MIGRATION AND IRELAND THROUGH TIME.

COMING SOON!

Proceedings of the 6th National Monuments Service annual archaeology conference. 

Imirce, the title of the National Monuments Service sixth annual archaeology conference in 2023, means ‘migration’ or ‘change of abode’. Ireland was first populated by people who changed their abodes to come here and has, in turn, seen waves of people migrate outward to the far corners of the world.

Before, these flows were documented on paper or recorded in folk memory. The development of scientific archaeology has uncovered evidence of migration through studying structural remains, artefacts and items of material culture. Today, new tools such as ancient DNA analysis and measurement of isotope ratios in human bone can pinpoint where a single body buried long ago, a person, came from or grew up, and how all their journeys left a mark in the DNA of modern populations. They tell us of Ireland’s connections with the wider world, through traders, raiders, scholars, settlers, refugees, miners, colonizers and colonized. They caution, also, that origin, identity and legacy are not always as we assume.

The conference Imirce: Migration and Ireland through Time provided stimulating insights into how identities evolved in response to new contexts and the many identities that have contributed to Irish society over time.

Contributors:

Dr Susan Arthure, Paul Duffy, Giselle González García, Dr Edmund Gilbert, Dr Kieran O’Conor, Geraldine Stout, Professor Graeme Warren and Dr Jacqueline Cahill.

Peigin Doyle is an author, journalist and PR consultant based in Sligo. Her specialist areas are history, heritage and archaeology. She has previously published in these areas for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and for Wordwell Books.