Medieval Dublin XX

Seán Duffy, editor

This, the twentieth volume in the series, is the most ambitious yet. It presents a rich variety of new scholarly explorations of life in medieval Dublin, including an analysis by Bruce Campbell of the occupational profile of medieval Dubliners revealed by records such as the famous Guild Merchant Roll; we also present Valentin Rothaupt’s analytical comparison of the spectrum of occupations and the influence of guilds in Dublin with those of Gaffeln in the German city of Cologne; while Sarah Hendriks discusses the records of Dublin’s late medieval guild of carpenters.

The volume also contains an examination by Patrick Wadden of Richard Stanihurst’s famous claim that Oxmantown began life in the year 1095 following an invasion of Dublin by ‘Easterlings’; Caitlin Ellis explores links between Dublin and the medieval earldom of Orkney in the era of the battle of Clontarf; Denis Casey offers a critical re-examination of the story of the elaborate feast held at Dublin by King Henry II at Christmas 1171; Shea Brennan discusses the famous triennial ceremonial procession through the suburbs of the city, known as the ‘Riding of the Franchises’; while the volume also hosts Randolph Jones’s examination of the career and network of the elusive John Estrete, late fifteenth-century lawyer of the Great Earl of Kildare, Gearóid Mór, and patron of Christ Church cathedral.

Major archaeological excavations have been conducted by Edmond O’Donovan at the site of perhaps Ireland’s wealthiest monastery, St Mary’s Cistercian abbey, and this volume contains his preliminary report, along with the results of Paul Duffy’s dig nearby at the abbey’s ‘Cemetery Gate’ and outer precinct wall. Caitríona Moore discusses an exciting discovery of a substantial thirteenth-century structure along the medieval Liffey shoreline at Strand Street Great and Abbey Street Upper; while Muireann Ní Cheallacháin describes the contents of a medieval dumping ground she found at Chancery Street in Oxmantown. Artefactual studies include John Nicholl’s report on an important assemblage of shoes and other leatherwork dating from the late tenth century onwards, excavated at Chancery Lane and Ship Street Great.

Seán Duffy is professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History at Trinity College Dublin and chairman of the Friends of Medieval Dublin.