Materiality of Homemaking: Dressers, Delph, and Heirlooms in western Ireland

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Global Materialities: Tracing Connections through Materiality of Daily Life", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

What can everyday Irish dressers and delph tell us about family history, rural life, and global connections? As part of the multiyear Cultural Landscapes of the Irish Coast Project, I have researched dressers and their contents, including curated ceramic and glass vessels and other objects, to conduct an ethnoarchaeoogical analysis of homemaking on the islands of Inishbofin and Inishark (Co. Galway) and Inishturk (Co. Mayo), and in the coastal communities of Cashel and Clifden (Co. Galway).This talk describes how dressers tell stories that transcend time and space, building connections between the living and loved ones lost to death and emigration, as well as serving as mementos of important life milestones like pilgrimages, births, deaths, and marriages. In the past and today, dressers and their contents transform a house into "home," working to anchor the home in a family, a community, and the heritage of rural Western island and coastal communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Global Materialities: Tracing Connections through Materiality of Daily Life

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow