Cultures of Conquest

In this strand of research, historians, conservators, and technologists collaborate closely to identify, translate, and integrate authentic archival evidence, shedding light on a crucial period in Ireland’s legal, institutional, and religious development. Our focus is on Ireland’s experience as a medieval colony from c.1250 to 1500, examining its documentary and legal cultures, and using the lens of medieval bureaucracy to explore the political and cultural worldviews of Gaelic Ireland and its population.

Our researchers are working to provide access to a range of historical records that showcase major diplomatic agreements, uncover ordinary lives, and highlight international interconnections between Ireland and Europe. These documents will be made available in translation alongside images of the original records. The original Latin records survive in a range of archives in Ireland, the UK and further afield, including The National Archives (UK), the National Archives, Ireland, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and the British Library. They represent a valuable replacement for the many documents that have been lost over the centuries, including those destroyed in the Four Courts in 1922.