Dunamase to Mortimer of Wigmore, Kildare to the de
Vescys, and Wexford to the de Valence family. This
fragmentation weakened the colony, both because
decentralization complicated Leinster’s defense and
because the new lords—whose English holdings were
far superior in extent and profitability—paid little
attention to their inherited interests in Ireland. Such
absenteeism was to be a constant source of complaint
in the colony for the remainder of the medieval period.
PETER CROOKS
References and Further Reading
Frame, Robin. “Aristocracies and the Political Configuration
of the British Isles.” In Ireland and Britain: 1170–1450,
pp.151–169. London: The Hambledon Press, 1998. First
published in The British Isles, 1100–1500: Comparisons, Con-
trasts and Connections, edited by R. R. Davies, pp. 141–159.
Edinburgh: Donald, 1988.
Walker, R. F. “The Supporters of Richard Marshal, Earl of
Pembroke, in the Rebellion of 1233–34.” Welsh History
Review17 (1994): 41–65.
Warren, W. L. “The Historian as ‘Private Eye.’” In Historical
Studies: Papers Read before the Irish Conference of Histo-
rians, edited by J. G. Barry, vol. 9, pp. 1–18. Belfast: 1974.
See alsoÁed Ua Conchobair; Clare, de; Connacht;
FitzHenry, Meiler; John; Kildare; Kilkenny; Lacy,
Hugh de; Leinster; Mac Murchada, Diarmait;
Mortimer; Strongbow; Ulster, Earldom of; Valence,
de; Wexford
MAYNOOTH
Although the town and castle of Maynooth, County
Kildare, date from the aftermath of the Anglo-Norman
settlement, the name Mag Nuadat, or Nuadu’s Plain,
is far older. Speculation links the area either to Nuadu
Argatlám (“of the Silver Arm”), legendary leader of
the Tuatha Dé Danann, or to Eógan Mór, also known
as Mug Nuadat, after whom the southern half of
Ireland became known as Leth-Moga (Moga’s Half).
The discovery of Gaelic round-houses at Maynooth
shows the area was settled before the tenth century,
but was overshadowed by its close neighbors, the mon-
asteries of Donaghmore, Taghadoe and Laraghbryan.
For unknown reasons the settlement was abandoned at
some point before the twelfth century.
After the Anglo-Norman invasion, Maynooth
formed the central manor of the lands granted to
Maurice fitz Gerald. Construction of a castle began in
the 1170s, no doubt at first an earth-and-timber build-
ing; at some date before the 1190s this was replaced
with a stone keep. Architectural evidence points to
three main phases of building. In 1248, the castle’s
chapel was made a prebendary of St. Patrick’s cathedral,
Dublin. The town of Maynooth grew alongside the
castle, and together they formed the nucleus of a thriv-
ing manor. In 1286, a royal grant confirmed the town’s
commercial role with a weekly market and an annual
fair (7–9 September). A list of the vill’s tenants in
1328/1329 found in the Red Book of Kildare lists fifty-
five tenants, including eighteen betaghs of Irish sur-
name, paying a total annual rent of £35 7s. 6d.
The rising power of the FitzGerald earls of Kildare
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries added to the
town’s prestige. Although the county court met at Kildare,
Maynooth was the real center of power in the earldom,
and one of the key border fortresses of the Pale. With
the Kildare earls’ near-monopoly over the office of
chief deputy in the later fifteenth century, some histo-
rians have claimed that by 1500 Maynooth had become
a virtual capital of Ireland. By the time of Gearóid Mór
FitzGerald (the eighth earl of Kildare), the castle was
a mansion worthy of the finest of Renaissance princes,
complete with a library of books in Latin, Irish,
French, and English (listed in a catalog of 1526). In
1518, the College of the Blessed Virgin was estab-
lished in Maynooth.
During the rebellion of Silken Thomas (Lord Offaly,
son of the ninth earl), the English were quick to iden-
tify Maynooth as a key strategic point, which, once
captured, would remove the FitzGeralds’ ability to
resist. After seven days of fighting in March 1535, the
castle was stormed, possibly due to the treachery of
Thomas’ foster-brother Christopher Parese. In the
aftermath it was reported that the manor of Maynooth
had been “made waste to the gates of the castle.” The
College was dissolved during the Reformation.
Maynooth was restored to the FitzGeralds in 1580,
but the castle was destroyed and looted during the
heavy fighting of the 1640s. Today the keep remains
as a ruin.
JAMES MOYNESReferences and Further Reading
Cullen, Mary. Maynooth: A Short Historical Guide. 1995.
FitzGerald, Walter. “Historical Notes on Maynooth Castle.”
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 57
(1914): 81–99.MEDICINE
The practice of medicine in medieval Ireland is a large
topic that has attracted surprisingly little scholarly
attention. Naturally sources are not plentiful, yet there
is a body of diverse material, most of which has not
been studied systematically and some of it not at all.
It includes annals, law tracts, administrative records,
leech books, translations into Irish of English and
European medical texts, ecclesiastical documents,
archaeological remains, place names, and folklore.MEDICINE