ABSTRACT
Women in Celtic areas in the early Middle Ages enjoyed a status which varied from area to area and may well have changed over time. Indeed, since there was no uniformity of social structure in Celtic cultures one can scarcely expect the position of women to have been identical in all of them. There are, however, some similarities as well as contrasts and the combinations of both are interesting and of more than Celtic significance. As might be expected, the available source material is fragmentary and uneven in its distribution and can be difficult to interpret. It is therefore impossible to offer a comprehensive picture of structures and relationships, but there is sufficient material to comment on several aspects of the problem of women in Celtic areas; to comment, that is, on woman and/or groups of women and not merely on isolated individuals and events. It is therefore the intention of this paper to survey the status and role of women in Celtic areas in the early Middle Ages; to make clear those aspects of the subject that will bear immediate investigation and thereby highlight the lacunae; at the same time indicating some directions for future study.1
