Biography
Born Dublin 1946; B.A. Mod. (Dubl.) History and Political Science 1969, Ph.D. (Dubl.) in Medieval History 1976, thesis title 'Gaelic lordships in Ulster in the later middle ages'. Spent six years at Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Celtic Studies, as Research Scholar (1972-5), and as Junior Research Assistant surveying the extant corpus of Irish bardic poetry (1977-80). Lecturer in medieval Irish History at University College Cork 1971-2, in history departments of St Mary's College of Education, Belfast, and Carysfort College of Education, Blackrock, Co. Dublin 1975-7. Appointed as lecturer in the former Medieval History Department, Trinity College Dublin 1980, made Fellow 1990 and Senior Lecturer 1993. Elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2008. Retired 31st May 2010. Now Research Associate, Centre for Research in Medieval History, School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Katharine Simms, Mixed Marriages in Medieval Ireland, Irish Texts Society Occasional Lectures, Zoom, 2022, 2023, National Library of Ireland/Irish Texts Society, 1-25pp
Katharine Simms, Retiring bards: the motives behind the professional bards' religious compositions, Eriu, 73, 2023, p97 - 103
Katharine Simms, Brig Brethach: "Brig of the Judgments", Irish Jurist , 67, 2022, p161 - 169
Katharine Simms, Serfs and Citizens: the church tenants of medieval Armagh, Seanchas Ardmhacha, 27, (2), 2021, p1 - 17
Katharine Simms, Gaelic Ulster in the Middle Ages: History, culture and society - Trinity Medieval Ireland series 4, hardback, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2020, 1 - 552pp
The Professional Historians of Medieval Ireland in, editor(s)Jennifer Jahner Emily Steiner and Elizabeth M. Tyler, , Medieval Historical Writing Britain and Ireland 500-1500, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp279 - 298, [Katharine Simms]
Gaelic Culture and Society in, editor(s)Brendan Smith , The Cambridge History of Ireland I, 600-1550, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp415 - 440, [Katharine Simms]
The political recovery of Gaelic Ireland in, editor(s)Brendan Smith , The Cambridge History of Ireland I, 600-1550, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp272 - 299, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, Poems to the medieval O'Donnell chiefs and their historical context, North American Journal of Celtic Studies, 1, (1), 2017, p45 - 60
Heroes Humiliated: a theme in bardic eulogies in, editor(s)Matthieu Boyd , Ollam: Studies in Gaelic and related traditions in honor of Tomas O Cathasaigh, Madison, Teaneck, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2016, pp95 - 99, [Katharine Simms]
The Geraldines and Gaelic culture in, editor(s)Peter Crooks and Sean Duffy , The Geraldines and Medieval Ireland: the making of a myth, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2016, pp264 - 277, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, Images for the role of bardic poets, Aon don Eigse: essays marking Osborn Bergin's Centenary Lecture on Bardic Poetry (1912), Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, April 2012, edited by Caoimhin Breatnach and Meidhbhin Ni Urdail , Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2015, pp247 - 260
The Origins of the Creaght: Farming System or Social Unit? in, editor(s)Margaret Murphy, Matthew Stout , Agriculture and Settlement in Ireland, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2015, pp101 - 118, [Katharine Simms]
O'Friel's Ghost in, editor(s)John Carey, Kevin Murray and Caitriona O Dochartaigh , Sacred Histories: a Festschrift for Maire Herbert, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2015, pp401 - 408, [Katharine Simms]
The Poet's Tale in, editor(s)Sparky Booker and Cherie N. Peters , Tales of Medieval Dublin, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2014, pp161 - 174, [Katharine Simms]
The Strongholds of the Medieval County Fermanagh Chietains in, editor(s)Claire Foley and Ronan McHugh , An Archaeological Survey of County Fermanagh Vol 1 part 2, Newtownards , Northern Ireland Environment Agency, 2014, pp343 - 350, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, Foreign apologues in bardic poetry, The English Isles: Cultural transmission and political conflict in Britain and Ireland, 1100-1500, Trinity College Dublin, 14-16 September 2007, edited by Sean Duffy and Susan Foran , Four Courts Press, 2013, pp139 - 150
Bardic poems of apology and reconciliation in, editor(s)Liam Mac Amhlaigh and Brian O Corcrain , Ilteangach, Ilseiftiuil:feilsgribhinn in omos do Nicholas Williams: A festschrift in honour of Nicholas Williams, Dublin, Arlen House, 2012, pp175 - 192, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, The Barefoot Kings:Literary Image and Reality in Later Medieval Ireland, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium , Harvard Celtic Colloquium XXX, Harvard, 2010, edited by E. Boon, A.J. McMullen, N. Sumner , 30, Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, 2011, pp1 - 21
