HeyJaredUnruly Ireland
Unruly Ireland explores the strange, unsettled, and deeply human sides of Irish history and folklore, from the medieval period to the modern world.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 14
- Latest publication
- Sep 27, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Aug 9, 2026
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“So Traitorous a Stock” (opens the original)
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Sometime in May 1593, word came to Hugh O’Neill’s household that Phelim mac Turlough O’Neill was dead. The O’Hagans had killed him, and nobody in Ulster was in much doubt about the fact that he had sent them. The earl’s new, young wife, Mabel, heard the news while in company, and her reaction found its way into a report for the government in Dublin:“the countess clapping her hands together was sorry, as should seem, of that which happened, to whom the earl in English spoke with vehemency.”<a cla
“Speaking a little of the country of Ireland” (opens the original)
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On the afternoon of Sunday 6 June 1518 the people of Kinsale saw several large, foreign ships sailing into their harbour. The fleet had left Santander at the end of May to carry the fifteen-year-old Archduke Ferdinand home to Flanders, and for the best part of a fortnight it had been thrown about due to rough weather and was very far off course by the time it came near Kinsale. It had been pretty bad at times for those on board. The horses stood in seawater up to mid-leg for two whole days and t
Wolf-mothers (opens the original)
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In medieval Ireland wolves were a source of fear. They preyed on flocks and could cause real and lasting economic and physical damage. They were wild creatures who did not respect the ways of men. They would not ideally be the first choice to raise a child but there are a couple of notable wolf-fosterage stories, such as the Life of Saint Ailbe and the birth tales of the high king Cormac mac Airt which occupy a bit of a weird place in medieval Irish people’s thinking about the line between human
Werewolves in medieval Ireland (opens the original)
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Werewolf tales are common all over Europe, and Ireland also has a rich tradition of them. The Irish ones though are I think a bit more sympathetic both to wolves and werewolves than you might be expecting. They are also a lot less violent. For example, the Irish traditions around werewolves, as expressed in literature and folklore, do not necessarily see them only as a threat. There are stories in which wolves are kin and act as foster-parents. There is even a type of werewolf who is listed, in
An Irish Manuscript (opens the original)
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I am working on a talk about the uses of magic in medieval and modern Ireland. While doing some research for it, I came across a short Irish charm called Ar cuthach, “against rage, fury or madness” and I thought you might enjoy taking a closer look at it because it is something that very few people can now actually do. It appears in a medical manuscript which the historian Deborah Hayden has done lots of brilliant work on.
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