This week Matt Seaver, Assistant Keeper of Irish Antiquities and Dr Diarmuid Ó Riain, curatorial researcher, welcomed us in to the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St. to see the unique new exhibition: Words on the Wave. This is an incredible display of precious manuscripts from the Abbey of St Gall, Switzerland — some returning to Ireland for the first time in 1000 years — alongside spectacular objects from the Irish world from which they emerged. Running May 30th to Oct 24th. For more details see https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Archaeology/Exhibitions/Words-on-the-Wave-Ireland-and-St-Gallen-in-Early-M

Exhibition Advisors: Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Cornel Dora, Philipp Lenz, John Gillis, Bernard Meehan, Raghnall Ó Floinn, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Timothy O'Neill.

Lending Institutions: Stiftsbibliotek St. Gallen; L'abbaye de Saint Maurice d'Agaune; Cork Public Museum.

Lead Partners: Department of Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport; Office of Public Works.

Supporting Partners: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; The Embassy of Switzerland in Ireland; The Embassy of Ireland to Switzerland; The Houses of the Oireachtas, The Discovery Programme; The Inks and Skins Project, Department of Modern Irish, University of Cork; The Royal Irish Academy; The School of Genetics and Microbiology, Trinity College Dublin; The School of Archaeology, University College Dublin; National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Department of Archaeology, University College Cork; Transport Infrastructure Ireland; Limerick County Council; Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit; Archaeology Plan; Courtney Deery Archaeology; Icon Archaeology; Archaeology Management Solutions; Vikingeskibmuseet, Roskilde; The Hunt Museum, Limerick; Eureka Secondary School (Kells, Co. Meath); Flade Klosterschulhaus (St. Gallen); Gallen Community School (Ferbane, Co. Offaly); Coláiste Muire (Ballymote, Co. Sligo).

Expert Assistance: Edward Bourke, Daniel Bradley, Sadbh Carrick, Ian Doyle, James Eogan, Silvio Frigg, Fenella G. France, Anna Hoffman, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Pierre-Alain Mariaux, Ursula Mattenberger, Valeria Marriangeli, Griffin Murray, TImothy O'Neill, John Sheehan and Andrew Woods.

Replicas: Potted History; Laura Quinn Design; John Nicholl; Brendan O'Neill.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: medievalirishhistory@gmail.com

Producer: Tiago Veloso Silva

Supported by Maynooth University, especially the International Centre for Irish Cultural Heritage, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

In this episode, we chat about the incredible academic and public resource that is the Library in the Royal Irish Academy. Academy Librarian Barbara McCormack tells us all about the collection of medieval manuscripts including some of Ireland's oldest manuscripts the Cathach of Columba and the Stowe Missal. Please visit the library yourself or check out the collections: https://www.ria.ie/library/visiting-the-library/ and https://www.isos.dias.ie/collection/ria.html

Barbara is responsible for the strategic direction of the Library and Archive, the information services provided by the Library, and the curation of the world’s largest collection of manuscripts in the Irish language, as well as numerous other manuscript and archival collections, books and collections in other formats.

You can get tickets to the events Barbara discussed here: https://www.ria.ie/events/

For more on the Stowe Missal see the blog by Lars Nooij here: https://www.ria.ie/blog/bringing-the-stowe-missal-to-life/

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: medievalirishhistory@gmail.com

X (formerly Twitter): @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by Maynooth University, especially the International Centre for Irish Cultural Heritage, the Dept of Early Irish, the Dept of Music, the Dept of History, & Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Dr Victoria McAlister from Towson University, Maryland, on everything you ever wanted to know about castles! Featuring all the big hits, Maynooth Castle, Bunratty, Blarney, Trim, the Rock of Dunamase, Clonard castle, Ferrycarrig, Carrickfergus, Irish castles, Anglo-Norman castles, Tower houses, colonialism, we cover it all. Dr McAlister busts some myths and explains how new advances in technology can assist the archaeologist and historian in their understanding of settlement around castles and the importance of considering the things we cannot see.

Suggested reading:

-Victoria McAlister, The Irish Tower House: Society, Economy and Environment c. 1300-1650 (Manchester University Press, hardback 2019, paperback 2021)

-https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-castles-of-europe

-Tom McNeill, Castles in Ireland: feudal power in a Gaelic world (Routledge, 1997)

-Tadhg O'Keeffe, Ireland Encastellated, AD 950–1550; Insular castle-building in its European context (Four Courts Press, 2021)

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: medievalirishhistory@gmail.com

X (formerly Twitter): @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Dept of Music, Dept of History, Maynooth University, & Taighde Éireann (formerly Science Foundation Ireland/Irish Research Council).

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music