare more

commonly

attested for secular

_figures

than for clerics:

_thus,

the churchman Fiachra above lacks such additional onomastic information.14

_Thirdly,

_{many persons} are

given

a

'title',

whichcanbe

analyzed

as

consisting

oftwo

_parts:

therelevant status or

position

(for

example,

rex or

ri,

'king',

or a lesser status for other secular

_figures,

andeccelesiastical

_positions

suchasabbasor

episcopus

ortheir

Gaelic

_{equivalents);}

and

_then,

thenameofthe

kingdom

or

dynasty

(for laymen)

or ofthe relevant church

(for clerics).

This

_pattern

is

relatively

consistent in

thechronicles

_though

difficulties may arise whenanindividual is credited with morethanonetitleorin the veryrareinstances whena

king

also heldaclerical

position.

These thenarethebasic

categories

of information

supplied

relatively

consistently,

ifnot

_invariably,

for individualswhooccurin thechronicles:the

date,

the

_{anthroponymic}

material

_(of

_various

_types),

_andthe title

_(including

status and also

_political

orecclesiastical

association).

In

addition,

the sex of

the person can

usually

be determined from the forename or the

patronymic

(mac,

'son'vs.

ingen, 'daughter')

and,

evenincaseswhere the title is

_omitted,

clerical status may be inferred from the context or from certain words or

phrases

(e.g.,

an abbotor

_bishop

was more

likely

_to dormiuitor

_pausauit

in

pace thanwas a

king).

As well as these basic

categories

of

information,

there remains the most variable element of the

_{annal-entries,}

_namely

the 'event'itself in

_which,

_perhaps

naturally,

wewill

_expect

the

highest degree

of

variety

intermsofinformation

and thereforemost

_difficulty

interms of database

_design.

At

_present,

Iwould estimate that over60 per cent

_{(perhaps higher)}

ofindividual occurrences in

pre-1100

Irish chronicles record

_deaths,

andoverhalf oftheseweredeaths

by

naturalmeans.Suchdeaths therefore took theform of

simple

statements

(as

in thefirst

entry

for978

_above),

_though

very

occasionally

additionalinformation

is

_supplied

about the cause of death

('after

a

_long

illness')

or _age at death

(usually

for

_clerics).

For deaths

_by

non-natural _causes, some entries

simply

statethat the person

(who

was

_usually

butnot

_necessarily

a

_layman)

waskilled

without any additional comment

_{(iugulatio est);}

but,

in many cases we learn more: for

_instance,

in which battle the person fell

(Bithlann, above),

against

which

_kingdom

hewas

fighting, by

whom he wasslain

(a

neighbouring king,

or a

dynastic

rival: see

below),

and sometimes even more narrative details

may be

_supplied.

The

remaining

30percent

_{(or less)}

occurrencesof_individuals

in thechronicles donotrecord theirdeaths butinstead relatea

_variety

of other

activities: for

_example,

succession toa

kingdom

or

abbacy, winning

or

losing

a

battle,

killing

another person

(which

is ofcoursethe other side of the 'killed

by

whom' coin mentioned

_above),

_raiding

a

neighboring

kingdom

or

_church,

going

on

pilgrimage,

being

imprisoned

orblinded

by

rival

dynasts,

and so

forth.

Furthermore,

such entries are not

_{always simple}

statements but can

involve more than one sentence

_describing

a series _of

_causally

_connected

events orsub-events.

Obviously

it wouldbedifficultto

_analyze

such material

effectively

for the purposes of database

design

and I will

_suggest

below that the 'events' mustbe accounted for less

rigidly.

PROVISIONAL DATABASE DESIGN

In the

_light

of the

_foregoing

discussion,

it wouldseem

possible

toaccommodate most of the information of

_{prosopographical}

interest from the chronicles

within a flat-format

database,

though

certain elements may

require

careful consideration.The main

_{prosopographical}

fields wouldbeasfollows:

• Date

(Text):

_{this would}be the

year

according

tothe

_original

text;

• _Date

_(ad):

_{this would be the}

(probable)

'correct'

_date;

•

_Forename;

•

Nickname;

• Father: this would be the

patronymic

_basedon

mac;

• _{Grandfather:as}

_above,

but

using

_{mac orua}

according

_tothe text; •

_Surname;

• Status: the

position

held,

perhaps using

coded

abbreviations;

•

Kingdom:

the_nameofthe

kingdom

_or

dynasty

of_a

layman;15

• _{Church: thenameof the church ofa}

cleric;

• Cleric:_ifa

_{cleric, tick;}

• _Woman: if_awoman,

tick;

• _Event:

anabbreviation

system

for

indicating

broad

_category

of event.16

Table 1 showsthetabulationand

_coding

from the

_sample

fromthe Annals of

Ulster

_given

above.

