Churches in the Irish Landscape Ad 400-1100

Between the fifth century and the ninth, several thousand churches were founded in Ireland, a greater density than most other regions of Europe.This period saw fundamental changes in settlement patterns, agriculture, social organisation, rituals and beliefs, and churches are an important part of that story.The premise of this book is that landscape archaeology is one of the most fruitful ways to study them.By looking at where they were placed in relation to pagan ritual and royal sites, burial grounds, and settlements, and how they fared over the centuries, we can map the shifting strategies of kings, clerics and ordinary people.The result is a fascinating new perspective on this formative period, with wider implications for the study of social power and religious change elsewhere in Europe.The earliest churches, founded at a time of religious diversity (400-550), were often within royal landscapes, showing that some sections of the elite chose to make space for the new religion.These