Greek
The issue of knowledge and use of Greek in Ireland
is problematic. Certainly, the Irish knew the Greek
alphabet and the numerical significance of its symbols;
they also knew individual Greek words that they culled
from patristic writings, especially Jerome. Irish
sources offer occasional glimpses of a more substantial
knowledge of Greek, such as the Greek text of the
Lord’s Prayer and a seventh-century inscription on a
stone at Fahan Mura. But the optimistic portrayal of
Ireland as a haven of Greek learning is not supported
by the surviving evidence.
Other Languages
Along with Latin, British missionaries brought their
vernacular to Ireland; to them may be attributed many
of the Welsh loanwords in Irish. Another language
from Britain represented in Ireland, especially during
the seventh and eighth centuries, was Old English,
spoken by colonies of Anglo-Saxons. But judging by
the paucity of Old English loanwords in Irish, their
influence was slight. The most influential of the foreign
vernaculars introduced into Ireland was Old Norse,
which came with Scandinavian settlers in the early
ninth century. It continued to be spoken until the late
twelfth century when they were absorbed into the
general Gaelic population. However important their
depredations may have seemed to the monastic
chroniclers, the Scandinavian speakers in Ireland must
have always constituted a small body by comparison
with the Irish-speaking population. Old Norse influ-
ence is evident in loanwords. The vast majority of
them can be traced to the dialect of Old Norse spoken
in southwest Norway, indicating that among the
Scandinavians in Ireland the Norwegians (rather than
the Danes) exercised a greater influence. Place-names
are evident, some borrowed directly, such as Waterford
(Vethrafjörthr) and Limerick (Hlymrekr), others con-
sisting of Irish elements combined in a Norse way, for
example, Gaultier<Gall+tír (=Irish,Tír na nGall) and
Dublin<Dub+linn (=Irish,Linn dub). Predictably, most
of the loanwords relate to areas of life that were unfa-
miliar to the Irish and for which Norse offered an
abundance of lexicon, especially words dealing with
ships and seamanship, trade, and coinage.
PÁDRAIGÓ NÉILL
References and Further Reading
Greene, David. “Archaic Irish.” In Indogermanisch und Keltisch.
Edited by Karl Horst Schmidt. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig
Reichert Verlag, 1977.
McCone, Kim. “The Würzburg and Milan Glosses: Our Earliest
Sources of Middle Irish.” Ériu36 (1985): 85–106.
———.Towards a Relative Chronology of Ancient and Medi-
eval Celtic Sound Change. Maynooth, Ireland: Department
of Old Irish, St. Patrick’s College, 1996.
McCone, Kim. “Prehistoric, Old and Middle Irish.” In Progress
in Medieval Irish Studies. Edited by Kim McCone and
Katharine Simms. Maynooth, Ireland: Department of Old
Irish, St. Patrick’s College, 1996.
McManus, Damian. “A Chronology of the Latin Loan-Words
in Early Irish.” Ériu34 (1983): 21–71.
———A Guide to Ogam. Maynooth, Ireland: An Sagart, St.
Patrick’s College, 1991.
Ó Cuív, Brian. A View of the Irish Language. Dublin: Stationery
Office, 1969.
O’Rahilly, Cecile. Ireland and Wales: Their Historical and Lit-
erary Relations. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1924.
Sommerfelt, Alf. “The Norse Influence on Irish and Scottish
Gaelic.” In The Impact of the Scandinavian Invasions on the
Celtic-speaking Peoples c. 800–1100 A.D.Edited by Brian
ÓCuív. Dublin: The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies,
1975.
Thurneysen, Rudolf. A Grammar of Old Irish. Dublin: The
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946.
See alsoAdomnán; Anglo-Saxon Literary
Influence; Céli Dé; Classical Literary Influence;
Columbanus; Eriugena; Glosses; Hiberno-Latin
Literature; Inscriptions; Placenames;
Scandinavian Literary Influence; Sedulius Scotus;
TírechánLATRINES
SeeCastlesLAW SCHOOLS, LEARNED FAMILIES
It is clear from references in the ninth-century wisdom
text The Triads of Ireland that the monasteries of Cork,
Cloyne, and Slane were centers of legal learning. No
precise information has survived regarding the location
where individual law texts were written. There is evi-
dence, however, that the main body of law texts—
written in the seventh and eighth centuries—came from
two main legal traditions, one based in Munster and the
other in the northern Midlands and southern Ulster.
The pre-Norman annals contain references to fifteen
persons described as iudex orbrithem, “judge,” of
whom all but four are recorded as having held eccle-
siastical office. For example, the Annals of Ulster
record the death in 802 of Ailill son of Cormac, abbot
of Slane, who is described as iudex optimus, “an excel-
lent judge.” In 806 the same annals record the death
of Connmach, judge of the Uí Briúin of Connacht: he
was evidently a layman. The annals of this period
provide no clues as to the operation of the law schools.
It is clear from the legal manuscripts, however, that
the work of interpreting the Old Irish law texts began
as early as the ninth century. The earliest practiceLAW SCHOOLS, LEARNED FAMILIES