A Note on Methodology

This appendix is divided into two parts. The first is a chronological series of annal entries, mainly obits, identifying members of the literate elite between 797 and 1002. The second consists of a table and a series of charts derived from these entries for the purposes of statistical breakdown. Rather than simply taking the neater AD 800–1000, the appendix documents a ‘long’ two centuries by bookending them with the accession of Áed Oirdnide to the kingship of Tara in 797 and with the beginning of Brían Bóroimhe's rule as king of Ireland in 1002. Apart from recognising the artificiality of using traditional fixed dates, this also has an apposite symbolic resonance. Áed Oirdnide († 818) was a highly successful Northern Uí Néill king of Tara. His dominance of Leinster, for instance, was emblematic of the growth of royal power which was such an important factor during this era. Nevertheless, his career can be seen as building upon the achievements of predecessors rather than as marking a true break. On the other hand, the rise of Brían, king of Dál Cais and Munster, truly set the seal on a different Ireland. Brían's career, more than any other before him, is a demonstration of the island's evolving dynamics. Of course, he was not responsible for these as an individual, but his achievements were made possible by the transformations which Irish society had undergone in the previous two centuries.