Dr Gillian Kenny

Be aware of.

But of course, when the Christians come along in the 5th century, they run those out and then they start to write down the oral tales.

But of course, everything has a veneer of Christianity on it.

Yeah, that's St Patrick lands then and then runs around battling druids and does the whole shebang, which I'm sure Sean knows about as a good Irishman.

Well, Sean pretty much had it.

No, he didn't.

Anyway, the story is medieval Ireland is, of course, it is a tale of two cultures, basically, for most of the Middle Ages, particularly the later period.

You have Gaelic Irish and the English Irish, or the Anglo-Irish, they were known.

What we're talking about today are really Gaelic Irish cultures.

and beliefs and society.

So within that, it's a very hierarchical, it's a very patriarchal system.

There are what used to be kings, they became lords.

There's loads of little kingdoms and lordships that gave allegiance to kind of overlords.

And this is medieval Europe, so of course it's rural.

People are working the land.

There's widespread violence.

Of course there is, because it's a warrior society.

But what's really interesting about medieval Gaelic Ireland to me is that there is an intellectual class which is right at the top, and these are the bards, the olives, the professors, and they have huge rights and absolute respect at the top.

So these are historians who are right at the top of the tree.

My ancestors knew what was what.