One obvious

_problem

interms of

_efficiency

of

_design

is the

large

number of 'blanks' for the onomastic fields. This isunavoidable

because,

as

explained

above,

the

_{anthroponymic}

information

_supplied

in the chronicles can vary

significantly

and because

_reducing

it all to a

single

field would reduce the

effectiveness of

_searching

and

_sorting.

_Furthermore,

_keeping

the different

_types

ofonomastic data

_separate

would be useful when

_integrating

the annalistic-based tables with tables annalistic-based on the

genealogies

and when

attempting

to

identify

the individuals named therein.

Lastly,

the tabular scheme described here does not

_adequately

deal with the

_problem

of the more narrative annal

-entries,

thatisentries whichare more

_complicated

thanmereobit

-records. Therearetwo

_possible

ways of

accommodating

such material: either

_by

means

ofan additional 'memo'

field,

or

by using

a

_separate

but 'related' file which

would record thefulltext

(in

the

_{original language)}

for each

_year/annal.

As

_argued

_above,

it would seembest_to

_begin

a

prosopographical

database

of

_early

medievalIreland

_using

the chronicles

_and,

to

_date,

I havefollowedthe scheme outlined

here,

using

Microsoft

Access,

formost of the extant and

published

annalistictextsfor the

_period

700-1050

(only

one_text,theso-called

'Fragmentary

Annals of

Ireland',

is

_yet

to be

_databased).

In

_addition,

I have

started

_compiling

a 'master

table',

combining

and

comparing

material from

the different chronicles in order to

_identify

more

_explicitly

the individuals

named therein. This latter task is slow and

fraught

with

_difficulty

dueto

dis-crepancies

between the different_texts, both for

_{chronological}

and onomastic

e co "a' c— 2 O

5

ö e Si c o U vu a u a CU U o es E ce 000 c-0\ r-c^

work to this

_separate

file and so leave the individual chronicle's tables

untouched.

In the near

future,

it will be necessary to

_begin

databasing

the

royal

genealogies

though

this will

_certainly

be a

_{time-consuming}

task due to the amount and

_complexity

of the extant

genealogical

material

(both

_published

and,

more

importantly, unpublished).

The

royal

genealogies comprise

twomain

types,

both of which lack any absolute

dating:17 simple pedigrees

or

'retrograde

patrilines'

(of

the

_type

XsonofYsonof Z

etc.)

giving

one nameper

generation;

and,

segmentary

genealogies

which may list more than one name foreach

generation

(thus,

A had threesons:

_{B, C, D;}

Bsonof A hadoneson,

E; and,

C

son_ofA had_{two sons,}F and

_G;

etc.).

Provisionally,

I would

_suggest

that such

material couldbe tabulatedinthe

_following

fields:

• Reference: edition_or

manuscript

reference for theindividual

genealogy;

•

Kingdom/Dynasty:

most

_genealogies

havea

title;

•

Forename;

• Father: this would be the

patronymic

based_on

mac;18

• _Grandfather:this would be the father's

patronymic

basedonthe_mac;

• Sons: _namesof_{any sons}

given

in the relevant

genealogy;

• Notes: _{a memo}fieldfor_{any additional information}

given

in the text; This would therefore allow forup to four

generations

to beincludedin each

entry

in the

table,

which

_ought

tobe sufficient inmostcasestoavoid

_confusing

namesakes andtofacilitate identification with

_figures

named in the chronicles.

However,

I havenot

_yet

started

working

onthe

genealogies,

sothese_comments

mustremain

_provisional.

Inadditiontothe

_genealogies,

it will

_eventually

_{become necessary}to

incorpo-ratethe other relevant

_types

ofsourceslisted above. For

instance,

the

regnal

and abbatial

_lists,

as wellas the prose andversetexts known

_collectively

as

BanshenchasJ9willserveto

_supplement

thechroniclesand

_{royal genealogies.}

Furthermore,

if the annalistic database is tobe extended backwards tocover

the

_{proto-historical period}

ad

500-700,

then

certainly

the

saintly

genealogies20

and

_{martyrologies21}

would need to be used because this was the time when

most Irish saintsflourished.

_Evidently,

there remains much tobe done in the

designing

and

_development

ofthis

_database;

and

yet,

it is

_hoped

that this short account has served to demonstrate that a

computer-based

prosopography

of

early

medieval Ireland is

_certainly

aviable

project

which will gosome_wayto

addressing

the relative lackofresearch inthisfield of historical

_study.

