Early Irish Marriage Law and The 'Acallam na Senóach' Presented at UNHM Oct. 19

By Ginger Lever, UNHM College Relations

UNH Manchester will feature a presentation by Annie Donahue, UNH Manchester Library Director, as part of the college's Brown Bag Luncheon Lecture Series Oct. 19. She will present "The Acallam na Senórach: a Medieval Instruction Manual," the topic of her ALM thesis. Her presentation will include a brief review of early Irish law pertaining to marriage to set the manual in context.

Donahue's work represents an interpretive reading of the "Acallam na Senórach" as a medieval instruction manual for canon marriage. "The Acallam" is a medieval Irish text composed of prose and poetry, a rich tapestry of the varied genres found in the extant literature of Ireland: dinnshenchas, heroic adventure, hagiography, praise poetry, pseudo-history, and mythology. The Acallam" includes a pattern of monogamous marriage that is inconsistent with the pre-Christian setting of the text. The deliberate inclusion of these church-sanctioned marriages suggests the author's intention to use a popular narrative tradition to effect a change in behavior and encourage compliance with canon law.

Donahue is an assistant professor at the college and has taught research and reference skills to students in academic libraries for nine years. Her research interests include the collaboration between teaching and library faculty, assessing student learning, and integrating information literacy within the curriculum. Professor Donahue received a bachelor's degree in humanities from UNH (1994), a master of library science from Southern Connecticut State College (1996), and an A.L.M. with a concentration in Celtic Studies from Harvard University (2005).