This week we are delighted to talk to the always enlightening Dr Christian Schweizer about his Research Ireland funded research on Dicuil, an Irish scholar who was prominent in the Carolingian Court in Aachen in the early 9th century. Dicuil wrote many fascinating texts covering a variety of disciplines including geography, astronomy and computistics, some of which, Dr Schweizer explains were annual "gifts" owed to King/Emperor Louis the Pious in return for his patronage. We also hear about other famous Irish scholars on the continent and ponder whether there are many parallels between their experiences and academia today.

Suggested reading:

-Christian Schweizer, ‘Categorizing Dicuil’s De cursu solis lunaeque’ in Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland, xxxiii (2022), pp 227-48.⁠ https://doi.org/10.1484/J.PERIT.5.131906⁠

-Anthony Harvey, ‘"Battling Andrew" and the West-Brit Syndrome Twelve Hundred Years Ago’, Classics Ireland 9 (2002), 19-27.
- Anthony Harvey, How linguistics can help the historian (Dublin, 2021), 11-22.

-Sam Ottewill-Soulsby, ‘The Elephant’s Knee: Questioning Ancient Wisdom in the Ninth Century’, in The Historian’s Sketchpad, November 30, 2023.

⁠https://salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2023/11/30/the-elephants-knee-questioning-ancient-wisdom-in-the-ninth-century/⁠

- Tutrone, F. (2020). ‘Lucretius Franco-Hibernicus: Dicuil's Liber de astronomia and the Carolingian reception of De rerum natura’, Illinois Classical Studies 45.1, 224-52.

- Ross, H. E. and Knott, B. I. (2019), ‘Dicuil (9th century) on triangular and square numbers’, British Journal for the History of Mathematics, 34.2, 79-94.

- Dicuil, Liber de mensura orbis terrae, ed. & trans. J. J. Tierney [and Ludwig Bieler] (1967). Dublin: School of Celtic Studies.

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

Apologies for the poor sound quality in this episode!

This week Dr Janel Fontaine (Treasure Trove Officer, National Museums Scotland) talks us through some of the evidence for slavery in medieval Ireland. From the accounts of St Patrick in the 5th century to Gerald of Wales in the 12th century she explains how slavery was built into the social and economic fabric of Irish society.

Suggested reading:

- Janel Fontaine, Slave Trading in Early Medieval Europe (Manchester, 2025)

- Fergus Kelly, Guide to Early Irish Law (Dublin, 1988)

- Caitlin Ellis, ‘Perceptions of the Slave Trade in Britain and Ireland: “Celtic” and “Viking” Stereotypes’, Quaestio Insularis 19 (2018), 127–57

- Paul Holm, “The slave trade of Dublin, ninth to twelfth centuries”, Peritia 5 (1986), 317–345

- David Wyatt, Slaves and Warriors in Medieval Britain and Ireland, 800-1200 (Brill, Leiden, 2009)

- Charlene Eska, “Women and slavery in the early Irish laws”, Studia Celtica Fennica 8 (2011), 29–39

-Alice Rio, Slavery After Rome, 500-1100 (Oxford, 2017)

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

It's time for our annual discussion of the man responsible for our national holiday in Ireland, Fáilte Ireland's global greening campaign and J. D. Vance wearing shamrock socks in the White House! Dr Elizabeth Dawson (Carlow College) is the perfect expert guide through over 14 centuries of stories celebrating St Patrick. She explains how Patrick became our patron saint, how traditions around Patrick evolved, why the 3 day weekend actually goes the whole way back to the 8th century, and from where snakes, parades and green beer come.

For those looking for the historical individual Patrick, have a listen to our episode with the excellent Terry O'Hagan from last year: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1xYXTvNMKUbOwfG9Cf061N?si=-_3QBbkGQnOx9YofGTKXVQ

Suggested reading:

Dawson, Elizabeth, Lives and Afterlives: The Hiberno-Latin Patrician Tradition, 650–1100 Studia Traditionis Theologiae, 55 (Turnhout, 2023)

Dawson, Elizabeth, https://www.confessio.ie/more/article_dawson#

Wycherley, Niamh, 'Meet St Patrick's Spin Doctor,' https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0314/1036430-meet-st-patricks-spin-doctor/

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

Email: medievalirishhistory@gmail.com

X (formerly Twitter): @EarlyIrishPod

Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, 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