CHILDRENbribe and that he engaged in profiteering during the
Welsh wars. Although great irregularities were found in
his account, he was pardoned all arrears above £4,000
and continued in office until his death in 1288.
A significant number of the most prominent fig-
ures in the medieval history of the lordship and of
England held the position of chief governor at some
point in their career. Up until the middle of the
fourteenth century most were magnates or ecclesi-
astics resident in Ireland, although from time to time
English administrators were sent over. From the
appointment of Lionel of Clarence as lieutenant in
1364, there was an increasing tendency to appoint
English magnates who governed largely through dep-
uties who were usually Anglo-Irish magnates. In the
fifteenth century there was a renewed effort to recruit
chief governors from among those who were pow-
erful landowners in Ireland. By removing the obli-
gation to account for revenue and increasing the level
of control over the council, the office was made
attractive to the great resident magnates, particularly
the earls of Ormond, Desmond, and Kildare. These
men were keen to exploit the office to augment their
own power and interests, and the days when the chief
governor could be seen as the king’s alter ego were
well and truly at an end.
MARGARET MURPHY
References and Further Reading
Ellis, Stephen. Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447–1603.
London: Longman, 1998.
Everard, Judith. “The ‘Justiciarship’ in Brittany and Ireland
under Henry II.” Anglo-Norman Studies XX (1998): 87–105.
Flanagan, Marie Therese. “Household Favourites: Angevin
Royal Agents in Ireland Under Henry II and John.” In Seanchas:
Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History
and Literature in Honour of Francis J. Byrne, edited by
Alfred P. Smith, 357–380. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999.
Frame, Robin. Colonial Ireland, 1169–1369. Dublin: Helicon, 1981.
Lydon, James. The Lordship of Ireland in the Middle Ages,
2nd ed. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003.
Otway-Ruthven, A. J. “The Chief Governors of Medieval Ireland.”
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 95
(1965): 227–236.
Otway-Ruthven, A. J. A History of Medieval Ireland, 3rd ed.
New York: Barnes and Noble, 1993.
See alsoAnglo-Irish Relations; Armies; Courts;
Feudalism; Government, Central; Law, Common;
Lionel of Clarence; Lordship of Ireland; Military
Service, Anglo-Norman; Parliament; Records,
Administrative; William of Windsor
CHILDREN
The majority of information on childhood in the medi-
eval period in Gaelic Ireland stems from the extant
legal sources that mainly deal with fosterage and
enable us to draw conclusions on childhood in general.
Both parents bore responsibility for the rearing of the
child. This practice could be influenced by the status
of the couple involved and also by the circumstances
of the conception (for example, whether permission
had been granted by the woman’s kin-group for the
union to take place). A child was completely dependent
on his parents (or guardian), and therefore bore no
legal responsibility in his own right, nor could he
undertake independent legal action in any capacity.
The age of seven was a time of change for a child,
with his honor price being tied closely to that of his
parents from that point onward. Prior to the age of
seven, the legal material suggests that the child carried
the honor price of a cleric, which would have awarded
him particular standing and protection, in theory. While
a dependent and residing within the homestead, any
action a child committed was the responsibility of,
and/or compensated for, by the father.
Fosterage is one particular method of childrearing
emphasized throughout the sources, and was common
practice in medieval Ireland. This was a method of
childrearing whereby adults, other than the biological
parents, undertook to raise a child for a particular
period of time. Fosterage is a well-established tradi-
tion when Ireland enters into the historic period. The
foundation of this practice may be found in the Indo-
European past, but as to its impetus and origins, little
is known. The common terms applied to foster father
(aide) and foster mother (muime) are terms of affec-
tion in Old-Irish. Altram, the term for fosterage, stems
from the action of feeding and nourishing, the basic
requirements of a dependent. The term daltarefers to
the foster child. There is no distinction made in ter-
minology between wet nurse and foster mother in
Irish, as is the case in many other languages. The
possibility of nursing as an optional first step in the
fostering process finds support in the legal commen-
tary, which notes three age groupings within foster-
age: the first period, up to seven years of age, thus
not dictating a set starting age; the second grouping,
from seven to twelve years of age; and the third group-
ing, from twelve to seventeen years of age. The com-
mencement age for fosterage could vary widely
depending on the circumstances.
It is important to note that fosterage was a formal
contract within the Irish tradition. The medieval Irish
legal material notes two types of fosterage: one of
affection and one for payment. The maternal kin-
group, and more specifically the mother’s brother, was
a popular choice with whom to foster. Conditions
under which this was to be conducted are specified.
The placement of a child in another household may
have been in part for the child’s own protection, in a
society that was polygynous in nature. The potential