Digital Commons Network^™

Bloody Sunday, Bloody Ireland, Bloody Textiles, Catherine Harper Phd

Arts and Design

The fabric of the island of Ireland is marked by the leakage of persistent sores and unhealed wounds borne by the unhealed messy flesh of the national body, which is symbolically swaddled, shrouded, stifled and sheltered by cloth. Ireland is a stained and bloodied cloth, marked irreversibly by conflict and abuse, bloodied by repression and denial, sullied by hunger and history. Blood, flowing from stigmata onto cloth, haemorrhage in extremis from wounds, real or imagined, is steeped deep into the Irish psyche, reflecting a narrative of abjection, sacrifice, memory and mourning.

The Stained & Bloody Cloths Of Ireland: A Material Culture View Of Irish Shame, Oppression, Morality And Repression., Catherine Harper Ph.D

Arts and Design

The Stained and Bloody Cloths of Ireland presents a textiles and material culture view of Irish shame, oppression, morality and repression.

Ireland – north and south – has sustained significant change in the last 100 years, since partial independence from Britain, accelerating at the end of the twentieth century with legalisation of contraception, divorce, gay marriage, the end – or at least reduction – of the ‘Troubles’ in the North, and freedom to choose abortion and reproductive autonomy.

In parallel to this, many instances of societal and ecclesiastical abuse, sexual repression, superstition and cruelty, have come to light through a …

Adam Kucharski: Placing Poland At The Heart Of Irishness, John A. Merchant

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Adam Kucharski: Placing Poland at the Heart of Irishness. Irish Political Elites in Relation to Poland and the Poles in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. (Polish Studies – Transdisciplinary Perspectives, Bd. 29.) Peter Lang. Berlin u. a. 2020. 274 S., Ill., Kt. ISBN 978-3-631-81817-6. (€ 59,95.)

In order for a field of studies to be accepted as legitimate or viable there first needs to exist a collective body of scholarly work that elevates it above that of a niche interest or passing trend. The work under review is the latest in what can be now called without …

The Red Hand/S Of Ulster (Lámh Dhearg Uladh) And Other Bloody Irish Flags..., Catherine Harper Professor

Arts and Design

This author has written elsewhere context, value, power and significance of blood and bloody markings on textile artefacts – cloth, clothing, flags, banners, menstrual pads, birth- stained sheets, blood-marked bandages, death-stained prison blankets. These have become either revered and roseate relics, as key to the Irish nation's history as those of sanctified saints, or reddish symbols redolent of national abjection, revulsion and shame (see also Volume 8, Politics and Power).

Defining Gastrocriticism As A Critical Paradigm On The Example Of Irish Literature And Food Writing: A Vade Mecum, Anke Klitzing

Doctoral

The aim of this study is to map out the gastrocritical approach, using Irish literature and writing to test its premises, and to provide a vade mecum for its practical application, particularly for interdisciplinary scholars. The gastrocritical approach furnishes a “culinary lens” for reading food and foodways in imaginative texts, informed by work in the field of food studies and gastronomy. The approach was broadly characterised by Tobin in 2002, but only sparsely used since. The past fifteen years have seen an increasing self-awareness and reflexivity in the field of literary food studies. As the field matures, there have been …

A Material Culture View Of Irish Shame, Oppression, Morality And Repression., Catherine Harper Ph.D

Arts and Design

Ireland – North and South – has sustained significant change in the last 100 years, accelerating at the end of the twentieth century with legalisation of contraception, divorce, gay marriage, the end – or at least reduction – of the ‘Troubles’ in the North, and freedom to choose abortion and reproductive autonomy.

In parallel to this, many instances of societal and ecclesiastical abuse, sexual repression, superstition and cruelty, have come to light through a series of scandals including the use of unmarried mothers as unpaid labour in laundries throughout Ireland until the mid-1990s, the deaths of women in hidden childbirth …

‘The Magic Of Flowers’: An Explorative Study Into The Ways Floral Decorations Influence The Experience Of Guests In A Food Setting, In Contemporary Ireland, Johanna Banaditsch

Dissertations

This research project explores the influence of floral decorations on the experience of a diner in a food setting in contemporary Ireland by examining what and how dining experiences are designed, where floral decorations are relevant in this context and how they specifically influence people in these settings.

