Ringforts or Fairy Homes: Oral Understandings and the Practice of Archaeology in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Ireland.

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  • Author(s): Ní Cheallaigh, Máirín
  • Source:
    International Journal of Historical Archaeology. Jun2012, Vol. 16 Issue 2, p367-384. 18p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      RINGFORTS; ARCHAEOLOGICAL excavations; ORAL tradition; FAIRIES; IRISH folklore; ANTIQUITIES
    • Subject Terms:
      IRELANDReport Available
    • Abstract:
      Ringforts, the most numerous archaeological monument in the Irish landscape, have a dual character as places of early medieval habitation and as supernatural points of access to a fairy Otherworld. In my paper, I examine how these understandings interacted with, challenged and reinforced each other in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, and how oral perceptions had a significant if generally unacknowledged role in determining supposedly scientific archaeological perceptions of these monuments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]