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This book published in 2006 challenges current trends in thinking about Ireland and Celticity. Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary outlooks – including Archaeology, Folklore, Linguistics, History, Genetics and more – the author asserts that the pre-Celtic people’s cultures, and their contributions to traditional and modern Irish life, have been vastly under-appreciated. This work seeks to understand why this is so, and to redress that balance by partaking in an investigation of the evidence as well as by demonstrating how that evidence has been constructed. The author does not assume a priori neither the “invasion” hypothesis of Celtic people and cultures, nor the “immobilism” hypothesis which states that the idea of the Celts is a recent one, unconnected to actual peoples in the past. The result is a detailed study into the varied processes involved in the creation of the past, and a new, if perhaps controversial, picture of “Celtic” Ireland.
"If Jackson saw a window onto the Iron Age in the Ulster Epics, my own view would include a much deeper temporality for the sí tradition and strong links to pre-Celtic peoples. It is these peoples, their efforts, religious outlook, and their stories, that comprise the largest share of folklore in Ireland." Page 124.
"The sí tradition is one of the most extensive of Irish folklore, and the one most
often connected with notions of pre-Celtic peoples. In the Old Irish anecdote De Gabáil int Shídhe
(“The Taking of the Sí”), among other tracts, the Gaels, after conquering territory, needed to establish
treaties with the people of the sí to legitimize their claims. Sims-Williams is in agreement with Carey
that the word sí is likely to be of pre-Celtic origin. Koch sums up the situation by stating that “The
Irish síd tradition is thus a deflected continuity in which the Megalithic Age is accurately connected
with mysteries of sun, moon, and eternity.” Page 116. |
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Reviews of Ireland’s Pre-Celtic Archaeological and Anthropological Heritage
“Dr. Thompson brings a fresh outlook to his subject, which is essentially an
investigation of Gaelic prehistory. He draws on a wide range of sources, both
primary and secondary, in several fields of scholarship. He has lived in Ireland and learned the Irish language;
“This will be a controversial book, but that is the fate of big arguments which
offer big challenges to common assumptions. Its originality lies in its integration of evidence from modern
ethnography, ancient and modern history, and archaeology, a blend of evidence that makes it difficult to
dismiss as simply special pleading from a single perspective. [Dr. Thompson’s] reassessment of Irish prehistory
and its cultural appropriations shows promise of
furthering a productive dialogue among philologists, folklorists, anthropologists,
historians and scholars in cultural studies.”
“This book constitutes a unique contribution to an area of study and research which is much spoken of but
is rarely the subject of courageous and imaginative treatment ... In view of the
increasing demand for more minute knowledge of the total background to
Irish heritage and the desire by many to partake in that heritage, the inclusive
nature of this book will be highly valued. Many of the interpretations given will help generate further debate,
and I have no doubt but that the book will become an important element in
Irish discourse over a wide plane ...”
“Dr. Thompson has written a fascinating scholarly monograph of the pre-Celtic heritage of Ireland…I
believe Thompson has been highly successful in achieving his stated goal.
Thompson uses a multidisciplinary approach to try and get behind the official discourse on Ireland, drawing
upon a number of disciplines to get as compete a picture as possible.…
Thompson has added an important voice to a better understanding of Ireland's Gaelic pre-history. His book
will be used by scholars working in this field for years to come.”
Dr. Ruth Ragovin,
Book Contents - Ireland’s Pre-Celtic Archaeological and Anthropological Heritage
Dr. Tok Freeland Thompson is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Irish-Scottish Studies, Trinity College, Dublin. He obtained his Ph.D. in
Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Thompson
has taught at the University of California, Berkeley; Trinity College,
Dublin; the University of Iceland; and the University of Ulster. Boyne Valley Tours
Private Tour with pick up and return to your accommodation.
Newgrange World Heritage site, the 10th century High Crosses at Monasterboice,
Hill of Tara the seat of the High Kings, Bective Abbey and Trim Castle
the largest Norman castle in Ireland
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