The research was conducted using the philosophical worldview of interpretivism. In order to answer the five sub-research questions and thus achieve the research aim, the research draws on existing literature on hospitality experiences, literature on the influence of flowers and qualitative primary research conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews with flower providers and …

Exploring The Fifth Quarter: An Enquiry Into Offal Eating In Contemporary Irish Food Culture, Its History, And Its Future, Niall Toner

Dissertations

Animal offal and organ meats seem to have all but disappeared from domestic cuisine in Ireland, despite the recent renaissance in the country’s food culture. This thesis has examined the extent and nature of the consumption of these comestibles in contemporary Irish food culture, and the perceived decline in offal’s popularity in Ireland in the past fifty years. It also sought to discover whether offal and organ meats might have a place in the future of our cuisine, and whether the consumption of more offal and organ meats in Ireland might contribute towards a more sustainable food production system, and …

Softening Corners: How A Carefully Considered Hospitality Operation Impacted An Educational Institution, Jennie Moran

Dissertations

Enter quickly, as I am afraid of my happiness!

(Derrida, 2000, p.131)

This research project is an attempt to bridge the gap between the philosophical ideals of hospitality and the hospitality industry, by examining how a carefully considered hospitality operation impacted an educational institution over the course of eight years. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the application of the philosophical ideals to a commercial hospitality setting yielded profoundly positive results. The primary research was compiled by the author conducting a case study of her own food business, Luncheonette which was located in the National College of …

Artcareer: Working As An Artist In The Regions Of The Republic Of Ireland Today: A Policy Report, Deirdre Mcquillan, Elizabeth Keating

Books

The ARTCAREER project began with trying to understand the problem of how artists can build more sustainable careers. Talented artists that dedicate much of their working lives to studying and creating art often exist in virtual poverty or rely on the financial support of family to supplement professional careers...ARTCAREER aims to make the working lives of artists in regional towns more visible and to create a range of outputs from evidence collected.

29th Annual Roger Williams University School Of Law Barrister's Ball 2-11-2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Review: Mary Kenny, The Way We Were: Catholic Ireland Since 1922, Eamon Maher

Articles

Book review: Mary Kenny, The Way We Were: Catholic Ireland Since 1922 (Dublin: Columba Books, 2022), 450 pages.

Material/Maternal Ireland, Catherine Harper Ph.D

Arts and Design

This presentation tells the stories of cloth and clothing, textiles and materials that have been actually or symbolically stained by blood or other body fluids in Ireland’s last 100 years – since partial independence from Britain.

The Failure Of Religious Conversion: Mormon Missionaries In Ireland Between 1850 And 1870, Hadleigh F. Weber

Student Research Projects

Ireland in 1850 was full of empty potato fields and people that were closer to death than their next meal. The country was in the throes of one of the worst famines in history. The Irish Potato Famine decreased the population of Ireland by 20-25% between 1845 and 1851. Despite the bleak time in the country's history, missionaries of different religions continued to flock to Ireland in hopes of converting the dwindling population. Missionaries were almost always met with resistance from both the largely Catholic population and the minority Protestant population. These denominations had a long history of conflict with …

An Investigative Analysis On Female Presence And Highly Ranked Positions In Professional Kitchens In Ireland, Roann Byrne

Dissertations

This study aims to gain an understanding of the state of the cheffing industry currently, to analyse whether there is a lack of women within the industry particularly in positions of high power. This research intends to understand the causes for the lack and showcase possible solutions and recommendations for this. It exists as a role of advocacy; hoping to inspire more people into the career of cheffing, and to retain women within it. It aspires to challenge and thus forth change the narratives that have pushed many people, particularly women, out of this work for so long. This research …

Brigid Of Kildare: The Saint Who Got A Facelift, Aimee Hunt

Student Research

On the outskirts of Papal authority, early medieval Ireland created its own Christian identity separate from other European nations closer to Rome. Saint Brigid of Kildare, one of the patron saints of Ireland, played important yet problematic roles in that identity. After her death, the church began to alter her history. Being a female bishop, performing the first recorded abortion, and having both men and women within her monastery, Brigid had trodden on the male-dominated system in a way that few women had. Deemed unacceptable but having already been sainted, the Catholic church gave Brigid a holy facelift.

