Barry, Gerald de
Barry, Gerald de
Historian, born Manorbeer, Wales, c.1147; died 1220. He was appointed Bishop of Saint David’s in 1180 , but resigned to accompany Prince John to Ireland , where he remained two years. He visited Rome in a fruitless effort to secure his reappointment to his old see. Giraldus was a writer of remarkable brilliancy. A topography and a history of the conquest, long regarded as authoritative, were severely criticized by Dr Lynch in his “Cambrensis Eversus,” 1662 , who meets his charges against the Irish people, impeaches his ignorance of their language, unfamiliarity with the country, disregard of chronology, and credulity in accepting popular rumors and unauthenticated narratives.