Our Latest Publications
Moygara Castle, County Sligo and the O’Gara’s of Coolavin
Kieran O’Conor, editor
Moygara Castle, with its four towers, gatehouse and high curtain walls, is one of the most impressive masonry-built monuments in north Connacht. Constructed in the late fourteenth/early fifteenth century by the O’Garas, the castle functioned as a centre of their lordship of Coolavin. This study of Moygara Castle marshals various fields of expertise – history, archaeology, architecture, geography, genealogy, geophysical survey and DNA analysis – to provide much-needed information about life in later-medieval Gaelic Ireland.
Contributors include Anne Connon, Phyl Foley, Rory Sherlock, Paul M. Kerrigan, Kevin Barton, Kieran O’Conor, Maura O’Gara-O’Riordan, Máire Ní Chearbhaill.
Four Courts Press. 224pp. Hardback. Large Format. Colour Ills. 978-1-84682-797-6 €45.00/£40.00/$65.00
The operations of the Irish House of Commons, 1613-48
Bríd McGrath
This is the first operational account of the Irish House of Commons in the early Stuart period, a time of immense change in early modern Ireland, when the parliament’s structures and operations were established in a manner that would endure until the Act of Union. This book describes the structures, powers, personnel, culture and operations of the lower house of the Irish parliament, including electoral practice, the legislative process, economics of parliaments, including costs, taxation and MPs’ wages, MPs’ individual and collective relationships with government, the House of Lords and their own constituents, the crown and the English parliament. It also explores how the parliament, its personnel and work changed during the government of lord deputies Arthur Chichester and Thomas Wentworth and during the period of the Confederation of Kilkenny.
Four Courts Press. 570pp. Hardback. Colour Ills. 978-1-84682-814-0 €65.00/£60.00/$84.50
Discovering Medieval Ferns, Co. Wexford
Stephen Mandal, Michael Potterton & Denis Shine, editors
Medieval Ferns was one of south-eastern Ireland’s most important settlements. It played a key role in local, regional and national history from its foundation by St Aidan in 598, especially when serving as King Diarmuid McMurrough’s royal seat and the head of an influential medieval diocese. The archaeological and built heritage of the town reflect its historical importance, with significant architectural remains dating to both the early and the late Middle Ages – not least in the form of the imposing early thirteenth-century Ferns Castle. While some of the town’s archaeology, such as the castle, has already been investigated and published, a significant body of research has taken place within the last decade or so, including several telling investigations of the early medieval origins of Ferns. This beautifully illustrated volume, with full colour throughout, shines a light on the remarkable history and archaeology of medieval Ferns, highlighting the intriguing discoveries of recent excavations and research programmes. An interdisciplinary team of twenty scholars has come together to present the results of this new research in the context of our existing knowledge of medieval Ferns, building on and re-evaluating that baseline understanding. The result is the most complete picture to date of the origins and evolution of medieval Ferns, along with some directions and priorities for future research.
Contributors: Edel Breathnach, Christiaan Corlett, Ger Dowling, Ian Elliott, Barry Lacy, Anne-Julie Lafaye, Linda Lynch, Catherine MacPartlin, Stephen Mandal, Claire McCutcheon, David McElreevy, Catherine McLoughlin, Tadhg O’Keeffe, Dan O’Meara, Michael Potterton, Michael ‘Bodhi’ Rogers, Regina Sexton, Denis Shine, Kate Taylor, Kimberley Teale.
Four Courts Press. 272pp. Full Colour Ills. Large Format. Paperback. 978-1-80151-021-9 €29.95/£25.00/$39.50
