Landscape and farming in the north of Ireland in the late Middle Ages and early modern period: the evidence from the uplands

The character of the late medieval rural landscape of Ireland has been difficult to identify.A survey of the uplands in counties Antrim and Derry examined areas on the periphery of and beyond Anglo-Norman lordship. It recognised a number of areas where the earthworks of fields and associated buildings still survive.These are identified as the remains of a system of infield-outfield agriculture. Evidence for booley (transhumance) huts was surprisingly infrequent. It is suggested that either livestock were grazed closer to the lowland settlements or the upland communities took charge of the animals sent up in the summer months from the lowland sites.The pattern of townlands recorded in the seventeenth century suggests that the upland was systematically divided between communities in the valley, emphasising the role of the lands at higher elevations for grazing. Infield-outfield agriculture and oval buildings are likely to have been found not only in the uplands but also more widely over the north of Ireland in the late Middle Ages