STUDENT

NUMBER: 117106573

Weaving (Illustration by Jeanette Dunne) Raquel Surez Durn
CC2250 Ancient Ireland

FOSTERAGE IN
MEDIEVAL
IRELAND
Key concepts and collective imagination of
fosterage

In Medieval Ireland there was a custom that today is not at all normalized if we compare
values with what they did. Fosterage was a way to raise and educate children in the 7th
Century approximately. The importance took place on the future, not only of the child
in itself, but of the community. In Medieval Ireland we can find the society divided into
fine (families) within each locality. Those fines formed by groups from 5 to 17 members
formed a family unit. The importance of the family in matters of society as a whole was
paramount. And the value of prosperity, wealth, nobility and education fell into the
youth. People who realized this importance in society knew that the early years of
children were very important and had to know how to educate in every way. I quote a
few words from an article called Fosterage; child-rearing in medieval Ireland, on the
importance of children:

With high infant mortality, procreation was the primary stimulus for polygamy
in pre-Norman Ireland and partly the reason for consecutive marriages in post-
Norman times. The inclusion of infertility and abortion among the number of
legitimate reasons for separation, and the option of seeking impregnation
outside the established coupling in the case of barrenness or impotency, further
emphasise the importance of children.1

Based on two tales I will introduce some key concepts to better understand what
fosterage was and what it meant for society.

The two stories are very different, but they have the fosterage as a thing in common.
Fled Din Na Ngd is a story of betrayals, curses and revenges, while Esnada Tieg
Buchet is a much more an innocent story.
The Feast of Domnall tale tells us the consequences of King Domnall's dream.
In the tale, the author wants to emphasize the strength of the promises between Congal
(foster-son) and Domnall (foster-father). Congal makes the promise never to oppose his
foster-father when he was in exile in Scotland. This promise will guide the whole story
and makes us realize the relationship between them as a legitimate tradition that lasted
a lifetime. Although the end of the tale is another story. However, at the beginning of
The Melodies of Buchets House we are told the courageous story of a family that flees
from a bad king (Tarbfhlaith) who does not take responsibility for their children in
fosterage. The relationship that foster-daughter maintains with her foster-parents and
how the bride-price is paid when she marries.

According to Cin arraith The Regulation of Fosterage-Fee, there are two types of
fosterage: fosterage for love or fosterage for fee which was the most common. In the
first two paragraphs of the Buchets tale one speaks of the fosterage of the daughter of
Cathaer Mr, King of Ireland. The price paid for the fosterage depended on the honor-
price of the child. This honor-price measures the worth of a person. Depending on the
text and the time it was written the value of the children changes. But what is sure is
that depended on the status of which children came.

1
Chonaill, Bronagh N. Fosterage: Child-Rearing in Medieval Ireland. History Ireland,
vol. 5, no. 1 (1997), pp. 2831. www.jstor.org/stable/27724427 [accessed on 13/10/17
at 18:16pm]

1
The price of a farmer's son is lower than the price of a king's son. And it also varied if it
was a daughter. In this case we see a fixed unit of value assigned, the st. The value of a
daughter was more expensive than the son because it was understood that the work a
girl did was less valued than that of a boy.
The education that was received also depended on the position of the family that
the child had. Anyone could take care of a child, even if it was the son of a free-man or
the son of a King. For example, in the Buchet tale, Eithne, is the daughter of King of
Ireland, who is going to live with a farmer. But in the Domnall tale is the son of a King
who is going to live with Domnall, another King. Children will learn the everyday life
work of foster-parents.

In the Domnall tale explains the reason for Congals fosterage. Domnall had sought the
friendship of Ulster and received Congal into fosterage. This alliance is the fruit of
interest between the two families, probably because of war and territory. The alliances
by fosterage were also for the interest between the foster-parents and the foster-child;
between foster-children of different families and between foster-child and natural child.
Also we find references to the responsibility of the foster-parents on the foster-
child in the sentence "Through this woman's neglect Congal had been stung in the eye
by a bee so that he squinted". What was the responsibility of foster-parents? They are
supposed to be watching for the safety of the child at all times. And if the child is injured
they may face a charge of negligence and have to pay a fine. The tale also tells us about
criminal children when he says "Congal had stolen upon Suibne as he was playing chess".
In legal matters, the only offense of a recognized child is the theft committed by a child
under 12 years of age. The foster-father paid the fines for the crime committed. If the
foster-father got tired of his crimes he could finish the agreement by proclaiming the
child to his natural father.

Come to a conclusion, fosterage was a way to forge bonds with the families of your
territory, to know the world, to grow as a person and with different values from those
you would have had with your biological family. Fosterage thus create a special bonds
between descent groups and provides a framework for the exchange of goods and
services.2

2
Lambert, Bernd. Fosterage in the Northern Gilbert Islands. Ethnology, vol. 3, no. 3
(1964), pp. 232258. www.jstor.org/stable/3772881 [accessed on 15/10/17 at
12:32am]

2
Bibliography:

Chonaill, Bronagh N. Fosterage: Child-Rearing in Medieval Ireland. History Ireland, vol.
5, no. 1 (1997), pp. 2831. www.jstor.org/stable/27724427 [accessed on 13/10/17 at
18:16pm]

Parkes, Peter. Fosterage, Kinship, and Legend: When Milk Was Thicker than Blood?
Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 46, no. 3 (2004), pp. 587615.
www.jstor.org/stable/3879474 [accessed on 13/10/17 at 18:24pm]

Parkes, Peter. Celtic Fosterage: Adoptive Kinship and Clientage in Northwest Europe.
Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 48, no. 2 (2006), pp. 359395.
www.jstor.org/stable/3879355 [accessed on 14/10/17 at 12:15am]

Lambert, Bernd. Fosterage in the Northern Gilbert Islands. Ethnology, vol. 3, no. 3
(1964), pp. 232258. www.jstor.org/stable/3772881 [accessed on 15/10/17 at
12:32am]