PhD Thesis by Ciaran McDonough
The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in and similarities between Protestant an... more The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in and similarities between Protestant and Catholic antiquarian cultures in Ireland in the period 1830 to 1876. The thesis demonstrates that there were notable differences, which were largely due to matters of religion. It focuses upon a select group of scholars (John O’Donovan, Eugene O’Curry, James Henthorn Todd, William Wilde, George Petrie, Denis Henry Kelly, William Reeves, John Windele, Owen Connellan, James Hardiman, and Robert Shipboy MacAdam) from both religious confessions, who were the most prolific antiquarians of this time, and it examines their works and the contexts in which they were written. Using a new historicist methodology, this thesis highlights trends in antiquarian research, its dissemination, and modes of working and ascribes them to a particular religious community.
This work is organised in three separate parts. In part one, a brief overview of the development of Irish antiquarianism from the early seventeenth to the late eighteenth century is presented in order to illustrate long-standing sectarian differences and their impact upon antiquarian pursuits in the nineteenth century.
Previous scholarship has traditionally categorised the antiquarians studied in this thesis according to ethnicity (Gaelic Irish versus Anglo-Irish). Conversely, part two demonstrates that religion, and not ethnicity, was the greatest dividing social factor in Irish antiquarian circles in the first half of the nineteenth-century. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that emphasis on ethnicity and race only emerged after works had been published relating to that topic from the 1850s. Thus, part two is a comparative study between Protestant and Catholic antiquarian cultures in the nineteenth century, focusing particularly on the differences between the two in terms of subject matter and methodology employed.
Part three traces the influence of antiquarian works on Cultural Nationalist ideology and thought at the end of the nineteenth century and in the first decades of the twentieth. In focusing specifically on the influence of antiquarian works on the images of ‘Irishness’ advanced by the Cultural Nationalists during this period, I determine that it was in fact Catholic antiquarian works that had a greater impact on the Cultural Nationalist discourse.
MA Thesis by Ciaran McDonough
Peer-reviewed Articles by Ciaran McDonough
Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies, Vol. 57, No. 1, 2019
ABSTRACT
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland, carried out in the early-nineteenth century, was not ju... more ABSTRACT
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland, carried out in the early-nineteenth century, was not just the process of mapping and collecting place names for translation as it is frequently depicted. The director of the Ordnance Survey, Sir Thomas Colby, decided to also use the Survey to carry out statistical, antiquarian, and geological surveys. The results of this trigonometrical survey include the so-called Ordnance Survey Memoirs and the Ordnance Survey Letters. Both sources provide valuable information about life in Ireland in the 1830s and early 1840s. Focusing in particular on the province of Connacht, this article argues that the Ordnance Survey Letters should be considered an important source of information about folklore and folk beliefs which were still extant or had been until shortly before the Survey visited the locality. This essay examines how, in a period of change and decline, the Ordnance Survey wrote local cultural heritage and identity onto the landscape.
Studia Celtica Fennica, n. XI, pp. 39-47, Jan 12, 2015
Studi Irlandesi: a Journal of Irish Studies, n. 4, pp. 101-11, Jul 22, 2014
Book Chapters by Ciaran McDonough
Ireland and the North, eds., Fionna Barber, Heidi Hansson and Sara Dybris McQuaid (Bern: Peter Lang), 2019
Book Reviews by Ciaran McDonough
Nordic Irish Studies, 2018
Conference Papers by Ciaran McDonough
Talks by Ciaran McDonough
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PhD Thesis by Ciaran McDonough
This work is organised in three separate parts. In part one, a brief overview of the development of Irish antiquarianism from the early seventeenth to the late eighteenth century is presented in order to illustrate long-standing sectarian differences and their impact upon antiquarian pursuits in the nineteenth century.
Previous scholarship has traditionally categorised the antiquarians studied in this thesis according to ethnicity (Gaelic Irish versus Anglo-Irish). Conversely, part two demonstrates that religion, and not ethnicity, was the greatest dividing social factor in Irish antiquarian circles in the first half of the nineteenth-century. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that emphasis on ethnicity and race only emerged after works had been published relating to that topic from the 1850s. Thus, part two is a comparative study between Protestant and Catholic antiquarian cultures in the nineteenth century, focusing particularly on the differences between the two in terms of subject matter and methodology employed.
Part three traces the influence of antiquarian works on Cultural Nationalist ideology and thought at the end of the nineteenth century and in the first decades of the twentieth. In focusing specifically on the influence of antiquarian works on the images of ‘Irishness’ advanced by the Cultural Nationalists during this period, I determine that it was in fact Catholic antiquarian works that had a greater impact on the Cultural Nationalist discourse.
MA Thesis by Ciaran McDonough
Peer-reviewed Articles by Ciaran McDonough
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland, carried out in the early-nineteenth century, was not just the process of mapping and collecting place names for translation as it is frequently depicted. The director of the Ordnance Survey, Sir Thomas Colby, decided to also use the Survey to carry out statistical, antiquarian, and geological surveys. The results of this trigonometrical survey include the so-called Ordnance Survey Memoirs and the Ordnance Survey Letters. Both sources provide valuable information about life in Ireland in the 1830s and early 1840s. Focusing in particular on the province of Connacht, this article argues that the Ordnance Survey Letters should be considered an important source of information about folklore and folk beliefs which were still extant or had been until shortly before the Survey visited the locality. This essay examines how, in a period of change and decline, the Ordnance Survey wrote local cultural heritage and identity onto the landscape.
Book Chapters by Ciaran McDonough
Book Reviews by Ciaran McDonough
Conference Papers by Ciaran McDonough
Talks by Ciaran McDonough
This work is organised in three separate parts. In part one, a brief overview of the development of Irish antiquarianism from the early seventeenth to the late eighteenth century is presented in order to illustrate long-standing sectarian differences and their impact upon antiquarian pursuits in the nineteenth century.
Previous scholarship has traditionally categorised the antiquarians studied in this thesis according to ethnicity (Gaelic Irish versus Anglo-Irish). Conversely, part two demonstrates that religion, and not ethnicity, was the greatest dividing social factor in Irish antiquarian circles in the first half of the nineteenth-century. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that emphasis on ethnicity and race only emerged after works had been published relating to that topic from the 1850s. Thus, part two is a comparative study between Protestant and Catholic antiquarian cultures in the nineteenth century, focusing particularly on the differences between the two in terms of subject matter and methodology employed.
Part three traces the influence of antiquarian works on Cultural Nationalist ideology and thought at the end of the nineteenth century and in the first decades of the twentieth. In focusing specifically on the influence of antiquarian works on the images of ‘Irishness’ advanced by the Cultural Nationalists during this period, I determine that it was in fact Catholic antiquarian works that had a greater impact on the Cultural Nationalist discourse.
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland, carried out in the early-nineteenth century, was not just the process of mapping and collecting place names for translation as it is frequently depicted. The director of the Ordnance Survey, Sir Thomas Colby, decided to also use the Survey to carry out statistical, antiquarian, and geological surveys. The results of this trigonometrical survey include the so-called Ordnance Survey Memoirs and the Ordnance Survey Letters. Both sources provide valuable information about life in Ireland in the 1830s and early 1840s. Focusing in particular on the province of Connacht, this article argues that the Ordnance Survey Letters should be considered an important source of information about folklore and folk beliefs which were still extant or had been until shortly before the Survey visited the locality. This essay examines how, in a period of change and decline, the Ordnance Survey wrote local cultural heritage and identity onto the landscape.