Fields and farms in Ireland, 1650-1850: landscape archaeologies of improvement

Summary

My PhD research, funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, investigates of how Irish rural landscapes developed from 1650 to 1850, looking in particular at four case studies, in counties Clare, Tipperary, Meath and Derry. I explore how later historic rural landscapes reflect the massive social changes of the 17th to 18th centuries, and how archaeologists can contribute to understanding these changes. This paper will examine how rural landscapes inform our understanding of the complex relationships between the different classes of landlords, tenants and labourers in Ireland. Using examples from case studies and documentary material from the period, this paper will investigate how the landscapes of estates, farms and fields reflect changes in landholding and society. In particular it will examine landscape evidence for how the practice of ‘improvement’ was promoted and resisted in Ireland, and its implications for understanding rural class relations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Cultural transformations in early modern Ireland, an archaeological perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 551