The study of rundale has slowly graduated from a relatively isolated debate within Irish historical geography, to a subject of wider consideration amongst anthropologists, sociologists, agricultural scientists, archaeologists, and historians. This widening of the scope of debate has brought renewed attention not only to the social, cultural, and geographical features of rundale, but to the variety of sources brought to bear on its study. As a result, the incorporation of new source materials, and new approaches to analysis, has breathed life into an important aspect of Irish social history for which further discovery doubtless remains. Since the publication of Estyn Evan’s foundational paper ‘Some Survivals of the Irish Openfield System’ in 1939, subsequent major works in the field have revealed additional layers of complexity to rundale which, rather than closing down debate, have served merely to keep it alive by raising new questions. The publication of works beyond the field of Irish studies has also placed the study of rundale in comparative context, as social scientists pay greater attention to historical modes of production across Europe and beyond. By revealing historical systems similar to rundale in operation in locations as diverse as Germany, Romania, and Russia, renewed attention is being paid to fundamental questions regarding the evolutionary precursors of our modern capitalist society.