ABSTRACT
Ireland, like most of Western Europe, suffered from the bubonic plague, or the “Black Death,” in the years from 1348 to 1350. Unlike its nearest neighbor, England, the surviving contemporary sources for this catastrophic event are very limited. Even archaeological evidence is meager. Therefore, in order to understand the impact of this event on Ireland, we are forced to rely on parallel studies in other European countries that are better chronicled in the Middle Ages. However, even this assumption may not be wholly tenable in the light of recent research into the complexities of the pattern of medieval Irish settlement. Given the ease at which this disease spread among the population in Europe generally, Ireland’s almost unique rural settlement pattern may have affected the plague’s incidence to a greater extent than can be accurately gauged.
