Slavery in Medieval Ireland with Dr Janel Fontaine

Apologies for the poor sound quality in this episode!

This week Dr Janel Fontaine (Treasure Trove Officer, National Museums Scotland) talks us through some of the evidence for slavery in medieval Ireland. From the accounts of St Patrick in the 5th century to Gerald of Wales in the 12th century she explains how slavery was built into the social and economic fabric of Irish society.

Suggested reading:

- Janel Fontaine, Slave Trading in Early Medieval Europe (Manchester, 2025)

- Fergus Kelly, Guide to Early Irish Law (Dublin, 1988)

- Caitlin Ellis, ‘Perceptions of the Slave Trade in Britain and Ireland: “Celtic” and “Viking” Stereotypes’, Quaestio Insularis 19 (2018), 127–57

- Paul Holm, “The slave trade of Dublin, ninth to twelfth centuries”, Peritia 5 (1986), 317–345

- David Wyatt, Slaves and Warriors in Medieval Britain and Ireland, 800-1200 (Brill, Leiden, 2009)

- Charlene Eska, “Women and slavery in the early Irish laws”,  Studia Celtica Fennica 8 (2011), 29–39

-Alice Rio, Slavery After Rome, 500-1100 (Oxford, 2017)

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday)

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Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Dept of Music, Dept of History, Maynooth University, & Taighde Éireann (formerly Science Foundation Ireland/Irish Research Council).

Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music