Jennifer O'Reilly

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

MRIA (1943–2016) was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

of Britain and Ireland known for her work on text and image, the writings of

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

, and medieval

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

. She was married to the Irish scholar Terence O'Reilly.

Career

Jennifer O’Reilly received her B.A. Honours degree in history in 1964 from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, followed by a Dip.Ed. (Distinction) from the Department of Education at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1965. She returned to Nottingham for her Ph.D in

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, which was awarded in 1972. Subsequently, she taught at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

(1974–75), before moving to

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

(UCC), where she worked until her retirement in 2008. She also had a prominent role in setting up the degree programme in History of Art at UCC. Her monograph, ''Studies in the Iconography of the Virtues and Vices in the Middle Ages'' was published in 1988. A book of essays in her honour was published in 2011, Listen, o isles, unto me: studies in medieval word and image in honour of Jennifer O'Reilly'.'' In retirement she continued to publish extensively and gave the Jarrow Lecture and the Brixworth Lecture in 2014. Three volumes of her collected essays were published by

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

in 2019, edited by Diarmuid Scully, Máirín MacCarron, Carol Farr and Elizabeth Mullins, including both previous publications and formerly unpublished work. The first volume includes her work on Bede,

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (; , ''Adomnanus''; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and Christian saint, saint. He was the author of the ''Life ...

and

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

, and the second and third cover the Insular Gospel Books, the

Codex Amiatinus The Codex Amiatinus (also known as the Jarrow Codex) is considered the best-preserved manuscript of the Latin Vulgate version of the Christian Bible. It was produced around 700 in the northeast of England, at the Benedictine Monkwearmouth–Jarr ...

, the

Book of Kells The Book of Kells (; ; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illustrated manuscript and Celts, Celtic Gospel book in Latin, containing the Gospel, four Gospels of the New Testament togeth ...

and

Anglo-Saxon Art Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period art, Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, ...

Honours

* Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries (2005) * Member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

(2007) * The Jarrow Lecture (2014) * The Brixworth Lecture (2014) * Festschrift (2011) ''Listen, O Isles, Unto Me: studies in medieval word and image in Honour of Jennifer O'Reilly'', edited by Elizabeth Mullins and Diarmuid Scully (Cork University Press)

Selected publications

*
History, Hagiography and Biblical Exegesis: Essays on Bede, Adomnán and Thomas Becket
', eds. Diarmuid Scully and Máirín MacCarron (Routledge, 2019) *
Early Medieval Text and Image: The Insular Gospel Books
', eds. Carol Farr and Elizabeth Mullins (Routledge, 2019) *
Early Medieval Text and Image: The Codex Amiatinus, the Book of Kells and Anglo-Saxon Art
', eds. Carol Farr and Elizabeth Mullins (Routledge 2019) * ‘St Paul and the sign of Jonah. Theology and Scripture in Bede’s ''Historia Ecclesiastica''’, (Jarrow Lecture, 2014) *''Studies in the iconography of the Virtues and Vices in the Middle Ages'' (New York and London, 1988)

The Jennifer O'Reilly Memorial Lecture series

An annual memorial lecture in honour of Jennifer O’Reilly was established in 2017 by the School of History at

. * Dr Alan Thacker (

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

, School of Advanced Study), 'Bede and Cassiodorus', 2017 * Professor Jane Hawkes (

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

), �
Venerating the Cross around the year 800 in Anglo-Saxon England
��, 2018 * Professor

Máire Herbert Máire R. M. Herbert , also known as Mary Herbert, is an Irish historian and academic, specialising in early medieval Irish history and Irish saints. She is Emeritus Professor of Early and Medieval Irish at University College Cork, and was prev ...

(

), �
At the Ends of the Earth: Conversion and its consequences in some Insular Sources
��, 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Jennifer Academics of University College Cork Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of the University of Oxford 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians 1943 births 2016 deaths