The popular series, which has been running since 1995, sees the work of a handful of Local History MA students published each year. This year's studies are briefly detailed below.
Tigernán Ua Ruairc and a twelfth-century royal grant in the Book of Kells, by Denis Casey.
In popular history, the long-lived king of Bréifne, Tigernán Ua Ruaircd, who died in 1172 after ruling the kingdom for some 50 years), sees him portrayed as a king-maker, a land-grabber, a wronged husband and a vengeful man honour. This 60-page study aims to reveal a king at work, by analysing a substantial grant of land in modern Co. Meath (stretching from Dulane to Slane) that Tigernán made to the church of Kell, a move that gave him considerable political and military advantages. ISBN: 978-1-84682-858-4. Details.
Belturbet, County Cavan, 1610–1714, by Brendan Scott.
This 72-page book charts the plantation town of Belturbet from its inception in the early 17th century to the early 18th century, a period of profound change, destruction and renewal. It examines the experiences of locals during the initial settlement period, the religious tensions, the violence of the 1640s and later, and the sometimes unsuccessful attempts by the town corporation to impose its authority. ISBN: 978-1-84682-855-3. Details.
Crime & punishment in 19th-century Belfast – The story of John Linn, by Jonathan Jeffrey Wright.
This 78-page study reconstructs Linn’s story in detail and places him in his contexts, shedding light on the society he inhabited, the institutions tasked with managing him (he had violently murdered his father in 1832 and was judged to be insane) and the ways in which his story was remembered and retold in the years following his transportation from Ireland. Details.
Morristown Lattin, County Kildare, 1630–1800 – The estate and its tenants, by Emma Lyons.
Through an examination of the estate records, this 80-page case study provides an insight into the adaption and survival of a Catholic-owned estate during two tumultuous periods in Irish history. The analysis of leases, rent rolls, correspondence and legal documents, permits the tracing of patterns of land ownership and inheritance across the generations, in addition to the tenants and their links with the estate over generations. ISBN: 978-1-84682-857-7. Details.
Each of these paperbacks has a catalogue price of €9.95, but is currently offered for just €8.95 from the publishers, Four Courts Press. The books are also available in good local bookshops.
