Sea and Settlement in Ireland

Geraldine Stout & Matthew Stout

Sea and settlements in Ireland seeks to emphasise the crucial impact that maritime links had on settlement in Ireland. A multi-disciplinary volume, this publication includes research from 22 scholars, providing an international perspective on the importance of the sea and those who chose to cross it, as well as on Irish settlement studies. The history of settlement in Ireland is inseparable from the sea and the connections the sea provides, and this volume explores this relationship. This book encourages us to view the seas as a ‘uniting force’ rather than an obstacle to be overcome, and its various chapters cover a plethora of topics to support this." Archaeology Ireland, Winter 2024 

“[This book presents] recent research on Irish maritime links in archaeology, history, architecture and toponomy. An introduction providing context and scope is followed by nine chronologically arranged chapters focusing on the influence of those links on Ireland’s secular and ecclesiastical settlement history. Introducing the volume, Geraldine and Matthew Stout remind us that archaeology demonstrates Irish maritime links with Britain and the Continent from the Mesolithic, and that the influence of maritime connectivity is evident at many Irish prehistoric sites ... Although the primary focus is Ireland, the nature of the subject matter means that the book has a broader geographical scope. It is an interesting and informative volume which will appeal to the general reader as well as the student or specialist.” Marion shiner, Archaeologia Cambrensis (Vol 174, 2025)