Damian Bracken

My PhD, completed in 1994, examined Latin and Latin influenced elements of early Irish vernacular law, and my research has focused on Hiberno-Latin literature, especially on the works of St Columbanus, the earliest Irish writer to leave an identifiable corpus of writings, and the first to explore Irish identity. I’m interested particularly in exploring Columbanus’s works in the context of late antique and early medieval ideals of authority and concepts of orthodoxy. I have taught in the School of History, UCC, and spent periods teaching in the Department of History, Boston University, and the in Department of History, Boston College, where I held the Brian P. Burns Chair in Irish Studies. I jointly edited Ireland and Europe in the twelfth century: reform and renewal (Dublin 2006) and the commentary volume that accompanies the facsimile of the Schaffhausen Adomnán, recently published as the first volume in the series Irish Manuscripts in Facsimile.

Medieval historyEarly IrelandThe Insular inheritance of late antique cultureEarly Ireland and Europe - culture contactIreland and Rome - identity formationMonasticismSt Columbanus - life and works

University College Cork Hi1001 East and West: the origins of European identity / I Arts coreHi1001/1118 Pilgrims and Crusaders / I Arts optionHi2002 Early Irish canon law: the 'Collectio hibernensis' - Church and society / II Arts Case study Hi2002 Patrick and his biographers / II Arts Case study Hi2002 Celtic Christianity: history and historiography / II Arts Case study Hi2029 Heresy and the control of dissent / II Arts optionHi2031 Ireland and Rome: history, culture, contact / II Arts optionHi3051 Ireland and the beginnings of Europe / III Arts optionHI3052 From pagans to Christians / III Arts optionHi3200 The coming of the book / III Arts seminarHI3200 Irish monasticism: from origins to Dissolution / III Arts seminarHi3200 Cities and civilisation / III Arts seminarHi3200 Computer applications for historians / III Arts seminarHi6009 The ends of the earth / MA in Medieval History coreHi6036 Contexts for medieval history / MA in Medieval History courseHi6037 Intellectual history / MA in Medieval History course Boston University CAS325 History of Ireland / Undergraduate optional courseCAS433 Modern Ireland / BA colloquium Boston College Hist 4863 Irish identity formation and expression