Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland
The English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires

Examines the complex interactions between English and Irish neighbours in the 'four obedient shires' and how this shaped English identity.

Sparky Booker (Author)

9781107567375, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 March 2020

314 pages, 2 maps
23 x 15.3 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'… this book is indispensable for anyone interested in colonial Ireland in the fifteenth century. Booker's deeply researched monograph offers a wealth of evidence and a variety of sources worth mining in future studies.' Kathryn Lavezzo, Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies

Irish inhabitants of the 'four obedient shires' - a term commonly used to describe the region at the heart of the English colony in the later Middle Ages - were significantly anglicised, taking on English names, dress, and even legal status. However, the processes of cultural exchange went both ways. This study examines the nature of interactions between English and Irish neighbours in the four shires, taking into account the complex tensions between assimilation and the preservation of distinct ethnic identities and exploring how the common colonial rhetoric of the Irish as an 'enemy' coexisted with the daily reality of alliance, intermarriage, and accommodation. Placing Ireland in a broad context, Sparky Booker addresses the strategies the colonial community used to deal with the difficulties posed by extensive assimilation, and the lasting changes this made to understandings of what it meant to be 'English' or 'Irish' in the face of such challenges.

Introduction: cultural exchange and identity in late medieval Ireland
1. Defining the region: the four obedient shires
2. Migration, assimilation, and status: the Irish of the four shires
3. Mediation and cooperation: the 'two nations' in the church
4. Interethnic family ties: intermarriage and fosterage
5. Irish customs in the four shires
6. The Irish language and the English community
Conclusions: identity and the limits of assimilation.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], Medieval history [HBLC1], British & Irish history [HBJD1]