himself as the successor of the bardic chroniclers and
the precursor of that epic and record of a people on
the verge of extension in Tomás Ó Criomhthain’s auto-
biography, An tOileánach.
TADHG Ó DÚSHLÁINE
References and Further Reading
Cunningham, Bernadette. The World of Geoffrey Keating.
Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
Ní Mhurchú, M., and Breathnach, D. 1560 −1781 Beathaisnéis.
Baile Átha Cliath: Clóchomhar, 2001.
Ó Buachalla, Breandán. Annála Ríoghachta Éireann agus Fo r a s
Feasa ar Éirinn: an comhthéacs comhaimseartha, Studia
Hibernica, Nos. 22−23 (1982−1983): 59−105.
Ó Corráin, Donnchadh. “Seathrún Céitinn. c. 1580–c. 1644: an
cúlra stairiúil.” In Dúchas. Dublin: Coischéim, 1986.
See also Áes Dána; Anglo-Norman Invasion;
Annals of the Four Masters; Bardic Schools,
Learned Families; Conversion to Christianity;
Dinnsenchas; Education; Gaelicization;
Genealogy; Giraldus Cambrensis; Invasion Myth;
Moral and Religious Instruction; Mythological
Cycle; Poetry, Irish; Poets, Men of Learning;
Renaissance; Scots, Scotti
FORESTS
See Woodlands
FOSTERAGE
Fosterage was the medieval Irish custom by which the
parents of a child would send him or her to be raised
and educated by another family. Two main categories
of fosterage are discernible: fosterage for affection or
fosterage for a fee. In cases of fosterage for a fee
(higher for girls because they were considered less
beneficial to the foster parents), costs were determined
by the social standing of the child’s father.
The purpose of fosterage was to cultivate closer ties
between the two families. It could be used to
strengthen marriage ties through fosterage with the
child’s maternal line or to form or reinforce ties
through fosterage with allies or vassals. Its effective-
ness in this capacity was due to the strong bond that
often developed between the child and his foster par-
ents and siblings. This bond was reflected in the Law
Tracts that show that the child had obligations to sup-
port his foster parents in their old age, and should a
fostered child be murdered, his foster family had a
right to part of his honor price. Even the right and
responsibility to avenge the murder of a foster son was
extended to the foster family.
The age at which fosterage began varied widely;
it could begin as early as infancy or as late as age
ten. The age at which fosterage concluded seems to
have been more formalized. Although there are indi-
cations that fosterage for both sexes could be consid-
ered complete at age fourteen or seventeen, it has
been suggested that the most common custom was
that girls remained in fosterage until age fourteen
when they could marry and boys remained in foster-
age until age seventeen, the age of maturity. During
the period of fosterage, the foster parents were
responsible for raising, educating, and maintaining
the child in a manner appropriate to the social stand-
ing of the child’s father; for example, a king’s son
was to be taught martial skills but a boy of lower
rank was to learn the skills necessary for farming and
animal husbandry. Even the child’s diet reflected his
rankgruel and buttermilk being the daily staple of
commoner children, while nobles enjoyed luxuries
such as wheaten porridge and honey.
Following the Anglo-Norman Invasion, the Anglo-
Normans adopted Irish customs such as fosterage and
gossiprid to establish alliances with the Irish. By the
fourteenth century, the adoption of these Irish customs
had become a point of concern for the royal govern-
ment because of the divided loyalties they engendered
and because they were seen as one of the causes of
Gaelicization. Laws, such as the Statutes of Kilkenny
(1366), were passed outlawing the practice, but these
laws appear to have had only limited effect, and they
were undermined by the royal government’s willing-
ness to grant exemptions.
Fosterage continued to be practiced throughout the
Middle Ages, but by the end of the sixteenth century
the term referred to an even wider range of relationships,
including purely financial arrangements wherein the
“foster family” did not actually take custody of the child
but rather paid a yearly sum to the child and fulfilled
the traditional financial obligations of fosterage.
KEITH A. WATERSReferences and Further Reading
Fitzsimons, Fiona. “Fosterage and Gossiprid in Late Medieval
Ireland: Some New Evidence.” In Gaelic Ireland, c. 1250 −
c. 1650 , edited by Patrick J. Duffy, David Edwards, and
Elizabeth FitzPatrick. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001.
Kelly, Fergus. A Guide to Early Irish Law. Dublin: Dublin
Institute for Advanced Studies, 1988.
Nicholls, Kenneth. Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle
Ages. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan, 1972.See also Brehon Law; Children; Gaelicization;
Gossiprid; Society, Functioning of Anglo-Norman;
Society, Functioning of GaelicFOSTERAGE