Medieval Dublin XXI
Seán Duffy
This volume contains an abundance of new scholarship to shed light on Dublin’s fascinating medieval past, including reports of major archaeological excavations: Antoine Giacometti reveals exciting new Viking-Age discoveries from excavations at a remarkable site at the edge of Kilmainham near Ballyfermot; Ian Russell reports on his excavation of an extraordinary medieval watermill at Abbey Street Upper; Alan Hayden explains the significance of a major quarry site he excavated at Chancery Lane and Ship Street Great; Paul Duffy describes his dig in Exchequer Street which may well have revealed the site of the medieval exchequer from which the street takes its name; Marc Piera discusses significant medieval discoveries on Kevin’s Street, including a previously unknown moated enclosure surrounding the medieval church of St Kevin and a substantial lime kiln associated with the church’s construction; and Chris Coffey describes the archaeological findings at the site of Thomas Molyneaux’s house in Bride Street. Russell Ó Riagáin examines the career of Echmarcach Rǫgnvaldsson/Mac Raghnaill (d. c.1064), who succeeded Sitriuc Silkenbeard as king of Dublin in the decades following the battle of Clontarf; Daniel Tietzsch-Tyler investigates Castleknock Castle in light of recent conservation works, arguing that it may be the oldest polygonal keep built in Ireland and possibly the inspiration for what few others were built here; Rebecca Devine provides a study of the evolution of royal murage grants towards the maintenance of the city walls in thirteenth century Dublin; Bernadette Williams revisits John de Pembridge’s famous chronicle of Dublin, examining the way in which it chooses to portray England’s kings, their viceroys and their parliaments; and Ferenc Holyba uncovers the surviving evidence for the abortive university established in Dublin in the fourteenth century.
Seán Duffy is professor emeritus of medieval Irish and Insular history at TCD and chairman of the Friends of Medieval Dublin.
