[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-134083-en":3,"doc-seo-134083-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},134083,687208528416,"Cipher","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc",8,"Research & Report","Medieval Ulster - Beyond Westeros and the Game of Thrones - Overview","Overview of Medieval Ulster through the lens of HBO’s Game of Thrones, linking Northern Ireland monuments and sites to the castles, forts, and landscapes of Westeros. The project Beyond Westeros—led by archaeologists at Queen’s University Belfast—presents how medieval power was organized without a central government, shaped by mercenary forces, rival lordships, and cycles of alliance, marriage, betrayal, hostage-taking, and assassination. It highlights parallels such as treachery at banquets and the political logic behind hospitality, capture, and succession practices.","MEDIEVAL ULSTER  \nBEYOND WESTEROS  \nAND THE  \nGAME OF THRONES  \nMcGUINNESS  \nTHE ENGLISH  \nCLANDEBOYE O’NEILL  \nMcSWEENEY  \nO’BOYLE  \nO’HANLON  \nO’NEILL  \nMAGUIRE  \nO’CAHAN  \nO’DONNELL  \nMcQUILLAN  \nMcDONNELL  \nO’DOHERTY  \nMEDIEVAL ULSTER  \nBEYOND WESTEROS AND THE GAME OF THRONES  \nTelevision audiences across the world have been thrilled by the exploits of the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryens in HBO’s hugely successful Game of Thrones TV series, and ancient monuments across Northern Ireland have been used as filming locations for places in the seven kingdoms of Westeros, the main setting for the series.  \nThese monuments, however, have their own remarkable stories to tell, and this narrative has been produced for the first time through the Beyond Westeros project led by archaeologists from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s University Belfast, working with the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership, and supported and funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Tourism NI, and the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities. It was developed as part of their European Year of Cultural Heritage programme.  \n OVERVIEW   \nPowerful warlords ruled Medieval Ireland and they wielded political control in the absence of a central government. Each was supported by their own force of mercenary foot soldiers (Scottish Gallowglass from the Western Isles), light infantry (kern) and horsemen.  \nWars and rivalries were played out, with alliances and marriages, betrayals, hostage taking and assassination. In Ulster, around the year 1500, thirteen Lordships fought for supremacy, not unlike the seven mythical Kingdoms of the Game of Thrones television series. Their stories unfolded in their castles, monasteries, churches, and defensive forts and across out timeless landscape.  \nCounty Down provided filming locations for the lands of the North in Game of Thrones but in the 1500sit saw a real power struggle between rival Gaelic chiefs, McGuinness and the Clandeboye O ‘ Neills, and the Norman English who had invaded with the White Knight, John de Courcy, in 1176, and who for a time dominated this landscape.  \nMany of the events of those times resonate with events and characters in the Game of Thrones.  \nHospitality and Treachery  \nOne of the famous scenes in Game of Thrones is the Red Wedding, a bloody massacre of the Starks by their host, Lord Walder Frey, as revenge for the breaking of the marriage pact between the houses of Frey and Stark, during a banquet. This betrayal of trust during a feast was not uncommon in medieval Ireland.  \nIn 1574 the great Brian McPhelim O ‘Neill, Lord of Clandeboye, invited the Earl of Essex , Walter Devereaux, to dine with him and his wife and brother at their castle at Castlereagh. This hospitality , a mark of leadership in Gaelic society, was returned with a vicious attack from their guests, which would have shocked the Gaelic population. At that meal Essex treacherously repaid the honour by killing 125 of O’Neill’s soldiers and attendants, seizing his host, Brian O’Neill and his two family members, and executing them.  \nAnother famous O’Neill leader, Shane O’Neill, met a similar fate at the hands of the Scottish McDonalds who took over large swathes of the north. In that instance the O’Neills were releasing a McDonald hostage and expected more gratitude from their guests!  \nMEDIEVAL ULSTER BEYOND WESTEROS AND THE GAME OF THRONES 1  \nCarnage and the murder of innocents  \nWithin a year of murdering the O’Neill’s of Clandeboye, during a feast thrown by them in his honour, the Earl of Essex went on to massacre more than 600 hundred men, women and children of the Scottish McDonald clan who were taking refuge on Rathlin Island. Such carnage is a recurrent theme in Game of Thrones.  \nHostages, warding and tanistry.  \nAt the beginning of Game of Thrones Series 1 we are introduced to Theon Greyjoy who was a ward of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. He had initially been taken hos","cbCaif4ChJzi3mcd","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaif4ChJzi3mcd","pdf",955503,1,10,"English","en",105,"# Overview\n## Medieval power and rival lordships\n## Hospitality and treachery\n## Carnage and the murder of innocents\n## Hostages, warding and tanistry","[{\"question\":\"What is the Beyond Westeros project, and what does it aim to show?\",\"answer\":\"It is a project led by archaeologists at Queen’s University Belfast to tell the stories behind Northern Ireland monuments connected to the world of Game of Thrones, while explaining their historical context and medieval power dynamics.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is hospitality in medieval Ireland compared to events in Game of Thrones?\",\"answer\":\"The text explains that betrayals during feasts were not uncommon, and it uses episodes like the Red Wedding to illustrate how trust and leadership could be overturned through violence.\"},{\"question\":\"How did hostage-taking and warding work in the medieval period described here?\",\"answer\":\"Hostages were used as insurance to guarantee agreements, usually treated with noble status; warding involved sending children to other noble households for training or improving marriage prospects.\"}]","Medieval Ulster - Beyond Westeros and the Game of Thrones - Overview | PDF",1787233700,25,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"medieval-ulster-beyond-westeros-and-the-game-of-thrones-overview","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/medieval-ulster-beyond-westeros-and-the-game-of-thrones-overview/134083/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-23","2026-08-20",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What is the Beyond Westeros project, and what does it aim to show?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"It is a project led by archaeologists at Queen’s University Belfast to tell the stories behind Northern Ireland monuments connected to the world of Game of Thrones, while explaining their historical context and medieval power dynamics.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"Why is hospitality in medieval Ireland compared to events in Game of Thrones?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"The text explains that betrayals during feasts were not uncommon, and it uses episodes like the Red Wedding to illustrate how trust and leadership could be overturned through violence.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"How did hostage-taking and warding work in the medieval period described here?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"Hostages were used as insurance to guarantee agreements, usually treated with noble status; 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