Ireland's Pre-Celtic Archaeological and Anthropological Features

Ireland's Pre-Celtic Archaeological and Anthropological Features
Author: Tok Freeland Thompson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN:

The Celtic heritage of Ireland has been an important element in maintaining cultural and political independence from England for at least the past century, but Thompson (Irish-Scottish studies, Trinity College, Dublin) kept findings discrepancies between the national legend of Celtic origins and local and regional traditions. He begins by setting out how Celtic Ireland was constructed as an ethno-national mythology. Then he looks at some evidence for people on the island before the Celts came, from the fields of history, archaeology, genetics, linguistics, folklore, and unofficial discourse. A case study involves Tory Island. He ends by suggesting how to integrate Celtic and pre-Celtic Ireland in a new image. Annotation :2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

In Search of Ancient Ireland

In Search of Ancient Ireland
Author: Carmel McCaffrey
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2003-06-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1461655692

This engaging book traces the history, archaeology, and legends of ancient Ireland from 9000 B.C., when nomadic hunter-gatherers appeared in Ireland at the end of the last Ice Age to 1167 A.D., when a Norman invasion brought the country under control of the English crown for the first time. So much of what people today accept as ancient Irish history—Celtic invaders from Europe turning Ireland into a Celtic nation; St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland and converting its people to Christianity—is myth and legend with little basis in reality. The truth is more interesting. The Irish, as the authors show, are not even Celtic in an archaeological sense. And there were plenty of bishops in Ireland before a British missionary called Patrick arrived. But In Search of Ancient Ireland is not simply the story of events from long ago. Across Ireland today are festivals, places, and folk customs that provide a tangible link to events thousands of years past. The authors visit and describe many of these places and festivals, talking to a wide variety of historians, scholars, poets, and storytellers in the very settings where history happened. Thus the book is also a journey on the ground to uncover ten thousand years of Irish identity. In Search of Ancient Ireland is the official companion to the three-part PBS documentary series. With 14 black-and-white photos, 6 b&w illustrations, and 1 map.

The Quest for the Irish Celt

The Quest for the Irish Celt
Author: Mairéad Carew
Publisher: Merrion Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2018-03-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1788550110

The Quest for the Irish Celt is the fascinating story of Harvard University’s five-year archaeological research programme in Ireland during the 1930s to determine the racial and cultural heritage of the Irish people. The programme involved country-wide excavations and the examination of prehistoric skulls by physical anthropologists, and was complemented by the physical examinations of thousands of Irish people from across the country; measuring skulls, nose-shape and grade of hair colour. The Harvard scientists’ mission was to determine who the Celts were, what was their racial type, and what element in the present-day population represented the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of the island. Though the Harvard Mission was hugely influential, there were theories of eugenics involved that would shock the modern reader. The main adviser for the archaeology was Adolf Mahr, Nazi and Director of the National Museum (1934–39). The overall project was managed by Earnest A. Hooton, famed Harvard anthropologist, whose theories regarding biological heritage would now be readily condemned for their racism. Mairéad Carew explores this extraordinary archaeological mission, examining its historic importance for Ireland and Irish-America, its landmark findings, and the unseemly activities that lay just beneath the surface.

Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland

Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland
Author: Bryan Sykes
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2007-12-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0393079783

From the best-selling author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, a perfect book for anyone interested in the genetic history of Britain, Ireland, and America. One of the world's leading geneticists, Bryan Sykes has helped thousands find their ancestry in the British Isles. Saxons, Vikings, and Celts, which resulted from a systematic ten-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, traces the true genetic makeup of the British Isles and its descendants, taking readers from the Pontnewydd cave in North Wales to the resting place of the Red Lady of Paviland and the tomb of King Arthur. This illuminating guide provides a much-needed introduction to the genetic history of the people of the British Isles and their descendants throughout the world.

The Atlantic Celts

The Atlantic Celts
Author: Simon James
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
Total Pages: 164
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780299166748

The Celtic peoples of the British Isles hold a fundamental place in our national consciousness. In this book Simon James surveys ancient and modern ideas of the Celts and challenges them in the light of revolutionary new thinking on the Iron Age peoples of Britain. Examining how ethnic and national identities are constructed, he presents an alternative history of the British Isles, proposing that the idea of insular Celtic identity is really a product of the rise of nationalism in the eighteenth century. He considers whether the 'Celticness' of the British Isles is a romantic fantasy, even a politically dangerous falsification of history which has implications in the current debate on devolution and self-government for the Celtic regions.

Celtica

Celtica
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 298
Release: 1960
Genre: Celtic languages
ISBN:

Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy

Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy
Author: Dimitra Fimi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2023-02-23
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 135035001X

Focusing on representations of Celtic motifs and traditions in post-1980s adult fantasy literature, this book illuminates how the historical, the mythological and the folkloric have served as inspiration for the fantastic in modern and popular culture of the western world. Bringing together both highly-acclaimed works with those that have received less critical attention, including French and Gaelic fantasy literature, Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy explores such texts as Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Alan Garner's Weirdstone trilogy, the Irish fantasies of Jodi McIsaac, David Gemmell's Rigante novels, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Keltiad books, as well as An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid and the Vertigen and Frontier series by Léa Silhol. Lively and covering new ground, the collection examines topics such as fairy magic, Celtic-inspired worldbuilding, heroic patterns, classical ethnography and genre tropes alongside analyses of the Celtic Tarot in speculative fiction and Celtic appropriation in fan culture. Introducing a nuanced understanding of the Celtic past, as it has been informed by recent debates in Celtic studies, this wide-ranging and provocative book shows how modern fantasy is indebted to medieval Celtic-language texts, folkloric traditions, as well as classical sources.

Early Christian Ireland

Early Christian Ireland
Author: T. M. Charles-Edwards
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 729
Release: 2000-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521363950

A fully documented history of Ireland and the Irish from the fifth to the ninth centuries.

From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland

From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland
Author: D. Blair Gibson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2012-08-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139560700

This book tracks the development of social complexity in Ireland from the late prehistoric period on into the Middle Ages. Using a range of methods and techniques, particularly data from settlement patterns, Blair Gibson demonstrates how Ireland evolved from constellations of chiefdoms into a political entity bearing the characteristics of a rudimentary state. This book argues that early medieval Ireland's highly complex political systems should be viewed as amalgams of chiefdoms with democratic procedures for choosing leaders rather than kingdoms. Gibson explores how these chiefdom confederacies eventually transformed into recognizable states over a period of 1,400 years.

The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland

The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland
Author: Marion Dowd
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2015-01-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782978143

The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland is a ground-breaking and unique study of the enigmatic, unseen and dark silent world of caves. People have engaged with caves for the duration of human occupation of the island, spanning 10,000 years. In prehistory, subterranean landscapes were associated with the dead and the spirit world, with evidence for burials, funerary rituals and votive deposition. The advent of Christianity saw the adaptation of caves as homes and places of storage, yet they also continued to feature in religious practice. Medieval mythology and modern folklore indicate that caves were considered places of the supernatural, being particularly associated with otherworldly women. Through a combination of archaeology, mythology and popular religion, this book takes the reader on a fascinating journey that sheds new light on a hitherto neglected area of research. It encourages us to consider what underground activities might reveal about the lives lived aboveground, and leaves us in no doubt as to the cultural significance of caves in the past.