A unique archive acquired by Pembroke College Cambridge transforms our understanding of the two poets, showing how they drew career-defining inspiration from a little known friendship circle, and a shared passion for Ireland, water and fishing, spanning five decades.
Researchers from Cambridge and Queen’s University Belfast have identified and defined 500 Irish words, many of which had been lost, and unlocked the secrets of many other misunderstood terms. Their findings can now be freely accessed in the revised version of the online dictionary of Medieval Irish (www.dil.ie).
As Ireland marks the millennium of the Battle of Clontarf – portrayed as a heroic encounter between Irish and Vikings which defined the nation’s identity - new research argues that our main source for what happened may be more literary history than historical fact.
The medieval monk Jocelin of Furness has been little studied by historians - now a project investigating his work and its context is transforming what we know about past cultural identities in England’s north-west.
A new book by a Cambridge University academic revisits one of the worst famines in recorded history. The Irish Famine of the 1840s had terrible consequences: 1 million people died and several million left Ireland. Today the world is watching as millions in Africa face a similar fate: starvation in the midst of plenty. Dr David Nally’s analysis of what happened in his native Ireland less than two centuries ago reveals some shocking parallels with what is happening in Africa.
Jocelin of Furness was one of the most significant writers to emerge from England’s north-west during the Middle Ages, but historians have tended to overlook his work. Now a team of researchers are trying to increase awareness of his importance and what his writings tell us about life at the turn of the 13th century.
Published 400 years ago, the first comprehensive atlas of Great Britain is being celebrated by Cambridge University Library, home to one of only five surviving proof sets, all of which differ in their composition.
The first-hand testimonies of thousands of people who witnessed the bloody rebellion that paved the way for centuries of sectarian conflict in Ireland have been released online.
Máire Ní Mhaonaigh is unravelling legends within gems of literature surviving from medieval Ireland.
Scientists explore huge volume of molten rock now frozen into the crust under the ocean’s floor.
© 2024 University of Cambridge