Ethnologie Cultural identity represented: Celticness in Ireland Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophischen Fakultät der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität zu Münster (Westf.) vorgelegt von Sabine Hezel aus Oberhausen 2006 Tag des Abschlusses: 16.11.2006 Dekan: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. Wichard Woyke Referent: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Josephus D.M. Platenkamp Korreferent: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Andreas Hartmann Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to all the people in Ireland who gave me valuable assistance in the researching of this thesis. First of all I want to thank Ann Tighe and Claire Sheridan. Without their friendship and help in distributing questionnaires and introducing me to a number of people, my stay in Galway would have been a lot less informative (and less pleasant). Thanks also to all the people who filled out questionnaires and were willing to give interviews. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to work in my own office, which was provided by the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the National University Ireland, Galway, and the help that was provided by Dr. Niall O Dochartaigh. Special thanks also to my PhD tutor Prof. Dr. J. Platenkamp. His continually constructive and helpful critique substantially contributed to the completion of this thesis. But above all my thanks go to Dave Hegarty. His love, patience and understanding were an inexhaustible source for strength and support. Ohne die Hilfe meiner Eltern, Anne und Johann Hezel, wäre es mir nicht möglich gewesen, ein Jahr in Irland zu verbringen. Ihnen gilt daher mein ganz besonderer Dank. Ohne ihr stets wohlwollendes Verständnis und ihre Unterstützung wäre diese Arbeit nicht zustande gekommen. Besonderen Dank schulde ich Sabine Bruchmann und Max Schmidt. Beide sind eine unerschöpfliche Quelle der Freundschaft und haben mir in schwierigen Zeiten zur Seite gestanden. Danken möchte ich auch Maik Lindner, Annegret und Klaus Lindner, die mich in vielerlei Hinsicht auf den Weg gebracht haben. Contents 1 Introduction.....................................................................................................1 1.1 General research questions and structure of the study...................1 1.2 Status quo of research....................................................................3 2 Terminology and theoretical background .......................................................5 2.1 Culture ...........................................................................................5 2.2 Identity...........................................................................................7 2.3 Cultural Identity...........................................................................10 2.3.1 Cultural identity as a total social fact ..........................15 2.4 Archaeology and the construction of identity..............................16 2.5 Symbols, representation and identity...........................................22 2.6 The construction and application of cultural identity..................24 2.7 The terms Celt and Celtic ............................................................29 2.7.1 Images of Celticness...........................................................35 3 General information and historical background ...........................................37 3.1 Geographical and demographical information about Ireland ......37 3.2 Ireland before the Normans .........................................................38 3.3 The Norman invasion ..................................................................41 3.4 The rising of 1641, the Cromwellian era and the Protestant Kingdom .....................................................................44 3.5 Protestant Ascendancy, the Act of Union and Catholic emancipation .................................................................45 3.6 Home Rule, Gaelic Revival and Independence movement .........48 3.7 The Easter Rising and Independence...........................................49 3.8 From Free State to today’s Republic ...........................................52 4 The construction and application of Celtic identity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ................................................54 4.1 Celtic mythology as a source for group mobilisation..................54 4.2 The sources of mythology in Ireland...........................................57 4.3 The four mythological cycles ......................................................59 4.4 The use of Celtic mythology in the cultural nationalism of Ireland......................................................................................62 4.4.1 Cultural nationalism.....................................................62 4.4.2 Celtic mythology in cultural nationalism ....................67 4.5 The use of Celtic “material remains” in the cultural nationalism in Ireland.....................................................78 4.6 Celtic motifs in the aftermath of the Independence.....................87 4.7 Celtic identity (re)constructed .....................................................91 5 Contemporary application and representation of “Celtic” identity.............100 5.1 “Celtic” in contemporary Ireland – an introducing overview ...100 5.2 The role of Celticness in formal education................................101 5.3 The role of Celticness in the religious environment..................105 5.4 The presentation of Ireland through internet resources .............111 5.5 Contemporary application of Celtic identity in the tourism industry.........................................................................115 5.5.1 Presentation of Celtic Ireland – Tourism-industry ....120 5.5.2 Celtic Souvenirs.........................................................124 5.6 Celtic in businesses and enterprises...........................................128 5.7 Celtic jewellery..........................................................................131 I 5.8 Using the Celt and Celticness in modern politics......................134 5.8.1 The Galway City Development Board ......................139 5.9 Uses of Celtic material in media, public culture and private life ...........................................................................141 5.10 Discourses of Celtic identity in contemporary Ireland..............144 6 Cultural identity and Celticness ..................................................................151 6.1 Representation and applications of Celtic identity in the different domains of social life........................................151 6.2 Commoditisation of cultural identity?.......................................157 7 Summary.....................................................................................................166 Plates................................................................................................................169 Bibliography ....................................................................................................184 Films and TV series.........................................................................................218 Online publications..........................................................................................219 Web sites..........................................................................................................220 Zusammenfassung in deutscher Sprache.........................................................222 Curriculum Vitae .............................................................................................225 List of Figures Figure 1: The establishment of Celticness as part of cultural identity in Ireland .............................................................. 152 Figure 2: The reinforcement of cultural identity ............................................ 163 List of Plates Plate 1: Frontispiece by Frederic Burton for The Spirit of the Nation ........... 169 Plate 2: Halfpenny from 1975 with harp and Celtic bird................................ 169 Plate 3: National emblems; Picture heading a letter in the Dublin Penny Journal from 7th of July 1832........................................................... 170 Plate 4: Celtic Crosses in the college graveyard at Maynooth, Co. Kildare... 170 Plate 5: High cross of Ellen and William Burke in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin .............................................................................. 171 Plate 6: Celtic Cross in the graveyard of Carraroe, County Galway.............. 171 Plate 7: Detail of a façade in Grafton Street, Dublin, c. 1836 ....................... 172 Plate 8: Façade of the Central Hotel at Listowel, Co. Kerry .......................... 172 Plate 9: Painted vault in the Letterkenny Cathedral, Co. Donegal ................. 173 Plate 10: Stencilled decoration in an oratory of the Dominican Convent in Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin................................................................ 173 Plate 11: Carnegie Library, Limerick ............................................................. 174 Plate 12: Back of chasuble designed for the Honan Chapel........................... 174 Plate 13: Silver monstrance for Honan Chapel, Cork .................................... 175 Plate 14: Silver sugar bowl, paraphrasing the Ardagh Chalice ...................... 175 Plate 15: Title page of Samuel Ferguson’s The Cromlech on Howth ............ 176 Plate 16: Special issue stamp for the commemoration of the 75 th anniversary of the Easter Rising............................................... 176 Plate 17: