The dynamic quality of Irish rural settlement

McCourt, Desmond

essay

The dynamic quality of Irish rural settlement

man and his habitat: essays presented to emyr estyn evans • New York • Published In 1971 • Pages: 126-164

By: McCourt, Desmond.

Abstract
This is a review of historical studies of Irish settlement patterns. Nucleated and communal land owning settlements were once considered by scholars to be traditional Celtic or tribal arrangements emerging from the Iron Age. However, recent studies reveal that a flexible scheme of nucleated and dispersed settlements and joint and individual ownership co-existed, and were influenced by terrain, soil fertility, type of farming, population size, and land fragmentation. A progressive subdivision of ancestral holdings led to the communal landholding [n]rundale[/n] system. The descendants of the founding families formed larger and wider kindred associations ([n]fine[/n]) whose members grouped their houses around the original family farmstead to form nucleated settlements, or [n]clachans[/n]. The breakup of the [n]rundale[/n] system occurred when Anglo-Norman landlords confiscated land to form their estates. By 1780 less than five percent of Irish land remained in native hands. Dispersed settlements predominate, although nucleated settlements are still found in remote parts of the island.

Historical and archival research

Topography and geology

HRAF PubDate

2016