My ambitions in early medieval Irish genealogy

For years now I have been researching the genealogical records of pre-Norman Ireland. Many consider this a bizarre avocation, especially for an American with almost no Irish blood. Although I first was drawn into the field because of my remote ancestor Eve of Leinster, I soon developed an obsession. The extant records are estimated to place about twenty thousand persons, which is comparable to the rest of Europe combined for the period, and remarkably, a substantial portion of this has never even been transcribed in print, let alone critically scrutinized. When a field is so huge and wide open, it is easy for someone like me with basic knowledge and skills to make great progress, and to get caught up in doing so.

I have not had the benefit of formal study. I do not know the language. But I am familiar with the sources and experienced in reading and interpreting typical genealogical manuscripts, and I have the desire to apply these skills toward some particular goals. If I had the time, the resources, and a little expert assistance, these are the things that I would accomplish:

1. To transcribe the remaining major pre-Norman genealogical tracts.
   Especially those in the books of Ballymote and Lecan, but also those in the book of Uí Maine, An Leabhar Donn, and MacFirbis, as well as other minor codices. I have already transcribed the Uí Néill, Uí Briuin, Uí Fiachrach, and Airgialla sections of the book of Ballymote, as well as smaller fragments of the others.
2. To collate parallel passages in these tracts.
   Not only among the aforementioned, but also H.2.7, the Laud genealogies, O'Clery, and An Leabhar Muimhneach, which have already been transcribed. There are also a number of important deficiencies in the collations done in CGH v.1.
3. To publish the long-awaited second volume of Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae.
   It was intended to eventually cover all the major medieval texts, but for forty years the endeavor has gone no further than the first volume. It has long been hoped that a second volume at least would appear, containing the remaining pre-Norman material, or at the very least the part of it in the books of Ballymote and Lecan. I could and would do this myself if only I had the time and an editor who could ensure the quality of the transcriptions and help with the poetry and other less formulaic passages, and of course bring the final product to print.
4. To identify the persons mentioned in the Banshenchas with those in the genealogies, annals, and anecdota.
   Treating the much neglected distaff half of the genealogies would also be of wider interest, both for those seeking to fully trace ancestries and for a variety of studies related to marriage and motherhood. Occasionally this material may hold the key to sorting out confusion in the annals or genealogies.
5. To identify the persons mentioned in the various annals with those in the genealogies.
   Good progress has been made toward this end with the Annals of Ulster, but a thorough job with all the annals and genealogies cannot be done until both are properly collated and indexed. I have compiled a great many more identifications from all the annals, but have not yet approached the task systematically.
6. To critically analyze the sundry records relevant to genealogy and determine what is most likely the correct genealogy.
   For the most part, the records of the historical period are simple and consistent, but there are a number of cases where thorny problems arise, or where misinterpretations can only be dispelled by examination of the more obscure sources.
7. To compile a database of these results, complete with source information.
   Once all this information is organized electronically, there is so much that can be done with it. The index alone would be priceless. My personal database already has over seventeen thousand persons.
8. To publish this database as a reference book.
   An analog is Bartrum's Welsh Genealogies, which is unique in its field and all that could be hoped for. Its counterpart in Irish genealogy, even confined to the pre-Norman period, would of course be several times larger. Unfortunately the only such work available, even now, is O'Hart's Irish Pedigress, which is poor in many ways. To be able to look up an obscure person and see at once where and when he lived and to whom he was related would be a great boon to early medieval Irish studies in general.
9. To use this data to advance the studies of prosopography and onomastics.
   For example, I am curious about the introduction of names formerly confined to one region into another through intermarriage. I also studied, as best I could with the limited resources available, the issue of sons who had the same name as their fathers, finding only one historical case in CGH v.1 but a much larger number in the sections of the book of Ballymote I have transcribed, suggesting a strong regional disparity.