Denis Casey
For research purposes I am a Collaborator with the Bulevafuentes research group at the Universidad de Burgos, Spain.
I currently work as a Teaching and Learning Development officer in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Maynooth University (on a secondment from my position as a permanent University Tutor on the Critical Skills programme (2016-present)). Previously I lectured and tutored in history, literature and palaeography for the Department of Early Irish (Maynooth). During 2014-15 I also lectured and tutored at the School of History and Archives, University College Dublin, and in 2013-14 I was Subject Leader in Medieval Irish and Celtic Studies at the Kilkenny campus of Maynooth University and a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library, Trinity College Dublin. I have been a Marie Curie funded European Institutes for Advanced Study (EURIAS) Fellow, at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (2012-13), a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Society for Renaissance Studies (2011-12) and a Teaching Associate at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC), University of Cambridge (2011-12). I have a PhD in medieval Irish history from the Department of ASNC, University of Cambridge (2009), a MA Medieval Studies (2005) and a BA History (Mode 1) (2003) from University College Dublin, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education Teaching, Learning & Assessment from Maynooth University (2021).
I currently work as a Teaching and Learning Development officer in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Maynooth University (on a secondment from my position as a permanent University Tutor on the Critical Skills programme (2016-present)). Previously I lectured and tutored in history, literature and palaeography for the Department of Early Irish (Maynooth). During 2014-15 I also lectured and tutored at the School of History and Archives, University College Dublin, and in 2013-14 I was Subject Leader in Medieval Irish and Celtic Studies at the Kilkenny campus of Maynooth University and a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library, Trinity College Dublin. I have been a Marie Curie funded European Institutes for Advanced Study (EURIAS) Fellow, at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (2012-13), a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Society for Renaissance Studies (2011-12) and a Teaching Associate at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC), University of Cambridge (2011-12). I have a PhD in medieval Irish history from the Department of ASNC, University of Cambridge (2009), a MA Medieval Studies (2005) and a BA History (Mode 1) (2003) from University College Dublin, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education Teaching, Learning & Assessment from Maynooth University (2021).
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Papers by Denis Casey
E. Purcell, P. MacCotter, J. Nyhan and J. Sheehan (eds), Clerics, Kings and Vikings: Essays on medieval Ireland in honour of Donnchadh Ó Corráin (Dublin, 2015)
J. Carey, K. Murray and C. Ó Dochartaigh (eds), Sacred Histories: A Festschrift for Máire Herbert (Dublin, 2015)
P. Moran and I. Warntjes (eds), Early Medieval Ireland and Europe: Chronology, Contacts, Scholarship; A Festschrift for Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Studia Traditionis Theologiae: Explorations in Early and Medieval Theology 14 (Turnhout, 2015)
In this pedagogy-focused presentation, I aim to show how the approach to Wikipedia adopted by the Critical Skills programme at Maynooth University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning can be adapted to teaching and assessing many aspects of medieval studies, including history, literature, archaeology. It requires no extra effort above the traditional essay assignment method, nor extra training, but has the potential to change substantially how/if students engage with the material we ask them to read for their modules/courses and how/if they develop the skills we wish them to acquire from their studies.
"This paper seeks to highlight some methodological problems that arise during attempts to statistically analyse character networks within medieval literature — as observed from the vantage point of literary and historical scholarship. Using the example of a statistical analysis of Táin Bó Cúailnge published in 2012 (P. MacCarron and R. Kenna, ‘Universal properties of mythological networks’, EPL 99 (2012), DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/99/ 28002), I will demonstrate that failure to properly define the narrative under scrutiny results in incorrect character totals and incorrect character-link totals. This renders the comparison of the narrative’s construed networks with those of other narratives or real world networks dubious, and speculation of the historicity of the narratives null and void."
Building upon the work of Doris Edel, I will argue that the concept of a ‘sovereignty goddess’ in medieval Irish literature and society is largely a product of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century prudish scholarly misogyny and infantile sexuality. Its continued propagation retards appreciation of the complexity and nuances of conceptual political thinking and of female characters in medieval Irish literature. Consequently, the express aim of this paper is to undermine the ‘sovereignty goddess’ paradigm.
Ruaidrí was the son of one of the most ruthless kings in Irish history, overcame bitter sibling rivalry to assume the kingship of Connacht (1156), and bided his time before seizing the High-Kingship of Ireland in a rapid series of brilliant political and military manoeuvres (1166). Yet the actions that led to his rise contained within them the seeds of his eventual downfall. He exiled Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough) the king of Laigin (Leinster), who then sought military aid in the ‘Angevin Empire’ of Henry II, marking the starting point of the English presence in Ireland. Ruaidrí responded to the increased English military build-up through a variety of measures, including besieging the English garrison in Dublin with the largest army ever assembled by an Irish king (1171). With outright military victory looking increasingly unlikely — and faced with dissent from his subordinate kings — Ruaidrí adapted to the situation. He negotiated a treaty with Henry II of England (1175) and constructed alliances — with and against factions of the newcomers — in order to secure his own position in Connacht. Ruaidrí’s later years (1180s and 1190s) were marked by increased internecine struggles, abdication, reinstatement, deposition and repeated attempts to regain the kingship of Connacht. These final years were not acted out as a conscious coda to a faded career — indeed the invasion occurred only at the mid-point of his career — rather they were lived with a fitting urgency, and shed light upon interactions between native and newcomer during a new era in Irish and English history.
Modern historians have viewed Ruaidrí’s career largely in terms of his failure to secure the High-Kingship against English encroachment, without appreciating his remarkable initial rise to power and his repeated displays of political acumen and adaptability. It is hoped that this paper will go some way towards redressing the balance.
Until now historians have generally only discussed this corpus of documents within the contexts of a supposed Celtic Charter Tradition and of diplomatic matters in general. I intend to offer an overview of what these documents are and the uses that historians can make of them, and will hopefully demonstrate that what lies in the margins need not be of marginal interest.
No previous knowledge of the cultures, languages or history of Ireland is required or expected."
This study aims to reveal a king at work, by analysing a substantial grant of land in modern Co. Meath (stretching from Dulane to Slane) that Tigernán made to the church of Kells, which was originally recorded in the famous Book of Kells. His donation offered him political and military advantages, as well as an obvious outlet for his piety. In exploring medieval Irish kings’ use of land and their property-related relationships with the church, we gain an insight into why it was possible for contemporaries to hail Ua Ruairc, on his death, as ‘a man of great power for a long time’.
This study locates the primer within a variety of contexts, including Christopher Nugent’s Anglo-Irish background, the medieval Irish grammatical tradition, Renaissance second-language teaching, and English attitudes to Irish culture in the sixteenth century. It also offers the first-ever detailed analysis of the contents of the primer and highlights its possible indebtedness to a pre-print version of the 'Aibidil Gaoidheilge & Caiticiosma' (1571) of Nugent’s Cambridge contemporary, Seaán Ó Cearnaigh. The links between the writings of Nugent (an Anglo-Irish Catholic) and Ó Cearnaigh (a Gaelic-Irish Protestant) highlight the religious and cultural complexity of the time and help make the primer a compelling object of study.