Anglo-Norman Parks in Medieval Ireland, by Fiona Beglane

Fiona Beglane’s is the first book-length treatment of medieval parks in Ireland, all of which were established by English incomers, mainly in the thirteenth century. (Beglane uses the term ‘Anglo-Norman’, but it is clear that, as a group, the French-speaking invaders identified themselves as ‘English’ from the beginning of their involvement in 1169–70.) The basic methodology is modelled on Leonard Cantor’s studies of English medieval parks. Individual parks have been found in published documents and located on the ground by their distinctive curving perimeters, which sometimes incorporate remains of the banks on which fences were set to retain deer. Recorded uses of parkland are noted and, where possible, it is established when a particular park ceased to be used for deer-keeping and reverted to purely agricultural use. The main findings of this exercise are somewhat limited and largely negative: parks were few in number, mainly short-lived and apparently less important to the aristocratic lifestyle than in England. Nonetheless, the book lays a foundation for further study of the interaction between Gaelic and English hunting culture as an expression of lordship, a subject which hovers on the edge of view but deserves closer inspection.

Ancient history · Archaeology · Expression (computer science) · Genealogy · Subject (documents) · Classics · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Medieval Literature and History