Much of our knowledge of early medieval Ireland comes from a rich literature written in a variety of genres and in two languages, Irish and Latin. Who wrote this literature and what role did they play within society? What did the introduction and expansion of literacy mean in a culture where the vast majority of the population continued to be non-literate? How did literacy operate in and intersect with the oral world? Was literacy a key element in the formation and articulation of communal and elite senses of identity?
This book addresses these issues in the first full, inter-disciplinary examination of the Irish literate elite and their social contexts between ca. 400-1000 AD. It considers the role played by Hiberno-Latin authors, the expansion of vernacular literacy and the key place of monasteries within the literate landscape. Also examined are the crucial intersections between literacy and orality, which underpin the importance played by the literate elite in giving voice to aristocratic and communal identities. This study places these developments within a broader European context, underlining the significance of the Irish experience of learning and literacy.
Author(s): Elva Johnston
Series: Studies in Celtic History, 33
Publisher: The Boydell Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: VIII+240
City: Woodbridge
List of Abbreviations vi
Acknowledgements vii
1. Irish Literacy in a Late Antique Context 1
2. The Island and the World: Irish Responses to Literacy c. 600–850 27
3. The Island as the World: Community and Identity c. 750–950 59
4. Changing Patterns of Monastic Literacy c. 800–1000 92
5. Circuits of Learning and Literature c. 700–1000 131
6. Literacy, Orality and Identity: The Secondary-Oral Context 157
Appendix: The Chronicles as a Record of Literacy, 797–1002 177
Bibliography 203
Index 227
