Ireland before the Vikings

by Gearóid Mac Niocaill

Excellent Book

Genres: Ireland, History, Irish Literature, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Chieftains, Part 1

I bought this book in Dublin back in 1972, but never got around to reading it till now. I say "reading" with a certain hesitancy because except for Chapter 3 which provide brief insights into actual life in Ireland in the period 400-800 A.D., IRELAND BEFORE THE VIKINGS is a compendium of the comings and goings and the rise and fall of numerous kinglets, princes, chiefs, and warriors, their geneology and their deaths in battle. As part of the much larger Gill History of Ireland, no doubt all this has an important part. For Irish people, it may be necessary reading to grasp more fully their country's long history. For those overseas, like me, the huge number of names----of people and places---is too overwhelming to be digested. While there are several maps, they don't provide a guide to rivers, just to take one category of names, and so we are left clueless. I would have to say that this is most certainly an insider's history or a history for experts. It may be, for all I know, a classic work on the political history of early Ireland. For expert readers, my comments will seem unfair, and I apologize, but for the average reader, this fare will prove far too rough going. You should search elsewhere.

[Wrichard Barremin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often reads like a list of names, reminiscent of Old Testament genealogies; doesn't help that the names themselves are practically gibberish to untrained American eyes; nevertheless, the names eventually create a sort of pointillist effect, by which the fragmented and rapidly fluctuating character of early Irish civilization comes through; intermittent passages that take a more top-down approach are far more readable and interesting.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book with lots of diagrams to show the different genealogies. This is a political book more than anything but it does a great job of explaining the way things were in the period between the fifth century CE and just before the Vikings came. This isn't about art or literature but rather about how the society of those times worked. The picture is complicated but then that is Ireland for you!

[Kristin Gleeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good basice primer for the history of Ireland from the early historic period to the time of the vikings. It gives a general political history of each of the regions and also a socio-economic overview of Ireland as a whole. The intricacies of the clan relations and the rise and fall of different families can be a little confusing and MacNiocaill tries to lay it out as simply as possible.