Castles and Colonialism: Exploring Meaning in Historic Irish Archaeology

Summary

Castles, architecture embedded with colonial power, can be understood as communicating display, power, prestige, corruption, oppression in the periods in which they were constructed and used, only to see the meanings shifted, reemphasized, manipulated, and recreated in the modern period. This paper examines the multiple temporal and conceptual values of medieval castles in north County Tipperary, Ireland, as objects of material culture whose meaning has shifted in significance from the period in which they were constructed to the present. With timber castles, change is embedded in the shape of the object—the fortification of the structure itself (the timber) has disappeared with time, leaving only a mound of earth to represent a castle. Therefore studying meaning (colonial or other) of timber castles is complicated in the necessity for modern classification of earthen mounds to timber castle type—a task undertaken by the author in her research. As meaning shifts occur in the present, the materiality of timber castles maintain a role as an active agent (colonial or other), continuing to shape activities and identities of those engaging with it. This paper aims to examine the impact of colonialism in the midlands of medieval Ireland, through the lens of timber castles.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Breaking Boundaries: Exploring Colonialism in the Modern World and Beyond

Keywords

Spatial Coverage