Foundation Myths: The Beginnings of Irish Archaeology

Foundation myths is an account of the beginnings and development of the study of Irish archaeology from medieval times to the twentieth century. Political and religious divisions have inevitably shaped different perceptions of the past, but the enduring influence of early Irish literature is evident and ancient origin myths in particular have had a noteworthy role to play. Archaeological interpretation was courted well into the twentieth century by a persistent belief in a series of mythical invaders, in a heroic pre-Christian era peopled by fearless Celtic warriors and in a golden age of early Christian saints and scholars. The growth of Irish archaeology has been a slow and erratic process and in now way presents a neat linear progressive narrative from myth to enlightenment. As in other fields, the foundations of a scientific discipline were laid in the nineteenth century and dramatic methodological and theoretical progress was made in the following century. A critical understanding of the limitations of both the written and material record and an appreciation of the preconceptions and ambiguities that lie in archaeologists' own interpretations are even more recent developments.