The transition from medieval to modern in the poems of Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn in, editor(s)Pádraigín Riggs , Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn: his historical and literary context , London, Irish Texts Society, 2010, pp119 - 134, [Katharine Simms]
The selection of poems for inclusion in the Book of the O'Conor Don in, editor(s)Pádraig Ó Macháin , The Book of the O'Conor Don , Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2010, pp32 - 60, [Katharine Simms]
Bardic poems of consolation to bereaved Irish ladies in, editor(s)Conor Kostick , Medieval Italy, Medieval and Early Modern Women, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2010, pp220 - 230, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, 'A poem to a 13th century Irish lady - Cailleach De, Meijerbergs Archiv, 10th symposium of Societas Celtologica Nordica, Gothenburg, 17-19 June 2008, edited by Folke Josephson , 38, Meijerbergs Institut for svensk etymologisk forskning, 2010, pp191 - 200
The Ulster revolt of 1404 - an anti-Lancastrian dimension? in, editor(s)Smith, Brendan , Ireland and the English world in the late middle ages, Basingstoke and New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, pp141 - 160, [Katharine Simms]
Early Christian and Medieval AD 500-1550: Historical Outline in, editor(s)Ken Neill , Archaeological Survey of County Armagh, Belfast, The Stationery Office, 2009, pp211 - 229, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, Medieval Gaelic Sources, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2009, 1-128pp
Changing patterns of regnal succession in later medieval Ireland in, editor(s)Frederique Lachaud, Michael Penman , Making and breaking the rules: succession in medieval Europe c. 1000-c. 1600/Etablir et abolir les normes: la succession dans l'Europe medievale vers 1000-vers 1600, Turnhout, Belgium, Brepols, 2008, pp161 - 172, [Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, The Donegal poems in the Book of Fenagh, Ériu, 58, 2008, p37 - 53
Images of the galloglass in poems to the MacSweeneys in, editor(s)Seán Duffy , The World of the Galloglass, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2007, pp106 - 123, [M. Katharine Simms]
Katharine Simms, The Poetic Brehon Lawyers of early sixteenth-century Ireland, Eriu, 57, 2007, p121 - 132
'Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh and the Classical Revolution' in, editor(s)I. Brown, T. O. Clancy, S. Manning and M. Pittock , The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature vol. 1 From Columba to the Union (until 1707), Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2006, pp83 - 90, [Katharine Simms]
Moore LT, McEvoy B, Cape E, Simms K, Bradley DG., A Y-chromosome signature of hegemony in gaelic Ireland., American Journal of Human Genetics, 78, 2006, p334 - 338
Gaelic military history and the later brehon law commentaries' in, Unity in Diversity: studies in Irish and Scottish Gaelic language, literature and history, The School of Irish, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Trinity Irish Studies no. 1, 2004, pp51 - 68, [Simms M.K.]
Medieval Fermanagh in, editor(s)E.M. Murphy and W.J. Roulston , Fermanagh: History and Society, Dublin, Geography Publications, 2004, pp77 - 104, [Simms M.K.]
The MacMahon pedigree: a medieval forgery in, editor(s)D. Edwards , Regions and Rulers in Ireland , 1100-1650: Essays for Kenneth Nicholls, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2004, pp27 - 36, [Simms M.K.]
References to landscape and economy in Irish bardic poetry in, editor(s)H.B. Clarke, J. Prunty and M. Hennessy , Surveying Ireland's Past: Multidisciplinary Essays in Honour of Anngret Simms, Dublin, Geography Publications, 2004, pp145 - 168, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., A lost tribe - the Clan Murtagh O' Conor s, Galway Archaeological and Historical Society Journal, 53, 2001, p1 - 23
Native sources for Gaelic settlement: the house poems in, editor(s)P.J. Duffy, D. Edwards and E. Fitzpatrick , Gaelic Ireland: Land, Lordship and Settlement, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2001, pp246 - 267, [Simms M.K.]
Medieval Armagh: the kingdom of Oirthir (Orior) and its rulers the Uí Annluain (O'Hanlons) in, editor(s)A.J. Hughes and W. Nolan , Armagh History and Society, Dublin, Geography Publications, 2001, pp187 - 216, [Simms M.K.]
The dating of two poems on Ulster chieftains in, editor(s)A.P. Smyth , Seanchas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology History and Literature in Honour of Francis John Byrne, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2000, pp381 - 386, [Simms M.K.]
Late medieval Tír Eoghain: the kingdom of the Great O'Neill in, editor(s)C. Dillon and H.A. Jefferies , Tyrone History and Society, Dublin, Geography Publications, 2000, pp127 - 162, [Simms M.K.]
Tír Eoghain "North of the Mountain in, editor(s)G. O'Brien , Derry and Londonderry : History and Society, Dublin, Geography Publications, 1999, pp149 - 173, [Simms M.K.]
Charles Lynegar, the O Luinín family and the study of seanchas in, editor(s)T.C. Barnard, D. Ó Cróinín and K. Simms , A Miracle of Learning: Studies in manuscripts and Irish learning: Essays in honour of William O'Sullivan, Aldershot , Brookfield USA , Singapore , Sydney, Ashgate Publishing, 1998, pp266 - 283, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., The contents of the later commentaries on the brehon law tracts, Ériu, 49, 1998, p23 - 40
Literacy and the Irish bards in, editor(s)H. Pryce , Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp238 - 258, [Simms M.K.]
Relations with the Irish' in Law and Disorder in, editor(s)J. Lydon , Thirteenth-Century Ireland : The Dublin Parliament of 1297, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1997, pp66 - 86, [Simms M.K.]
Gaelic Warfare in the Middle Ages in, editor(s)T. Bartlett and K. Jeffery , A Military History of Ireland, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp99 - 115, [Simms M.K.]
Literary sources for the history of Gaelic Ireland in the post-Norman period in, editor(s)K. McCone and K. Simms , Progress in Medieval Irish Studies, St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Department of Old Irish, 1996, pp207 - 215, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., Nomadry in medieval Ireland : the origins of the creaght or caoraigheacht, Peritia, v, 1996, p379 - 391
Introduction in, editor(s)C. E. Meek and K. Simms , The Fragility of her Sex?: medieval Irishwomen in their European context, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1996, pp7 - 15, [Simms M.K., Meek C. E.]
Late Medieval Donegal in, editor(s)W. Nolan, L. Ronayne, M. Dunleavy , Donegal History and Society, Dublin, Geography Publications, 1995, pp183 - 202, [Simms M.K.]
Frontiers in the Irish Church - regional and cultural in, editor(s)T.B. Barry, Robin Frame and Katharine Simms , Colony and Frontier in Medieval Ireland: essays presented to J.F. Lydon, London and Rio Grande, The Hambledon Press, 1995, pp177 - 200, [Simms M.K.]
An Eaglais agus Filí na Scol in, editor(s)(and transl.) P. Ó Fiannachta , An Dán Díreach, Maigh Nuad, Léachtaí Cholm Cille xxiv, 1994, pp21 - 36, [Simms M.K.]
Women in Gaelic society during the age of transition in, editor(s)M. MacCurtain and M. O'Dowd , Women in Early Modern Ireland, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1991, pp32 - 42, [Simms M.K.]
The brehons of later medieval Ireland in, editor(s)D. Hogan and W. N. Osborough , Brehons, Serjeants and Attorneys, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, The Irish Academic Press, 1990, pp51 - 76, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., Images of Warfare in Bardic Poetry, Celtica, 21, 1990, p608 - 619
The Norman Invasion and the Gaelic Recovery in, editor(s)R.F. Foster , The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland, New York, Oxford University Press, 1989, [Simms M.K.]
The Poet as Chieftain's Widow: Bardic Elegies in, editor(s)D. Ó Corráin, L. Breatnach and K. McCone , Sages, Saints and Storytellers: Celtic Studies in Honour of Professor James Carney, Maynooth, An Sagart, 1989, pp400 - 411, [Simms M.K.]
Bards and barons: the Anglo-Irish aristocracy and the native culture in, editor(s)Robert Bartlett and Angus MacKay , Medieval Frontier Societies, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989, pp177 - 197, [Simms M.K.]
Bardic Poetry as a Historical Source in, editor(s)T. Dunne , The Writer as Witness, Cork, Historical Studies XVI, Cork University Press, 1987, pp58 - 75, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., From Kings to Warlords: the Changing Political Structure of Gaelic Ireland in the Later Middle Ages, The Boydell Press: Studies in Celtic History VII, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1987, ix + 191pp
Irish Literature: Bardic Poetry in, editor(s)J.R. Strayer vi , Dictionary of the Middle Ages, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985, pp534 - 539, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., Propaganda use of the Táin in the later middle ages, Celtica, xv, 1983, p142 - 149
The King's Friend: O'Neill, the Crown and the earldom of Ulster in, editor(s)J. Lydon , England and Ireland in the later mddle ages, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 1981, pp214 - 236, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., Gabh umad a Fheidhlimidh - a fifteenth-century inauguration ode?, Ériu, xxxi, 1980, p132 - 145
Simms M.K., The Origins of the Diocese of Clogher, Clogher Record, x, 1980, p180 - 198
Simms M.K., The O'Reillys and the kingdom of East Breifne, Breifne, vi, 1979, p305 - 319
Simms M.K., The Battle of Dysert O'Dea and the Gaelic resurgence in Thomond, Dál gCais, v, 1979, p59 - 66
Women in Norman Ireland in, editor(s)M. Mac Curtain and D. O Corráin , Women in Irish society: the Historical Dimension, Arlen House Dublin, Thomas Davis lecture series, 1978, pp14 - 25, [Simms M.K.]
Simms M.K., Guesting and Feasting in Gaelic Ireland, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, cviii, 1978, p67 - 100
Simms M.K., The O'Hanlons, the O'Neills and the Anglo-Normans in thirteenth-century Armagh, Seanchas Ardmhacha, 1978, p70 - 94
Simms M.K., The medieval kingdom of Loch Erne, Clogher Record, ix, 1977, p126 - 141
Simms M.K., Niall Garbh II O'Donnell, King of Tír Conaill 1422-39, Donegal Annual, xii, 1977, p7 - 21
Simms M.K., The concordat between Primate John Mey and Henry O'Neill, 1455, Archivium Hibernicum, xxxiv, 1977, p71 - 82
Simms M.K., The legal position of Irishwomen in the later Middle Ages, The Irish Jurist, x, 1975, p96 - 111
Empey C.A., Simms M.K., The ordinances of the White Earl and the problem of coign in the later middle ages, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy lxxv, 1975, pp161 - 187
Simms M.K., Warfare in the medieval Gaelic lordships, Irish Sword, 1975, p98 - 108
Simms M.K., The archbishops of Armagh and the O'Neills, 1347-1461, Irish Historical Studies, xix, 1974, p38 - 55
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Lough Neagh in medieval times: its political and social context in, editor(s)William Burke, Liam Campbell, William Roulston , Lough Neagh: an atlas of the natural, built and cultural heritage, Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2022, pp142 - 151, [Katharine Simms]
The Literary Tradition of Ulster to the Sixteenth Century in, editor(s)Nioclas Mac Cathmhaoil, Maire Nic Cathmhaoil & Conal Mac Seain , Sugan an Duchais: aisti ar ghneithe de thraidisiun liteartha Chuige Uladh i gcuimhne ar Dhiarmaid O Doibhlin, Derry, Iriah Department, University of Ulster, 2018, pp23 - 41, [Katharine Simms]
Monaghan in the later Middle Ages in, editor(s)Patrick J. Duffy, Eamonn O Ciardha , Monaghan History and Society, Dublin, Geography Publications, 2017, pp131 - 161, [Katharine Simms]
Research Expertise
Description
Social history of Gaelic Ireland 1200-1500 A.D. Historical sources in the Irish language (annals, genealogies, bardic poetry, later legal commentaries). Military and ecclesiastical history of medieval Ireland.Projects
- Title
- The Irish Chancery Project
- Summary
- Member of the international steering committee for this IRCHSS-funded project (Principal Investigator Dr David Ditchburn, Associate investigators Dr Peter Crooks and Prof. Sean Duffy) which seeks to advance our understanding of the 'making of Ireland' between the high Middle Ages and the dawn of the modern era-one of the most formative periods in Ireland's past-by publishing on the web and in print an English calendar of the rolls of the medieval Irish chancery, c. 1216-1509. The chancery was a key organ of English government in medieval Ireland. Access to its records is, however, severely restricted. The original chancery rolls suffered a series of calamities from the 13th century, culminating in 1922 with the destruction of the last 123 original rolls. A Latin calendar produced by the Irish Record Commission (1828) does not compensate for their destruction: it was poorly edited and lacks an adequate critical apparatus. Moreover, it offers no English translations and the text is printed in 'record type', reflecting abbreviations in the original manuscripts. This project will remedy these deficiencies by reconstructing the chancery rolls from transcripts and calendars dating from 14th-19th centuries located in Ireland and England. The outcome will be a web-based English calendar, to be followed by a multi-volume printed edition. This project will revolutionise medieval Irish studies by providing both specialists and the general public with access to an unparalleled source of information. More generally, the project will generate interest from scholars working on administrative history in a Europe-wide context and on the 'Anglicization' of the British Isles in Middle Ages. It will also stimulate exciting comparative work across the medieval-modern divide on the adaptation (or 'creolisation') of metropolitan governing practices and values in a colonial context, and on the processes of state formation and cultural exchange in the British Isles and the early modern Atlantic world.
- Funding Agency
- Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Date From
- 1/7/08
- Date To
- 30/6/11