Ordinary And Extraordinary Images: Making Visible The Operations Of Stock Photography In Posters Against The Repeal Of The 8th Amendment, Ann Curran

Articles

The operations of stock photographs, as utilised by the Irish anti-abortion lobby, have not been examined before. Many of the ‘Vote No’ posters in the 2018 Irish referendum campaign on the 8th amendment maintained a visual and textual focus on foetal personhood: asking the Irish electorate to ‘love both,’ while deploying a range of stock photographs. In this article, I trace specific stock images used on anti-abortion posters against Repeal back to their online image bank sources. I make visible the role of generic or stereotypical photographs in anti-abortion messaging, in the knowledge that stock photographs often function best when …

Ann Flood, Mairéad Farrell, And The Representation Of Armed Femininity In Irish Republican Ballads, Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

This article critically considers the representation of armed femininity within the attendant song tradition of Irish physical-force Republicanism, with specific focus on the personal and cultural consequences for two prominent female Republican activists, both of whom successfully traverse the gender demarcation lines of war. While noting the didactic, often misogynistic, trajectory of works narrating ‘transgressive’ females within the broader ballad tradition, this article seeks to determine whether or not the interwoven essentialist tropes of death, martyrdom and resurrection — all deeply-embedded ideological constructs within the framework of Irish Republicanism — successfully supersede calcified patriarchal mores and in so doing, facilitate …

How Irish Food Criticism Reflected And Helped Shape A Changing Nation, 1988-2008, Diarmuid Cawley, Claire O' Mahony

Articles

The perception and practice of eating out are linked to larger socioeconomic patterns. Newspaper restaurant reviews provide evidence of these trends which can be traced along a specific timeline. The early 1980s in Ireland were a difficult time for restaurants due to high taxes on food, a national recession and a lack of positive restaurant reviews. The economic upturn in the following decade contributed to unprecedented developments in the restaurant industry. Dining out became a regular activity – fueled in part by restaurant criticism by Irish food journalists, which joined pre-existing theatre, music and book reviews as regular features in …

Exploring Food Traditions Within The Four Quarter Days Of The Irish Calendar Year, Caitríona Nic Philibín

Dissertations

This study explores food traditions in the four quarter days of the Irish calendar year. Imbolg or St. Brigid’s Day, Bealtaine, Lughnasa and Samhain mark significant moments in the agricultural calendar. Food traditions, customs and practices relating to these days are recorded in the abundant resources of the collections in the Folklore Department, University College Dublin. However, to date, with few exceptions, little food specific research has been carried out on these collections. This thesis aims to begin to fill that gap whilst highlighting many opportunities for further research. Throughout this process we witness the illumination of a rich food …

A Critical Analysis Of Gender Inequality In The Chef Profession In Ireland, Mary M. Farrell Phd

Dissertations

As an original piece of research, this dissertation investigates the factors that contribute to gender inequality in the chef profession in Ireland. The aims of the study sought to establish the extent of gender inequality and the factors that contribute to it in the chef profession in Ireland. The first national gender inequality survey was designed to collect empirical and qualitative data of the chef profession. Joan Acker’s (1990) original theory of gendered organisations and Connell’s (1995) concept of hegemonic masculinity were employed to undertake a systematic gender analysis of the data emanating the survey. This analysis reveals, for the …

Hunger, Capitalism, And Modern Gothic Literature, Becky Tynan

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In Ireland, the Great Famine of the 1840s caused not only hunger and starvation, but also diseases, emigration, and a rupture in the social framework. Many social critics of the time argued that a lack of food came from an imbalance in society between those who could afford to eat and those who could not. Hunger was described as a disease because British colonial society depended on feeding citizens from its economic and political menu. Irish people under British landlords lacked the ability to own land outright and this supported an inequality in land ownership that in turn affected government …

What It Was & What I Know: Attempts At Family History, Katherine Reardon

Honors College

Family stories and family histories are contingent on how they are remembered. As these stories are passed down, the ways that they are remembered can change, with the truthful aspects of these stories disappearing over time. As a result, many family stories are not necessarily truthful, but this does not discount their value. The aim of this project is to explore these ideas while also answering the following question: to what extent are family stories bound by the ‘truth’? In order to answer this question, I have explored my own family stories that I know may not be true and …

