Tara Shields

Thesis title: the function and signficance of the pilgrimage to St Patrick's Purgatory in Late Medieval Irish Society. My research explores the religious, political, cultural and socio-economic importance of Lough Derg, c.1350-1550. A broad range of sources (ecclesiastical, administrative, historical, narrative) are examined, with a focus on Irish and Latin manuscript material. My work involves a close textual analysis of the Annals of Ulster, Registers of the Archbishops of the Armagh, early modern Irish poetry, and continental pilgrim narratives. More broadly, my research explores Saint Patrick's Purgatory's position within the northwest of Ulster, and its relationship with the broader Gaelic nexus, as well as continental Europe.

Late medieval Ireland, Gaelic Ulster, pilgrimage, Gaelic lordship, relations between Gaelic Ulster and Europe (the English colonies, the broader Gaelic world, continental Europe), medieval Irish language and literature.