Sites of memory in the Irish landscape? Approaching ogham stones through memory studies

Abstract

The nexus between landscape, identity formation(s) and cultural memory has long been of interest to archaeology, cultural geography and other disciplines in the humanities. This article suggests that in medieval and early modern Irish texts, the depiction of monuments addresses precisely this complex relationship. On the basis of close readings of textual excerpts and a critical engagement with Pierre Nora's idea of lieux de mémoire it will be argued that the cognitive interplay between literary-imagined and archaeological-material monuments enabled the medieval Irish literati to situate themselves within the world they inhabited both spatially and culturally. The article thus contributes substantially to our understanding of the material aspects of social remembrance and advocates the potential benefits of including the extremely rich Irish textual and archaeological sources into broader, interdisciplinary discussions.