An Investigation Into The Food Related Traditions Associated With The Christmas Period In Rural Ireland, Stephanie Byrne, Kathleen Farrell

Articles

The interdisciplinary nature of food studies lends itself to the study of food through many avenues, most notably in this research, through folklore and the oral history transcripts of the Schools’ Collection made by the Irish Folklore Commission in 1937–1938. Folklore can give us an insight into sometimes overlooked features of society and how people’s lives can be studied and highlighted through their relationship with food. The Christmas period was an extremely important time in Irish tradition, and food was a main aspect of that celebration. This paper, therefore, at first delves into the literature surrounding Christmas, folklore, and food; …

The Pedal Harp Tradition In Ireland (C.1790-1900): Practitioners, Pedagogy, Trade And Repertoire, Clare Mccague

Doctoral

This study examines the European pedal harp tradition in Ireland in the period c.1790-1900. Steered by collections of nineteenth-century pedal harp repertoire, and hinged on data extracted from newspaper archives, it addresses a lacuna in harp-focused scholarship, by illuminating the significance of the pedal harp tradition in nineteenth-century Irish musical life and reviving nineteenth-century pedal harp repertoire of Irish interest.

The evolution of the pedal harp tradition in Ireland was influenced by multiple personalities. Foreign pedal harpists, including Nicholas Charles Bochsa (1789-1856), Charles Oberthür (1819-1895) and Aptommas (1829-1913), had a significant impact on the tradition and travelled regularly to Ireland …

Situated Immersive Gaming Environments For Irish Language Learning, Naoise Collins

Doctoral

In this thesis, three cycles of design based research are outlined, implementing a situated immersive virtual reality game for Irish language learning. It was undertaken in order to investigate a potential technological solution to improve the limited number of daily Irish adult speakers in Ireland, 3%. It examines the intersection between game based learning, Irish language learning and virtual reality technology and the methodological approach undertaken follows a design based research paradigm. The research focus is on motivation and anxiety through interaction with a virtual reality game. It offers several contributions to current literature including: The utilisation of the Second …

From The Dark Margins To The Spotlight: The Evolution Of Gastronomy And Food Studies In Ireland, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

Books/Book Chapters

For many years, food was seen as too quotidian and belonging to the domestic sphere, and therefore to women, which excluded it from any serious study or consideration in academia. This chapter tracks the evolution of gastronomy and food studies in Ireland. It charts the development of gastronomy as a cultural field, originally in France, to its emergence as an academic discipline with a particular Irish inflection. It details the progress that food history and culinary education have made in Ireland, suggesting that a new liberal / vocational model of culinary education, which commenced in 1999, has helped transform the …

The North Sky And The Otherworld: Journeys Of The Dead In The Neolithic Considered, Frank Prendergast

Book/Book Chapter

The majority of Irish passage tombs (c. 230) predominantly date to the Middle Neolithic (c. 3600–3000 BC). A small number of summit cairns may also contain passage tombs because of their round form, proximity and intervisibility. The island’s passage tombs and related cairns share distinguishing characteristics – elevated siting, visibility and long-range views of distant horizons in varying directions of the compass. This chapter presents the findings of the first scenic analysis of the horizon and views at these sites recorded at an island scale. The method uses measured orientations of horizon sectors related to observed variation in horizon range. …

The Partition Of Ireland: Anglo-Irish Relations As Reflected In A Political Idea, Cian G. Mceneaney

Honors Program Theses and Projects

After years of postponement, and at the time of writing, Britain is set to leave the European Union on December 31, 2020, after complications mainly due to the new-age “Irish Question:'' how to handle the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the south?

The Culturally Capitalised Graduate: Toward A Wider Reading Experience For Undergraduate Students, Sue Norton

Books/Book Chapters

This essay considers higher education policy in Ireland that, in limited optional ways, is diversifying the undergraduate curriculum to incorporate wider reading across disciplines. Such policies, now gaining traction, aim to foster greater graduate employability, understood as the resilience and resourcefulness to secure positions in the workplace over time, and in fluctuating periods of supply and demand; they also support graduates to live more meaningfully in society. This essay’s three sections draw upon several sources including a business consultancy website, journal articles, and academic papers and reports. It extrapolates in particular from the research of Julia Preece and Anne-Marie Houghton …