Mariners’ gravestones in the Irish Sea region: memory and identity

Author(s): Harold Mytum

Year: 2016

Summary

Mariners could have their graves marked by inscribed memorials in the Irish Sea region from the late 18thcentury onwards, acting as both grave markers and foci for memory and commemorative practices. Some died on land, and so are interred in the grave, or at sea and their bodies have been lost, creating different issues regarding grieving and commemoration. Archaeology can examine how far this is materially represented in their memorials. Recent research in North America and England by David Stewart, and in Wales and the Isle of Man by the presenter, was within largely Protestant contexts. New fieldwork in Ireland examines attitudes and behaviours within Catholic communities, and whether these Irish mariners were commemorated differently.  Thus Catholic and Protestant can be compared within the Irish Sea region to see if there is any variation in attitudes to the ‘bad death’ of drowning at sea, depending on denomination.

 

Cite this Record

Mariners’ gravestones in the Irish Sea region: memory and identity. Harold Mytum. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434250)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -8.158; min lat: 49.955 ; max long: 1.749; max lat: 60.722 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 706