Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title The History Show Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet RTÉ Media type Radio Country/Territory Ireland Date 05/10/2025 Description Pirates, Power, and the Seas Around Medieval Ireland
During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the seas around Ireland were a haven for pirates from across Europe. Not only did Gaelic Irish marauders attack English settlements in Ireland, but the period also saw French, Scottish and Spanish fleets raid English holdings from Ulster to Kinsale.
Such pirates emerged from a period of international conflict and environmental change: a convergence of events that left England vulnerable and which afforded opportunities for Gaelic dynasties, such as the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, to build extensive maritime, diplomatic and economic networks.
Those events have been researched by Dr Simon Egan, Lecturer in Medieval Irish History at Queen's University Belfast. He joins us to discuss how late medieval Ireland was shaped by piracy, shifting alliances, climate change, and the prolonged struggle for control of the seas. Simon joins Myles in studio.URL https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/the-history-show/2025/1005/1536957-the-history-show-sunday-5-october-2025/ Persons Simon Egan