CLONMACNOISEcompleted. This rule applied in Munster too, as long
as the contracting parties were of close rank. The
greater the difference in rank, the longer the client and
his heirs had to serve the lord before they took pos-
session of the “fief.” There were other differences, too.
In general it would seem that the southern
dóer chéile
were worse off, although it is possible that the duty of
hospitality was not heavy in the south. The organiza-
tion of clientship within the vast estates of the Church
would seem to have been rather similar to that in the
secular world. As well as the geographical differences
in clientship, there are hints of changes taking place
over time. Base, as well as free clients, became part
of the lord’s
dám
(company). There would seem to
have been a general increase in labor services. This
may account for the references to tenants absconding
from Church estates.
The main description above is drawn from the law
tracts of the seventh and eighth centuries. Changes had
been taking place, but the rate of change was greatly
accelerated following the raids by the Norse in the
ninth century. Between the tenth and twelfth centuries
society became more militaristic. Only the most
important kings had any real political control, and their
emerging lordships had a feudal-like structure. Minor
kings became their officials. A system of taxation
emerged that was based on areas of assessment. Much
of this development is imperfectly understood. Against
this background there is some evidence of a leveling
downward within the ranks of the freemen to produce
a mass of peasant rent-payers in the course of time.
These were the
bíataigh
(
betagii
), or “betaghs,” as
cited in later English documents. They were literally
the “food-providers” of their lords.
C
HARLES
D
OHERTYReferences and Further Reading
Charles-Edwards, T. M.
Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Kelly, Fergus.
A Guide to Early Irish Law
. Dublin: Dublin
Institute for Advanced Studies, 1988.
Patterson, Nerys.
Cattle Lords and Clansmen. The Social Struc-
ture of Early Ireland
, 2nd ed. Notre Dame and London:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1994.
See also
Brehon Law; Kings and Kingship; Law
Texts; Society, Grades of Gaelic; Society,
Functioning of Gaelic
CLONMACNOISE
Clonmacnoise was one of the most important early
medieval ecclesiastical sites in Ireland, and today has
a number of ruined churches and a fine collection of
high crosses and cross-slabs.
It was founded by St. Ciarán in the 540s, and being
on a crossing point of two routeways—the north-
to-south-flowing river Shannon itself, on whose east
bank it lies, and a major land route running east to
west—it soon became an important center of popula-
tion, trade, and craftsmanship, as well as religion. In
time it became an important center of learning, and
especially the keeping of annals. It gradually became
the center of an affiliation of monasteries and other
churches, and in this way grew to have considerable
power and influence. Being situated on the boundary
of two provinces—Mide, or Meath, and Connacht—it
was sometimes under the sway of the kings of Con-
nacht, and at times of the kings of Mide.
It was raided on many occasions by Irish enemies,
Vikings, and in the years around 1200 by the Anglo-
Normans. By this time its influence was on the wane
as a result of a number of factors. The church reformers
of the twelfth century had sounded the death knell of
the old monastic/ecclesiastical system by establishing
territorial dioceses and introducing continental monas-
tic orders. Clonmacnoise became the seat of a bishop, but
soon lost territory to the powerful Anglo-Norman–
dominated diocese of Meath and became one of the
smallest and poorest dioceses in Ireland. Also, with
the defeat of the Gaelic kingdoms, it lost its important
royal patrons and went into serious decline from the
early thirteenth century on. The settlement also
declined, and by the early sixteenth century there were
only a few thatched houses around the churchyard.
Most of the churches are in the old walled grave-
yard. The largest is the cathedral, incorporating muchClonmacnoise Round Tower, Co. Offaly. ©
Department of the
Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin.