SOCIETY AND SETTLEMENT IN GLENDALOUGH ... - Ian Cantwell

eyond the island ofEngland and miss the fact that it too was undergoing fundamentalstructural and cultural changes''.The failure ofthe church to hold on to its lands in the face ofGaelic conquest is thendescribed and put in to a political framework.The viewpoint taken is one ofrelationships whether they be of alliance, competition or outright warfare. From thelocal point ofview the lack ofsources is noted and the possible impact ofsome oftheenvironmental catastrophes are discussed.The implications for the O'Toole Clan located at the frontier ofGaelic Ireland and theEnglish Pale is described and the processes ofacculturation explored. It will be arguedthat notwithstanding the security threat they posed, the processes of anglicisation andgentrification were changing them culturally. However it will be noted that theysuccumbed to wider forces beyond their control. The settlement organisation of themountains will be described and will concentrate on farm organisation and woodlandexploitation.The previous historiography is reviewed and the inaccurate descriptions will beidentified. It is hoped that the picture that will emerge is one of a development ofsettlement and culture with all its continuities and changes. Political events will not benarrated but instead a political context will be established as politics is part of thewider culture and it is necessary to include the political background as part of thegeneral understanding ofpatterns and processes.3Ever since RobertFitzstephenarrived in Wexfordin 1169the relationshipwith our easternneighbourbas dominatedout interpretationof eventsin Ireland and as a result the cultural:relationship between Ireland and the mainland is underestimated.3