A short exploration of the inauguration of kings in late medieval Ireland, and its depiction in bardic poetry.

Abstract

This paper examines the practice of royal inauguration in high and late medieval Ireland, and it’s depiction in bardic poetry of that period. This calls for a description of royal inauguration and a brief introduction on bardic poetry. With a survey of bardic poems and a focus on one of those poems I give a preliminary examination of the nature of those poems and asses them as a historical source for the period.