From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 8/27/2012
EAN 9781107015630, ISBN10: 1107015634
Hardcover, 341 pages, 25.4 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
This book tracks the development of social complexity in Ireland from the late prehistoric period on into the Middle Ages. Using a range of methods and techniques, particularly data from settlement patterns, Blair Gibson demonstrates how Ireland evolved from constellations of chiefdoms into a political entity bearing the characteristics of a rudimentary state. This book argues that early medieval Ireland's highly complex political systems should be viewed as amalgams of chiefdoms with democratic procedures for choosing leaders rather than kingdoms. Gibson explores how these chiefdom confederacies eventually transformed into recognizable states over a period of 1,400 years.
1. Theoretical considerations
2. The climate and geology of Clare
3. Clare's chiefdoms at the dawn of history
4. An early medieval chiefdom of northern Clare
5. Reconstructing the social order of Irish chiefdoms through settlement
6. Of settlements and boundaries
reconstructing the chiefdom of Tulach Commáin
7. The rulers of Tulach Commáin
8. The world of Brian Boroimhe
9. The world of Caithrém Thoirdhealbhaigh
10. The political topography of late medieval Clare
11. An overview of the social and political systems of Thomond.