Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Today we are talking to Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd, formerly an O’Donovan postdoctoral scholar in the School of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (and now at Maynooth University). We discuss his new book ‘Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion’. Learn why it’s a must-read as Seán tells us about its contents, his use of post-colonial theory to study medieval Irish politics, his favourite (and the most violent) Irish kings and more. Thanks for listening!
Order ‘Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion’ (Liverpool University Press, 2025) online: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781835538449
Episode recorded on 20.03.2025.
People, texts and topics mentioned:
Ruaidrí Úa Conchobair / Rory O’Connor, king of Connacht (1156–1186), High King of Ireland (1166–1198)
Post-colonial theory
Giraldus Cambrensis / Gerald of Wales (c. 1146 – c. 1223)
Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster (1127–1171)
Annals of Clonmacnoise, ed. by Nollaig Ó Muraíle. Dublin: De Búrka, 2022
Síl Muredaig, leading dynasty of Connacht
Dál Cais, leading dynasty of Munster
Northern Uí Néill, kingdom of the North
Cathal Crobderg (1153–1224), king of Connacht
Áed Méith Úa Néill (d. 1230), a Northern Uí Néill king
King John, king of England (1199–1216)
Derbforgaill (1108–1193), queen of Uí Briúin Bréifne, wife of Tigernán Úa Ruairc
Tigernán Úa Ruairc, king of Uí Briúin Bréifne (1124–1172), husband of Derbforgaill
Hugh de Lacy, English baron, Lord of Meath (1172–1186)
Select publications by Seán:
Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2024.
‘Horse-Trading and Wife-Swapping: Politics, Marriage, and Selaidecht in Twelfth-Century Ireland’. Celtica 36 (2024): 87–115.
‘Derbforgaill: Twelfth-Century Abductee, Patron and Wife’. Irish Historical Studies 46 (2022): 1–24.
‘The Assassination of Tigernán Ua Ruairc, the Last King of Meath’. Peritia 29 (2018): 111–141.
Reading recommendations:
Colin Veach, Lordship in Four Realms: The Lacy Family, 1166–1241. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2014.
Katharine Simms, Gaelic Ulster in the Middle Ages: History, Culture and Society. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2020.
Katharine Simms, From Kings to Warlords: The Changing Political Structure of Gaelic Ireland in the Later Middle Ages. Woodbrige: Boydell, 1987.
Marie Therese Flanagan, Irish Society, Anglo-Norman Settlers, Angevin Kingship: Interactions in Ireland in the Late Twelfth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
Seán Duffy, Ireland and the Middle Ages. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997.
Bart Jaski, Early Irish Kingship and Succession. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
Paul MacCotter, Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008.
Anthony Candon, ‘Power, Politics and Polygamy: Women and Marriage in Late Pre-Norman Ireland’. In Ireland and Europe in the Twelfth Century: Reform and Renewal, ed. by Damian Bracken & Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel, 106–127. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2006.
The School’s projects and publications:
Celtica: https://www.dias.ie/celt/celtica/
Annual conference (Tionól): https://www.dias.ie/celt/celt-conferences/celt-tionol/
Statutory Lectures & other Celtic Studies lectures (YouTube): youtube.com/watch?v=A7SCUtU_zmk&list=PLt_XradIp-myd7wGw1N3rnBiS-b-Suene
DIAS Bookshop: https://shop.dias.ie/
Irish Script on Screen (ISOS): https://www.isos.dias.ie/
Follow the School of Celtic Studies on social media:
BlueSky: @scs-dias.bsky.social
Instagram: @scs.dias
Website: https://www.dias.ie/celt/
To be added to our mailing list, contact eibhlin@celt.dias.ie
Copyright details
Sound and music mixed and mastered by Robert Scuta. Jingle produced by Silvan van der Zwaag of Studio Galassasa; the Irish fragment of Annie Uí Annluain is taken from the DIAS Glór recordings, with thanks to Dr Andrea Palandri. Logo designed by Nina Cnockaert-Guillou.
Production team: Dr Nina Cnockaert-Guillou, Dr Viktoriia Krivoshchekova, Robert Scuta.
