A Guide to Early Irish Law

By Fergus Kelly

Unfortunately, this book is more of a "must read" as it is currently out of print. Kelly examines the ancient laws of Ireland and outlines forms of legal procedure and redress in early Ireland. Honor price is dealt with at length as is the Celtic methods of suing in addition to describing the laws themselves. This book is especially valuable because Kelly conveniently describes the structure and components of Irish Celtic society in the first chapters of the book. This gives us a good schematic for how we, as re-enactors, can add a more period, socially interactive, element to our hobby.
by Fergus Kelly

(the following added by Comyn, Mar. 16, 2007)
A general account of legal practice in the seventh and eighth centuries with discussion of social background and later `brehon' families
1988 (repr. 1991, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2005). xxiv + 358 pp., pll. (vol. III)
ISBN 0 901282 95 2

Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars

(Osprey Men at Arms, 154)

by David Nicolle, Angus McBride

This book addresses the historical setting for the real King Arthur. It presents the time period we re-create and highlights the differences between the Romano-Britains, Welsh, Irish, Picts, and Saxons both in text and color plates. It contains line drawings of different blades used by the Irish of our time period (and one of the few books that address that topic). This book would be worth having for the illustrations by Angus McBride alone.

Paperback - 48 pages (June 1984) Stackpole Books; ISBN: 0850455480

Brassey's History of Uniforms

Barbarian Warriors: Saxons, Vikings, Normans

By Dan and Susanna Shadrake

This book is poorly named as it covers the dress, tactics, temperament, and equipment of fighting men in Britain from the Roman occupation to Norman times. It has an entire chapter dedicated to Irish and Picts. What makes this book so valuable is it being crammed with full color pictures of hard core re-enactors who have constructed equipment from the time period ranging from shoes and tunics to helmets and swords. The equipment presented in this book sets a standard by which all our own efforts should be judged.

Hardcover - 144 pages (1997) Brassey; ISBN: 1857532139

Life and Death of a Druid Prince

By Anne Ross, Ph.D. and Don Robbins

This book is a touch more advanced and more abstract than others listed here, but if you want the inside scoop on the religion of the pagan Celts and some possible insight on their views of human sacrifice, this is the book to read. Anne Ross uses archeological data collected from the Lindow bog man and draws comparison to late surviving folk customs in an attempt to reconstruct and explain the most infamous aspect of Celtic paganism. Some of the conclusions she draws are a bit tenuous but in all a good interpretation.

Softcover - 176 pages (1993) Touchstone; ISBN: 0671741225

The Tain

Trans. By Thomas Kinsella

This is the story of the Cu Chullain, the great cattle raid, and all the legends that surround it. Druids, Gods, heros, and warriors in an epic struggle for life, fortune, glory, and honor. This edition is not a re-telling but a translation of the original texts containing the myths. Read it, and if you can, retell part of it by the fireside.

Information forthcoming

The World of the Celts

By Simon James

If you only ever get one book on the Celts, this book should probably be it. This book is broken up into short chapters that are easy to read and is packed with color illustrations and pictures. Topics range from general appearance of the Celts to farming methods to archeological finds. The book contains an Index, Glossary, and Gazetteer of museums with Celtic collections throughout Europe.

Hardcover - 192 pages (October 1993) Thames & Hudson; ISBN: 0500050678