From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland

This book examines the development of social complexity in late prehistoric and early medieval Ireland.

D. Blair Gibson (Author)

9781107015630, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 August 2012

341 pages, 81 b/w illus. 26 maps 15 tables
25.8 x 18.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.87 kg

'This ambitious and wide-ranging interdisciplinary study … is carefully argued and provides much food for thought.' Landscape History

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.

Subject Areas: Prehistoric archaeology [HDDA], Archaeology [HD], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], British & Irish history [HBJD1]