Archaeology and Mythical Landscapes of Atlantic Ireland

This field-based module explores the interplay between myth, legend and landscape in Atlantic Ireland. It introduces the student to the archaeologies and topographies of some of the landscapes that were the settings for tales in the four major cycles of early Irish literary tradition, with a special focus on the Connacht landscapes associated with tales from the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle and the Fenian Cycle. Among these are the extensive cliff-top fort of Dún Aonghasa, the mythical abode of the Fir Bolg, perched at the edge of sea cliffs on Inis Mór, Aran Islands; Crúachan and Carn Fraoich in County Roscommon and their associations with the mythical King Ailill and Queen Medb and the warrior Fraoch; The Caves of Kesh at Keshcorran and the Otherworld encounters of Finn mac Cumaill, and Queen Meabh's Cairn on the summit of Knocknarea, County Sligo. The module, which incorporates the results of archaeological surveys and excavations in these landscapes, will discuss how monuments and their settings became mnemonic pegs for tales and how they themselves may also have been the very sources of the tales.