article
Colonialism and community structure in western Ireland
Ethnohistory • 27 (2) • Published In 1980 • Pages: 169-181
By: Taylor, Lawrence J..
Abstract
In this article, the author attempts to explain the structure and development of two "ideal" types of rural Irish community not just in terms of ecological adaptation, but in terms of landownership and dominant social relations. Contemporary patterns of settlement and social relations are viewed as a recent stage in an "ongoing historical dialectic" between peasants, local circumstances and ruling elites. For example, the idealized dispersed stem-family farmsteads described by others for County Clare were a consequence of families trying to keep property intact, passing to a single heir in reaction to an historical trend of dividing tenancies. The communal structure of coastal communities in County Donegal was maintained in spite of land division because of agnatically organized commercial fishing. The author is adamant in noting that any superficially apparent similarity with past settlement patterns and communal forms such as the [n]clachan[/n] is not attributable to the perseverance of tradition.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2016
- Region
- Europe
- Sub Region
- British Isles
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard; 2014
- Field Date
- 1973, 1976
- Coverage Date
- 1500-1973
- Coverage Place
- Teelin, County Donegal, Ulster, Ireland
- Notes
- Lawrence J. Taylor
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCN
- 57043343
- LCSH
- Ireland--Rural conditions