Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland
Cattle Lords and Clansmen, Nerys T. Patterson provides an analysis of the social structure of medieval Ireland, focusing on the pre-Norman period. By combining difficult, often fragmentary primary sources with sociological and anthropological methods, Patterson produces a unique approach to the study of early Ireland—one that challenges previous scholarship.\ Patterson begins by exploring the pastoral-agricultural base of Irish society to see how seasonal demands, especially of the cattle...
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List of IllustrationsPreface to the second editionAbbreviations1Reconstructing Early Irish Society: Sources and Scholarship32The Development of Early Irish Law and Society363The Material Context of Social Relations624The Spatial Organization of Society895The Seasonal Rhythms of Social Life1186The Political Economy: Clientship1507Rank1818Close Kin and Neighbors: Gelfhine and Comaithches2079The Forms of Irish Kinship23910The Corporate Fine: Control of Economic Action25911Marriage, Sexual Relations, and the Affiliation of Children28812Kinship and the Proto-State328Appendix368Glossary I: Terms for kinship relations377Glossary II: Irish terms378Bibliography382Index412
\ From the Publisher“This book taps into the rich but tantalizingly obscure body of Old and Middle Irish law which dates from the seventh and eight centuries . . . Nerys Patterson uses the six volumes of early Irish law to reconstruct the complex hierarchical and familial relationships, which constituted secular Irish society in the centuries before and sometime after the Vikings arrived in Ireland. [Patterson’s] sociological approach is a significant addition to our understanding of early historic Irish Celtic society.” —History Ireland\ \ \ \ \ \ BooknewsWinner of the 1992 American Conference for Irish Studies Prize for a first book with a different subtitle, and here augmented with a chapter on season rhythm, additional material, and an updated bibliography. Examines Irish society before the Normans came by combining primary sources with sociological and anthropological methods. The original Irish of the quotations are presented in notes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR booknews.com\ \
