Doan, J. “Sovereignty Aspects in the Roles of Women in Medi-
eval Irish and Welsh Society.” Proceedings of the Harvard
Celtic Colloquium5 (1985): 87–102.
Flanagan, Marie Therese. Irish Society, Anglo-Norman Settlers,
Angevin Kingship:Interactions in Ireland in the Late Twelfth
Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
Martin, F. X., and Scott, A. B. Expugnatio Hibernica: The
Conquest of Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1978
(notes 5, 6, p. 286).
See alsoAnglo-Norman Invasion; Clonmacnois;
Mac Murchada, Diarmait; Mellifont; Mide;
Queens
DERRY
An early ecclesiastical settlement and modern city,
Derry is situated on an island in the river Foyle,
although the old rivercourse to the west (the Bogside)
had become a swamp by the early historic period.
Daire means “oak wood”—its oaks were “sacred”
throughout its history. The earliest name form was
Daire Calgach (the oak wood of Calgach [person
unknown]). By the early twelfth century it is called
Daire Coluim Cille, named after St. Colum Cille (d. 597),
the traditional founder of the church. However, it has
been strongly argued by Lacy that its foundation was
by a Fiachrach mac Ciaráin, either alone or as joint
founder with Colum Cille.
The place was mentioned by Adomnán (d. 704) in
his “life” of Colum Cille. It had a church, a graveyard,
and a harbour. It was a place of refuge. The reference
to a scribe in Annals of Ulster720, Caech Scuili,
indicates that it had a scriptorium. It was mainly staffed
by the Cenél Conaill, Colum Cille’s own dynasty.
Their rivals, the Cenél nEógain, controlled the sur-
rounding area from 789 onward and made Derry their
capital during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Cenél
nEógain success against the Vikings prevented it from
becoming an international trading town, but by the late
twelfth century it had urban characteristics and had
become head of the Columban familia. It had at least
three churches and a round tower. Famous abbots
were Gilla-Meic-Liag (d. 1174) who succeeded St.
Malachy as head of the Irish church at Armagh in
1137, and Flaithbertach Ua Brolcháin (d. 1175),
under whose direction the town was reshaped. Its
school produced the lost Book of Derry, and the lost
Gospel of Martin. Much of the literature about
Colum Cille was produced here during this period
as part of the propaganda associating his name with
the site. Annals (now incorporated in the Annals of
Ulster) were written there in the late twelfth to early
thirteenth century, allowing us a glimpse of secular
events.
As a result of the church reform of the twelfth
century the monastery adopted the rule of Canons
Regular of St. Augustine by about 1220. Soon after
1224, a Dominican priory was founded. For political
reasons the seat of the Cenél nEógain diocese was at
Ráith Luraig in Maghera, County Derry, although
some bishops may have lived in Derry. However, in
1254 the Tempull Mór became the cathedral of the
diocese of Derry, despite opposition from the Cenél
Conaill. Each side had an erenagh (lay head of church)
family, Mac Lochlainn (Cenél nEógain) and O’Deery
(Cenél Conaill), living in Derry until 1609. The arch-
bishop of Armagh, John Colton, made a famous vis-
itation on 10 October, 1397. The Anglo-Normans
came to Derry in 1197, but despite the possibility of
establishing a planned colonial town at various times
during the following centuries, this did not happen,
and the town was largely uninfluenced by them. By
the mid-sixteenth century the site had become stra-
tegically important to the English, who now gained
control and built its (still intact) stone walls between
1613 and 1618.
CHARLES DOHERTYReferences and Further Reading
Adomnán of Iona. Life of St. Columba. Translated by Richard
Sharpe. London: Penguin Books, 1995.
Herbert, Máire. Iona, Kells and Derry. Chap. 9. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1988. Reprint, Dublin: Four Courts Press,
1996.
Lacey, Brian. “Columba, Founder of the Monastery of Derry?—
‘Mihi manet Incertus.’” Journal of the Royal Society of
Antiquaries of Ireland128 (1998): 35–47.
O’Brien, Gerard, ed. Derry and Londonderry: History and Soci-
ety.Dublin: Geography Publications, 1999.See alsoColum Cille; Church Reform, Twelfth
Century; Ecclesiastical Organization;
Ecclesiastical Settlements; Ecclesiastical Sites;
Scriptoria; Uí Néill, NorthernDESERTED VILLAGES
SeeVillagesDEVOTIONAL AND LITURGICAL
LITERATURE
Christianity, until the age of print, cannot be described
as a “religion of the book,” as its belief structures did
not focus on a book as the vehicle or content of its
revelation. However, from its earliest times as a sect
within Second-Temple Judaism (before 71 C.E.) it (1)
elaborated itself in terms of a regular liturgy (e.g.,
Acts 2:42), (2) presented itself as the fulfillment of
prophesies contained in the Scriptures (e.g., Acts 17:2),DEVOTIONAL AND LITURGICAL LITERATURE