Ireland's English Pale, 1470–1550. By Steven G. Ellis. Pp 200. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. 2021. £75.

Abstract

guing study by Catherine Swift of the appearance of the surname ‘Palmer’ in early thirteenthcentury Dublin records could be usefully developed into a more substantial project. Paul Duffy’s analysis of the possible existence of a cult of Simon de Montfort in medieval Meath is stimulating, while Ciarán McDonnell traces Geoffrey de Genenville’s crusader credentials. Was the crusade preached in Ireland with the same frequency as it was in England? Can any useful comparisons with respect to Irish attitudes to the Crusades be made from consideration of Archbishop Baldwin’s successful crusade precaching tour in Wales in the late 1180s, as detailed by Gerald of Wales? Was the Irish financial system altered by the need to raise cash for Richard I’s ransom in the early 1190s as he returned from crusade? What sums were raised for crusading in medieval Ireland? These rather obvious questions are not raised in a volume which advances understanding of its subject incrementally but which eschews setting a new and much needed agenda for research.