This course is designed as an introduction to early Irish society and culture. 
Documented history in Ireland begins in the late fourth and fifth centuries. We will look at our sources for the period. What are they? How were they written and why? Kingship was central to society. We will look at the power of kingship and how it adapted to the radical changes brought by Christianity. Ireland became Christian through contact with the Roman World. We will examine the nature of this contact and the impact that it had upon the Irish. 
We will consider the treatment of women and the make-up of the economy. We will look at Armagh and its relationship with the cult of St Patrick and how it emerged as the chief church of the Irish. We consider the nature of the Irish church as it develops – the great monastic complexes with the schools and scriptoria and the ‘work of angels’. We see the role of the Irish church in Britain and on the Continent and consider the impact of Columba and Columbanus. We will visit the ‘Words on the Wave’ exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland which illustrate this contribution. As our period closes we will examine the changes, opportunities and terror brought by the Norsemen. Lastly we will consider the Battle of Clontarf and the propaganda that surrounding it. The chronological range of the course will be essentially between 400 and c.1014. A.D.