Swords is first recorded in 994 and it may have
received patronage from the kings of Dublin. Each
site has a fine round tower that predates the Anglo-
Norman invasion.
After the invasion, Henry II retained the lands
around Dublin, including Fine Gall. These lands were
then granted to colonists, including Hugh de Lacy and
Almeric St. Lawrence, while large areas were con-
firmed in the possession of the church. Some Gaelic
and Hiberno-Scandinavian landholders seem to have
remained in the area despite the influx of new settlers.
Nevertheless, the strategic significance and agricul-
tural fertility of Fine Gall made it a core area of
English colonization. Anglophone culture persisted
there for the rest of the Middle Ages. A large number
of castles were built from the late twelfth century,
including those at Malahide, Swords, Howth, and Dun-
soghly. These reflect both the politically disturbed
conditions of the region and its wealth. From its foun-
dation Fine Gall was closely linked with the fortunes
of Dublin and has been an area characterized by the
cultural diversity of its inhabitants.
CLARE DOWNHAM
References and Further Reading
Ball, F. Elrington. A History of the County of Dublin, 6 vols.
Dublin: Alex, Thom & Co., 1902−1920.
Bhreatnach, Edel. “Columban Churches in Brega and Leinster:
Relations with the Norse and the Anglo-Normans.” Jour-
nal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 129
(1999): 5−18.
Bradley, John. “The Interpretation of Scandinavian Settlement
in Ireland.” In Settlement and Society in Medieval Ireland:
Studies Presented to F. X. Martin, O. S. A. edited by John
Bradley. Kilkenny: Boethius Press, 1988.
Clarke, Howard. “Christian Cults and Cult Centres in Hiberno-
Norse Dublin and its Hinterland.” In The Island of St.
Patrick, edited by Ailbhe MacShamhráin. Dublin: Four
Courts Press, 2004.
Hennessy, William, ed. Chronicum Scotorum. Rolls Series,
London: 1866.
Mac Airt, Seán, and Gearóid Mac Niocaill, ed. Annals of Ulster
to A.D. 1131. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
1983.
O’Donovan, John, ed. Annals of the Four MastersOtherwise
Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Smith
& Co., 1854.
Ó Néill, John. “A Norse Settlement in Rural County Dublin.”
Archaeology Ireland, 13 no. 4 (Winter 1999): 8−10.
Simms, Anngret, and Patricia Fagan. “Villages in County Dub-
lin: Their Origins and Inheritance.” In Dublin City and
County: From Prehistory to Present, Studies in Honour of
J. H. Andrews, edited by F. H. A. Aalen and Kevin Whelan.
Dublin: Geography Publications, 1992.
Valante, Mary. “Dublin’s Economic Relations with Hinterland
and Periphery in the later Viking Age.” In Medieval Dub-
lin, I, edited by Seán Duffy. Dublin: Four Courts Press,
2000.
See also Anglo-Norman Invasion; Castles; Dublin;
Ecclesiastical Settlements; Máel-Sechnaill II;
Viking IncursionsFIREARMS AND ORDNANCE
See Weapons and WeaponryFISHING
In the Middle Ages, fishing was an important source
of food, livelihood, and income in Irish coastal and
estuarine landscapes and the ownership, regulation,
and use of fisheries was often a significant aspect of
social and economic relationships. Fish was of great
importance in the medieval diet, as religious custom
forbade meat consumption during Lent, Advent, and
after Pentecost as well as on holy days and the eves
of Christian celebrations. Moreover, in aristocratic and
ecclesiastical households, some species of fish were
regarded as delicacies and were often maintained in
fishponds. Through the medieval period, both sea fish
and freshwater fish were caught by boats, nets, and
traps for local consumption or were preserved or trans-
ported in barrels to settlements elsewhere, occasionally
across large distances.
In the early Middle Ages, it is likely that fishing
was a small-scale, subsistence activity intended prima-
rily to produce food for the domestic table, with the
surplus distributed in local markets. Early Irish laws,
dating to the seventh and eighth century A.D., regulated
the use of fishweirs for catching salmon, trout, and
eels (the range of Irish native species being quite lim-
ited). Sea fishing was probably less important at the
time (Kelly 1997). By the tenth and the eleventh cen-
tury A.D, the growth of urban populations, improved
methods of salting and smoking preservation, and the
development of Atlantic sea fisheries would have led
to fishing becoming a much more significant source
of wealth and power. It is likely that by the twelfth
century and thirteenth century (if not earlier in many
locations) most estuarine and riverine fish weirs would
have been taken into the hands of monastic houses,
bishops, and manorial lords (Hutchinson 1994;
O’Neill 1987; Childs and Kowaleski 2000). Irish
salmon and eels were particularly valuable sources of
income from these freshwater fishweirs.
Recent coastal archaeological surveys have identi-
fied spectacular evidence for medieval fish weirs on the
Shannon estuary, County Clare and County Limerick
(O’Sullivan 2001), and on Strangford Lough, County
Down (McErlean and O’Sullivan 2002). These were
artificial barriers of stone or wood built to deflect fishFISHING