''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' – literally 'Foundation of Knowledge on Ireland', but most often known in English as 'The History of Ireland' – is a narrative history of Ireland by

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

, written in

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and completed .Bernadette Cunningham, ‘Keating, Geoffrey eathrún Céitinn(b. c.1580, d. in or before 1644)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
accessed 17 Sept 2015
/ref>

Outline

It begins with a preface in which Keating defends the honour of Ireland against the denigrations of writers such as

Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

,Bernadette Cunningham
"Geoffrey Keating’s ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn''"
''History Ireland'' Vol. 9 issue 1, Spring 2001, retrieved 17 September 2015 followed by a narrative history in two parts: part one, from the creation of the world to the arrival of Christianity in the 5th century, and part two, from the 5th century to the coming of the Normans during the 12th century.Library: ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn''
, Royal Irish Academy, retrieved 17 September 2015 It depicts Ireland as an autonomous, unitary kingdom of great antiquity. The early part of the work is largely mythical, depicting the history of Ireland as a succession of invasions and settlements, and derives primarily from medieval writings such as the ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...

'', the ''

Dindsenchas ''Dindsenchas'' or ''Dindshenchas'' (modern spellings: ''Dinnseanchas'' or ''Dinnsheanchas'' or ''Dınnṡeanċas''), meaning "lore of places" (the modern Irish word ''dinnseanchas'' means "topography"), is a class of onomastic text in early Ir ...

'', royal genealogies and stories of heroic kings. The later part depicts the Normans as the latest of this series of settlers. Keating, a Catholic priest of

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

ancestry, gave Irish people of both Gaelic and Norman ancestry credit for the development of the nation, and emphasised the role of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

as a unifying factor in

Irish culture The culture of Ireland includes language, literature, music, art, folklore, cuisine, and sport associated with Ireland and the Irish people. For most of its recorded history, Irish culture has been primarily Gaelic (see Gaelic Ireland). It has ...

. The work was extremely popular, surviving in a large number of manuscripts,Brendan Bradshaw, Andrew Hadfield and Willy Maley, ''Representing Ireland: Literature and the Origins of Conflict, 1534-1660'', Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 166-168 and its prose style became the standard followed by generations of Irish-language writers.Diarmuid Ó Murchadha (2005
"A review of some placename material from ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn''"
''

Éigse ''Éigse: A Journal of Irish Studies'' is an academic journal devoted to the study of the Irish language and literature. It began in 1923 as part of an initiative by the Senate of the National University of Ireland to use the Adam Boyd Simpson Fu ...

, A Journal of Irish Studies'', Vol. 35, p. 81, National University of Ireland However, it was received critically from the start, with Sir Richard Cox (1650..1733), a protestant lawyer of English descent, describing it in the 1680s as "an ill-digested heap of very silly fictions". Modern scholars consider in the context of the antiquarian tendency of

Renaissance humanism Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

, with Keating expounding on ancient Irish sources, whose authority he defends, to provide "an origin-legend for

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

Catholic Ireland."

References

Editions and translation

* For a fuller list of translations and editions, see: * * * ** ** ** **

Manuscripts

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foras Feasa ar Eirinn 1634 books 17th-century history books Royal Irish Academy Library Early Irish literature Irish-language literature Mythological cycle Cycles of the Kings Irish chronicles 17th-century Irish literature Irish manuscripts Irish books

Outline

See also

References

Editions and translation

Manuscripts

External links