Colonising the Past:  The Antiquarian Study of the Past in Ireland from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries

Elizabeth O'Donoghue

Figure 1: A letter from Edward Lhuyd, second keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, to Sir Hans Sloane (Sloane MS 4041, p.265-6, British Library)

The aim of this research is to analyse the study of the material remains of the past in terms of its consequences for contemporary societies.  In recent times there has been a good deal of critical analysis of the history of the discipline of archaeology as it developed both in Ireland and abroad.  The role of the past in the construction of relationships and identities in the present is well recognised and is an area to which archaeology readily lends itself.  As such the analysis of antiquarian activity in Ireland from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries looks to a period of heightened social, political and economic pressures.  Historicising the manner in which ideas on the material past were formulated against intertwining historical circumstances of Renaissance learning and increasing colonial aggression allows us to question some present day assumptions on what is important in archaeology.

Antiquarianism is recognised by a number of authors as the natural precursor to archaeology proper and grew in momentum from the sixteenth century onwards.  The collection and collation of information, inspired in no small part by encounters with peoples from colonised territories, stimulated new ideas in method and practice.  It was during this time that learned societies and journals began to emerge as the respected forum for debate on what they considered worthy subjects of discussion.  These in turn were tied in to the institution or academe and from here a set of more bounded disciplines began to emerge.  The university then became the repository or 'keeper' of knowledge on the past with the discipline of archaeology eventually developing to deal with the material remains of humanity's past. 

Some histories of archaeology present a 'grand narrative' account of its development towards increasingly sophisticated method, theory and practice.  However a growing body of work within archaeology is asking important questions regarding this model of development and emphasising the importance of a social history of the discipline and the profession.  Issues such as whose history is in fact being recorded and whose voices are being heard, ignored or indeed silenced are increasingly tied into discussions on the nature of hegemony and power and archaeology's role in past and present society.

As such antiquarian activity in Ireland from the sixteenth century, which was mainly carried out or directed by gentleman scholars of English background, needs to be understood as part of the 'colonial moment' of Great Britain.  Their work fed into a growing discourse on Ireland and the different communities on the island, as well as feeding into the larger colonial discourse on subject peoples. 

Research for this work has been interdisciplinary in nature, bringing together ideas from archaeology, sociology, history, anthropology, philosophy, literary theory and cultural studies.  This has been firstly by examining antiquarian tracts by individuals such as William Camden and Edward Lhuyd.  Other literary and political works have also been examined, such as the work of the Elizabethan landowner, commentator and poet Edmund Spencer, or that of the seventeenth century political economist and author of the Down Survey, William Petty.  Scholars from within what is considered the Gaelic tradition of antiquarianism, such as Dubhhaltach MacFhirbhisigh and the 'Old English' Geoffrey Keating have also been consulted.

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