Today we are talking to Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd, formerly an O’Donovan postdoctoral scholar in the School of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (and now at Maynooth University). We discuss his new book ‘Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion’. Learn why it’s a must-read as Seán tells us about its contents, his use of post-colonial theory to study medieval Irish politics, his favourite (and the most violent) Irish kings and more. Thanks for listening!
Order ‘Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion’ (Liverpool University Press, 2025) online: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781835538449
Episode recorded on 20.03.2025.
People, texts and topics mentioned:
Ruaidrí Úa Conchobair / Rory O’Connor, king of Connacht (1156–1186), High King of Ireland (1166–1198)
Post-colonial theory
Giraldus Cambrensis / Gerald of Wales (c. 1146 – c. 1223)
Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster (1127–1171)
Annals of Clonmacnoise, ed. by Nollaig Ó Muraíle. Dublin: De Búrka, 2022
Síl Muredaig, leading dynasty of Connacht
Dál Cais, leading dynasty of Munster
Northern Uí Néill, kingdom of the North
Cathal Crobderg (1153–1224), king of Connacht
Áed Méith Úa Néill (d. 1230), a Northern Uí Néill king
King John, king of England (1199–1216)
Derbforgaill (1108–1193), queen of Uí Briúin Bréifne, wife of Tigernán Úa Ruairc
Tigernán Úa Ruairc, king of Uí Briúin Bréifne (1124–1172), husband of Derbforgaill
Hugh de Lacy, English baron, Lord of Meath (1172–1186)
Select publications by Seán:
Medieval Irish Kings and the English Invasion. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2024.
‘Horse-Trading and Wife-Swapping: Politics, Marriage, and Selaidecht in Twelfth-Century Ireland’. Celtica 36 (2024): 87–115.
‘Derbforgaill: Twelfth-Century Abductee, Patron and Wife’. Irish Historical Studies 46 (2022): 1–24.
‘The Assassination of Tigernán Ua Ruairc, the Last King of Meath’. Peritia 29 (2018): 111–141.
Reading recommendations:
Colin Veach, Lordship in Four Realms: The Lacy Family, 1166–1241. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2014.
Katharine Simms, Gaelic Ulster in the Middle Ages: History, Culture and Society. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2020.
Katharine Simms, From Kings to Warlords: The Changing Political Structure of Gaelic Ireland in the Later Middle Ages. Woodbrige: Boydell, 1987.
Marie Therese Flanagan, Irish Society, Anglo-Norman Settlers, Angevin Kingship: Interactions in Ireland in the Late Twelfth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
Seán Duffy, Ireland and the Middle Ages. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997.
Bart Jaski, Early Irish Kingship and Succession. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
Paul MacCotter, Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008.
Anthony Candon, ‘Power, Politics and Polygamy: Women and Marriage in Late Pre-Norman Ireland’. In Ireland and Europe in the Twelfth Century: Reform and Renewal, ed. by Damian Bracken & Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel, 106–127. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2006.
The School’s projects and publications:
Celtica: https://www.dias.ie/celt/celtica/
Annual conference (Tionól): https://www.dias.ie/celt/celt-conferences/celt-tionol/
Statutory Lectures & other Celtic Studies lectures (YouTube): youtube.com/watch?v=A7SCUtU_zmk&list=PLt_XradIp-myd7wGw1N3rnBiS-b-Suene
DIAS Bookshop: https://shop.dias.ie/
Irish Script on Screen (ISOS): https://www.isos.dias.ie/
Follow the School of Celtic Studies on social media:
BlueSky: @scs-dias.bsky.social
Instagram: @scs.dias
Website: https://www.dias.ie/celt/
To be added to our mailing list, contact eibhlin@celt.dias.ie
Copyright details
Sound and music mixed and mastered by Robert Scuta. Jingle produced by Silvan van der Zwaag of Studio Galassasa; the Irish fragment of Annie Uí Annluain is taken from the DIAS Glór recordings, with thanks to Dr Andrea Palandri. Logo designed by Nina Cnockaert-Guillou.
Production team: Dr Nina Cnockaert-Guillou, Dr Viktoriia Krivoshchekova, Robert Scuta.
