Irish Folklore and Ceramic Pots: A Study of Irish Tenant Farmers

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Transformation of Historical Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Charles E Orser, Jr" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

History and economics have dominated the events of the Great Famine that took place in Ireland mid-nineteenth century. Archaeology in recent years had been able to shed new light on the daily lives of Irish tenant farmers during this time. The archaeology has revealed that these farmers were not subsistence living but rather had means by which to participate in the local consumer market.

This paper explores what the daily lives of Irish tenant farmers might have been like through the artifacts recovered from excavations done at tenant cabins. The folktales also reveal how tenants socially interact with each other and their relationship with landlords, agents of the landlords, and the British government. They reveal some of the mythical properties that tenants associated with coarse earthenware pots and iron pots. The tales support the idea that these items not only were culturally significant but had symbolic meaning.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• The Transformation of Historical Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Charles E Orser, Jr

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 150