Midlands village hosts fourth annual Medieval Conference with capacity attendance

THE fourth annual Lorrha & Dorrha Comhdháil Mheánaoiseah/Medieval Conference was held at The Friar's Tavern, Lorrha, Co. Tipperary, on Saturday last.

Lorrha was an ecclesiastical centre from the early period through to the establishment of both the Augustinian and Dominican foundations, right up to the late Penal period.

From the early 9th Century, it appears that Lorrha was a centre for manuscript production, with strong evidence that the Lorrha (Stowe) Missal was produced there.

At this year's conference Timothy O'Neill examined how scribes wrote, focussing on some pages of the Lorrha Missal, concluding with an account of the design and writing of the Ros Cré Missal.

Within the same period, Dr Niamh Wycherley spoke on the Irish Church in the 9th and 10th Centuries, focusing on power, patronage and the impact of the Vikings.

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Br. Colmán Ó Clabhaigh examined how religion was practised in the medieval village, using surviving archaeology to illustrate this.

Although the Lorrha Augustinian Priory was dedicated to St Mary, there is no evidence of female monasticism in the village. However Dr Tracy Collins examined women religious in a broader context within medieval Tipperary.

The Augustinian Priory features a 15th Century carved head of a lady wearing a horned headdress. Laura Fitzachery, MA, discussed various fashionable items from the late medieval period in Europe and how these fashions also reached Ireland.

The Conference was booked to capacity and kindly co-funded by Comhairle Contae Thiobraid Árann.

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