In time long past, little corners of Ireland were ruled by chiefs, kings, earls, and other nobles whose ancient dominion came to an end with the Tudor conquests of the 1500s. But, writes author Peter Ellis, the royal bloodlines continued to flow in faraway lands, the forgotten victims of "the ruthless colonial policy of an unsympathetic alien power."
With the Flight of the Wild Geese, when many nobles abandoned the island, the hereditary aristocracy of Ireland lost power and, with time, was forgotten at home. Today, emerging from exile in places like Austria and Asturias, claimants to long-abandoned titles are now popping up everywhere, and the Irish government has been obliging some of them with "courtesy recognition"--an anachronism, many Irish object, in a democratic era. Surveying the surviving nobility, Ellis examines their claims and, in the process, addresses what he rightly calls "a much-neglected area of Irish history": the blue-blood past of the MacGillycuddys, Maguires, O'Brien's, and other storied families. Heraldry buffs, royalty watchers, and claimants to long-lost thrones will find much of interest in Ellis's wanderings through the island's unhappy history. --Gregory McNamee
Celtic scholar Ellis traces the history and culture of old Ireland through the family trees of the dynasties that ruled there for 2,000 years (before the 16th-century English Tudor conquests) in this densely written and carefully researched volume. Though Henry VIII successfully sought to "utterly abolish" the family titles, today the modern descendants of ancient royalty claim their Gaelic titles and are given "courtesy recognition" by the Irish state. Ellis's account of the years after Henry's occupation is a gloomy one: only by renouncing their titles and swearing to speak English, for example, could the Irish nobility reclaim stolen lands. While the bulk of the book traces the bloodlines of the grand families of the four Irish provinces Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster the best part occupies but a brief chapter near the end. In "The MacCarthy M¢r Affair," shoddy investigative work by the Chief Herald's Office (part of the Republic's government) and the Genealogical Office allowed Terence McCarthy, a member of a working-class family from Belfast, to be named Chief of the McCarthy Clan. It's a delicious case of fraud that reads like potential movie plot, and a standout story amidst thousands of years of Irish lore. Photos.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A hereditary nobility traditionally ruled Ireland, and the titles of this native aristocracy have a long history, documented by written genealogies going as far back as the 7th century C.E. When the Tudor conquest of Ireland enacted a series of laws abolishing the titles of the native Irish nobility, many of the families went underground or fled. When the Irish Republic was established, it inherited the English system of laws that had abolished the native Irish nobility, and yet the Irish wished to recognize the surviving families as a symbol of their revived nationhood. Independent scholar Ellis (a.k.a. Peter Tremayne), the author of both nonfiction (The Ancient World of the Celts) and a popular mystery series about a 7th-century Irish nun, here offers both a general history and then a series of family histories based on the traditional Irish kingdoms. Ellis paints a fascinating and poignant picture of the native Irish aristocracy, both ancient and modern. This book will be of interest both to students of Irish history and to those with an interest in Irish genealogy. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Charlie Cowling, Drake Memorial Lib., Brockport, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Peter Berresford Ellis is a pre-eminent Celtic scholar. He received an Irish Post award in recognition of his work on Celtic history, and he was chairman of the Celtic League from 1988 to 1990.
