History / Medieval

The City and County of Dublin possess a rich body of buildings that emerged during the Irish medieval period.

The coming of the Normans to Ireland from 1169 is a pivotal moment in the country’s history. With colourful personalities and sharp political twists and turns, Strongbow’s story is a fascinating one. A powerful and absorbing account of the stormy affairs of an extraordinary era.

This is the story of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, the penniless exile who became Wales’s greatest prince. He presided over a turbulent and politically charged period of Welsh history, having to prove himself first on the battlefield before learning the statesman’s craft so as to establish his control over the warring factions of his own country.

Rhys ap Gruffydd stands out from his fellow Welsh rulers, not simply on account of his singular appellation as The Lord Rhys, but because of some indefinable quality which marked him as a prince of unusual talent, vision and insight.

This is the story of the Bamburgh Sword – one of the finest swords ever made. Alongside that, it gives a fascinating insight into the world of experimental archaeology – where archaeologists attempt to recreate an artefact or structure of the past using only the technologies and materials available at the time.

The true story of one of the most famous of all Viking warriors who remains a national hero in Norway. With reference to Norse sagas and early chronicles, veteran historian Desmond Seward has written a vivid, colourful and insightful account of a remarkable man and the times in which he lived.

Now available in paperback, this brilliant history of medieval Ireland evokes life as lived by the ordinary people rather than the small elite of nobles and warriors who have dominated discussions to date.

Dublin and the Viking World is a unique blend of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the broad generalisation and the rarefied detail, the well-known historical character and the ordinary Dubliner.