''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, written in
Irish 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
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Outline
It begins with a preface in which Keating defends the honour of Ireland against the denigrations of writers such as Giraldus Cambrensis,[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 11 January 2023
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 Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...
'', the '' Dindsenchas'', royal genealogies and stories of heroic kings. The later part depicts the Normans as the latest of this series of settlers.[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. It has been said that it had "an influence on Irish language and literature as significant as Shakespeare's role in relation to English" .Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
Catholic Ireland."
See also
* Annals of the Four Masters
The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...
* Leabhar na nGenealach
''Leabhar na nGenealach'' ("Book of Genealogies") is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add m ...
* Ó Cléirigh Book of Genealogies
References
Editions and translation
* For a fuller list of translations and editions, see:
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Manuscripts
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External links
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{{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-language manuscripts
Irish books