Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin (31 August 1954 – 29 June 2011) was an Irish

medieval historian In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and celticist.

Career

Mac Shamhráin studied at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He was then a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...

at Scoil an Léinn Cheiltigh,

NUI Maynooth The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It w ...

. Previously, he taught early

Irish history The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 33,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quatern ...

& settlement studies at Trinity, St. Patrick's College Drumcondra, and NUI Maynooth, where he lectured on the Medieval Irish Studies Programme at the Department of Old and

Middle Irish Middle Irish, sometimes called Middle Gaelic ( ga, An Mheán-Ghaeilge, gd, Meadhan-Ghàidhlig), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old Engl ...

. Prior to that, he taught History and

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 ...

at Belcamp College Secondary School. In recent years, Mac Shamhráin has led and managed the Monasticon Hibernicum Project (funded by the

Irish Research Council The Irish Research Council ( ir, An Chomhairle um Thaighde in Éirinn) was launched in 2012 and operates under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills. The core function of the organisation is to support research across a number ...

for the

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

). His

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...

of Early Christian Ecclesiastical Settlement in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

from the 5th to the 12th centuries was published

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...

in 2009. He has also published a number of papers on early Irish political and

ecclesiastical history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

, and has contributed over 300 entries to the

Dictionary of Irish Biography The ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (DIB) is a biographical dictionary of notable Irish people and people not born in the country who had notable careers in Ireland, including both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.Monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

Church of

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...

and its Community, Sixth to Thirteenth Centuries,'' in '' Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'', No. 119, pp. 82–84. 1989. * ''The Uí Muiredaig and the

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

of Glendalough in the Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries,'' in ''Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies,'' No. 25, pp. 55–75. 1993. * ''Church and Polity in Pre-Norman Ireland,'' May 1996. * ''"Nebulae discutiuntur"? The Emergence of

Clann Cholmáin Clann Cholmáin is the dynasty descended from Colmán Már mac Diarmato, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide (Meath) — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his ...

, Sixth - Eighth Centuries,'' pp. 83–97, in Alfred P. Smyth (ed.), ''Seanchas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of Francis J. Byrne''. Dublin: Four Courts, 2000. * ''The

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

: an Illustrated History,'' Dublin, 2002. * ''The Island of St. Patrick: Church and Ruling

Dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

in Fingal and Meath, 400-1148,'' (ed.) Dublin: Four Courts, 2004 ** ''An Ecclesiastical Enclosure in the Townland of Grange,

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Holmpatrick,'' ibid, pp. 52–60 ** ''Church and Dynasty in Early Christian Brega: Lusk, Inis Pátraic and the Cast of Máel-Finnia, King and Saint,'' ibid, pp. 125–39. * Database of Early Christian Ecclesiastical Settlement in Ireland 5th - 12th Centuries (with N. White & A. Breen) Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) 200

References

* List of contributors, ''The Island of St. Patrick ...'', p. 180, 2004 Celtic studies scholars 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians 1954 births 2011 deaths {{Ireland-historian-stub