Household and Community Scales of Post-Famine Demographic Change in Western Ireland

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Making Historical Archaeology Matter: Rethinking an Engaged Archaeology of Nineteenth- to Twenty-First-Century Rural Communities of Western Ireland and Southern Italy" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The national demographic ramifications of the Irish potato famine in the late nineteenth century are well documented; however, there is an absence of full understanding of the continuum of its social and psychological impacts. One way to access these impacts is through examination of specific persons; specifically, individual family histories. Individual family histories reveal the private rational(s) for splitting or relocating families, yet these are not necessarily generalizable to the population level; conversely, population-level studies alone cannot reveal the complex personal context of migration. Considering these together, however, allows us to more comprehensively and richly describe how changes in environment and social identity likely informed individual decision-making. Using a combination of evidence provided by historical documentation, excavation, and oral histories collected from Inishark and Inishbofin, Co. Galway, this project analyzes the complex reasoning for migration, the particularities of relocation, and the complex changes which impact the lives of both the transplanted migrants and those left at home. Examining this phenomenon on the microscale assists in drawing broader implications concerning the decision-making processes of both willing and unwilling participants in the Irish diaspora.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Making Historical Archaeology Matter: Rethinking an Engaged Archaeology of Nineteenth- to Twenty-First-Century Rural Communities of Western Ireland and Southern Italy   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38793.0