Bernadette Cunningham

There was Something about the form and substance of the Annals of the Four Masters, compiled in the 1630s, that allowed them to become accepted as an authentic, reliable and comprehensive record of Gaelic society. Drawing on a rich heritage of manuscript sources on Irish history, these annals have long been regarded as an essential element of the cultural capital of a community that valued its Gaelic past. The Four Masters' approach to making their own annals conveys their regard for the older written records that had preserved for them, in manuscript, the history of their ancestors. This study surveys the scholarly and political context, both Irish and European, that inspired the annalists, reconstructing the networks of professional expertise and patronage that contributed to the pursuit of scholarship about the Irish past. The original manuscripts of these annals are used to illuminate how the annalists collaborated in the production and revision of their magnum opus, while comparison with the extant source texts consulted by the annalists reveals their priorities and their understanding of the world in which they lived. Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Eirinn was among the most popular and influential Irish histories ever written. It offered a sense of ireland, of Irishness, and of Carholicism that had wide appeal. The work has long been valued for its mastery of the Irish language and its attractive literary style, yet its significance as history has been ignored. This innovative book evluates Keating's role as both historian and theologian, providing an imaginative interdisciplinary analysis of the entire range of Keating's writing and of the social circumstances and intellectual influences that moulded his world. The world of scribes, translators, publishers and readers of Keating's works are part of this historiographical assessment of how ideas were transmitted to later generations. Geoffrey Keating's intellectual legacy in influencing perceptions of Irishness has been profound, not least as the populariser of the idea of a `special relationship' between Carholicism and irishness. This is an important, original study of the cultural, social and intellectual world of Ireland's most influential seventeenth-century writer. `An important book which offers an ambitious and wide-ranging analysis of a vitally important figure and his writings' This volume examines all aspects of the Irish Franciscans and their impact in Ireland and on the Continent. It includes chronological accounts of their history from 1534 to 1990 and thematic studies on their legacy in historical writings, hagiography, philosophy, Irish literature, missionary work, art and architecture. The volume also covers the history of the Poor Clares and the Secular. Franciscan Order in Ireland. Particular attention is given to the history and legacy of St Anthony's College Louvain, founded by the Irish Franciscans in 1607.

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