Key research themes
1. How do Irish pseudohistorical literary texts construct collective ethnic identity through imagined ancient origins?
This research area examines medieval Irish pseudohistorical poems and texts to understand how they shape and legitimize Irish collective identity by appealing to shared ancestries, myths, and historical memories. These works function as powerful vehicles for identity construction by imagining a cohesive, continuous past that connects contemporary medieval Irish communities with an authoritative and ancient lineage. This theme matters for its insights on the role of symbolic narrative and memory in ethnic identity formation, particularly in pre-modern contexts where written histories and myths interlace.
2. What archaeological and historiographical challenges arise from the interpretation of Ireland's prehistoric past in relation to cultural identity and migration theories?
This domain explores the archaeological record and historiographical debates concerning Ireland’s prehistoric archaeology, focusing on the problem of distinguishing between migration ('invasion hypothesis'), diffusion, and independent invention as drivers of cultural change. The research contextualizes how prehistoric narratives have been shaped, contested, and revised, with implications for understanding Ireland’s indigenous development and external contacts. It addresses how archaeological discoveries and critical reappraisals influence conceptions of Irish cultural origins and identity formation.
3. How does ethnobotanical knowledge and traditional cultural memory after Irish independence inform constructions of Irish oral and traditional identity?
This theme investigates the role of ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal traditional knowledge collected in the post-independence period as a reservoir of Irish vernacular identity. Utilizing archival and oral testimonies from the Schools’ Folklore Scheme (1937-39), it highlights how such intangible heritage embodies and transmits cultural values, social customs, and localized identities. The research emphasizes the intersection of traditional ecological knowledge with political and linguistic nation-building in modern Irish identity formation.