NOTES

1 _{D. E.Thornton,}

'Kings,

chronicles and

_{genealogies: reconstructing}

mediaeval Celtic dynas-ties',inK.S.B.Keats-Rohan, ed.,Familytreesand theroots_ofpolitics

_(Woodbridge,

_1997),

23-40. Citedhereat25. D.E.Thornton,Kings,chronologiesandgenealogies.Studiesin

the_{political history of early}medieval Ireland and Wales_{(Forthcoming),}Chs. 2-3.

2_Possible

exceptionsto_{this claim would include(for}Wales_duringonecentury)K. L.Maund,

Ireland, Wales,and_Englandin_{the eleventh century(Woodbridge,}1991),and(foroneIrish

region)

A. P.

_Smyth,

CelticFeinster: towards anhistorical

geography

of earlyIrish

civi-lizationA.D. 500-1600_(Blackrock,1982).

3_{D.O.Corráin,'Irish}

_origin

_{legendsandgenealogy:recurrent}

_aetiology',

_{inT.Nybergetal,}

eds,Historyand heroictale_(Odense, 1983), 51-96;D.O.Corráin,'Creatingthe_past:the

earlyIrish_genealogicaltradition',Peritia:Journal_ofthe Medieval_{Academy of}Ireland, 12

(1998), 177-208; K._{McCone, Paganpast}and Christian_presentin_earlyIrish literature (Maynooth, 1990), 233-55;D. E. Thornton, 'Orality, literacyand_genealogyin medieval Ireland andWales', in H. _Pryce, ed., Literacy inmedieval Celtic societies _(Cambridge,

1998), 83-98;D. E.Thornton, 'Power,politics,andstatus:_aspectsofgenealogyin medi-aeval Ireland and Wales' _(unpublishedPh.D.thesis,Universityof

Cambridge,

1991).

4_{T. M.Charles-Edwards,}

EarlyIrish and Welsh_kinship(Oxford1993);N. T.Patterson,Early

Irish_kinship. The_legalstructure_oftheagnaticdescent group(Boston,MA, 1988);N.T.

Patterson, Cattle-lords and clansmen. The socialstructure_{of early}Ireland,2nd ed. (Notre Dame andLondon,1994);N. T.Patterson,'Patrilinear

_kinship

in_earlyIrish_society:the evi-dence fromtheIrish lawtracts',Bulletin_ofthe Board_ofCelticStudies,37(1990),133-65.

5_{D. N.Dumville, 'The "six"}

sons ofRhodri Mawr: a _problem in Asser's Life of King

Alfred', CambridgeMedieval CelticStudies,4(1982),5-18; S. ÓNéill,TheO'Neillsof Leinster.An_{investigation}intothe_{origins of}the O'Neills_ofMaghDà Chonn

-Moycomb

-Leinster _(Belfast, 1992); D.E.Thornton, 'A _{neglected genealogy} of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd',CambridgeMedieval CelticStudies,23(Summer 1992),9-23;D. E.Thornton,

'The _genealogy of Gruffudd ap Cynan', in K.L.Maund, ed., Gruffudd ap Cynan

(Woodbridge, 1997),79-108;D. E.Thornton, 'Clann Eruilb: IrishorScandinavian?',Irish

HistoricalStudies,30(1996), 161-6;D. E._Thornton,

_'Early

medieval Louth: the

kingdom

of Conaille Muirtheimne', County Louth _{Archaeological} and Historical _Journal, 24/1 (1997),139-50;S. P.Thomas,'The_genealogyof Brochwel abAeddan',Transactions_ofthe Honourable_{Society of}

_Cymmrodorion

_(1982),25-8.

6_{M. O.Anderson, Kingsand}

_kingship

_in

earlyScotland, 2nd ed. _{(Edinburgh, 1980);}J. B. Smith, 'DynasticsuccessioninmedievalWales',Bulletin_ofthe Board_ofCelticStudies,33 (1986), 199-232; B.Jaski,EarlyIrish

kingship

and succession(Dublin,2000).

7_B.

Ó.

_{Cuiv,'Aspects of Irishpersonalnames', Celtica, 18(1986), 151-84;N.}

Ó

_Muraíle,

'The Irish _genealogies as an onomastic source', Nomina, 16 (1992-3), 23-^17; D. E.

Thornton, 'Predatory nomenclaure and dynastic expansion in early medieval Wales', Medieval

Prosopography,

20(1999), 1-22;D. E.Thornton, 'Names withinnames:

hagio-phoricand_{toponymie anthroponymy}in_earlymedievalIreland', in K. S. B. Keats-Rohan and C. _{Settipani,eds, Onomastique} et_parentédans l'occident medieval (Oxford, 2000),

267-82; D. E. _{Thornton, 'Hey,} Mac! The name _Maccus, tenth to fifteenth centuries', Nomina,20(1997),67-94.

8_{F. J.Byrne, 'Heads of churchesto c.1200', inT.W. Moodyetal., eds,A}newhistory of

Ireland,9 vols(Oxford, 1982-_),IX,237-63.

9_{A.S.MacShamhráin,Churchand}

polityin_pre-NormanIreland. Thecase_{of Glendalough}

(Maynooth, 1996);D.

Ó.

Corráin,'The_earlyIrish churches. Some_aspectsof_{organization',} inD.OCorráin, ed.,Irishantiquity.Essaysand studies_presentedto_ProfessorM.J._Kelly (Cork, 1981),327^-1. Forastill useful_guidetomedievalIrish clericsandsaints,seeJ.F.

Kenney,Thesources_fortheearly history ofIreland:I.Ecclesiastical(New York, 1929;_rev,

imp.,Dublin, 1993).

10_{S. Duffy, 'Ostmen, Irish and Welsh in the eleventh century', Peritia: Journal ofthe}

princes', Cambridge

Medieval Celtic_Studies, 3 (1982), 3(M-0;H. R._Loyn, 'Wales and

England

in the tenthcentury:thecontext_{of the Athelstancharters',} Welsh_HistoryReview, 10(1980-1),283-301; K. L.Maund, 'Trahaearn ap

Caradog: legitimate usurper?',

Welsh HistoryReview,13_{(1986-7), 468-76;}D. E.Thornton, 'Edgarand the_{eight kings,}ad973:

textus etdramatis_{personae', Early}Medieval_Europe, 10_(2001),49-79;D. E. Thornton, 'Maredudd ab Owain(d. 999):mostfamouskingof theWelsh', WelshHistoryReview, 18 (1996-7), 567-91; D. E. Thornton, 'The death of_Hywel Dda: a _note', Welsh _History Review. 20_(2001),743-9;D. E.Thornton, 'WhowasRhaintheIrishman?',StudiaCeltica,

34(2000), 131-48;L.Cox,'The Briens of_Brawneyotherwise Ui Braoin_{Breaghmhaine',} RíochtnaMidhe,111(1980-1), 80-98;K.Nichols,'The

MacCoghlans',

IrishGenealogist,

6 (1980-5), 445-49; D. M. _Schlegel, 'The MacDonnells of _Tyrone and _Armagh. A

genealogical study',SeanchasArdmhacha,10_(1980-2), 193-219;D.

_Sproule,

_'Originsof

the

_{Éoganachta',}

Ériu,

35(1984),31-38;R. M._Sweeney, 'The_originsof ClannSuibhne',

Donegal

Annual,42(1990),61-2.

11 _CELT.

_Corpus

_{of electronic texts [World Wide Web search interface]. <URL: http://}

www.ucc.ie/celt>[27June2001];Celtic inscribedstones_project[WorldWide Websearch

interface].<URL:_{http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database>[27}June2001].

12_{S. Mac Airt and G. MacNiocaill, eds, The annalsofUlster(toad 1131) (Dublin, 1983),}

412-15(fortextand_{translation).}

13_{Fora fuller account of the}

_following

_{material, see Thornton,}

Kings, chronologies and

genealogies,

esp. Ch. 3.

14_{The Annals of the FourMasters,alate but}

_important

_annalistic

source,does adduaArtacáin

(grandson

ofArtacán)in its

_equivalent

_entry.

15_{Very occasionally,the chronicles do}

_supply

_{thenameof the}

_kingdom

_{ordynastytowhicha}

cleric_{belonged, mostly commonly}in thecaseofmembersofthe_{important community}at

Clonmacnoise.

16_{Forexample, f(loruit), d(ied), s(lain),andb(om) (thelatter would beveryrarehowever).} 17_The

_problem

_{ofdatingfor thegenealogiesisaseriousone:many of the}

_pedigrees

_especially

reach backto

_pre-historic

and_legendarylevelsand,without absolutedates,it is therefore

moredifficulttocontrol their_{chronological}range with anycertaintythanit is for the chron-icles.

18_{In both thefatherandgrandfatherfields,I woulduse'm.',whichis theabbreviated form}

commonlyused in the

_manuscripts

for bothmacandthegenitivemaicormeic.

19_{These recordthematernalancestryofsome(butcertainly}not_all)earlymedieval_kingsand provideuseful information about_{inter-dynastic marriage.}

20_Theseare

conveniently available in asinglevolume, RO. Riain, ed., Corpus

genealo-giarumsanctorumHibernie_{(Dublin, 1985),}which includes individual_{pedigrees plus}other 'documents' suchaslists ofsaintlynamesakes.

21 _{I have}

_experimented

_{with one early}

text, the so-called Martyrology ofTallaght, which demonstrated that_{martyrologies}could be_readilydatabasedinatabularformat.