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Research Update | October 2018

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on October 3, 2018 – 1:59 pm
Filed under Anthropology, Research

 

 

 

Reading Haddon …

Four years ago, I was given the job of finding out what exactly was going on in the Dublin Anthropometric Laboratory, which was established in TCD in 1891. My research has focussed on the Laboratory’s programme of ethnographic surveys in the west of Ireland, which were conducted by “head-hunters” Alfred Cort Haddon and Charles R. Browne between 1892 and 1900.

The main question is this: what do the surveys tell us about the development of (1) social documentary photography in Ireland and (2) a western imaginary based on island life in the west of Ireland? My research also considers the ethical and practical implications of placing material from the laboratory–including anatomical specimens–into the public domain, especially in the context of debates about the relation between body, image, and identity in contemporary Ireland.

 

BBC Northern Ireland on location in “Old” Anatomy TCD in 2018. Brendan Holland and Martina Hennessy, TCD School of Medicine, discuss the relevance of historic anatomical/anthropological specimens to current medical research (see the Giant Gene)

 

Four years on the project is entering its final phase. The tricky task of converting extensive  work on primary sources in Dublin and Cambridge is well underway and slowly taking shape as a text. This text is structured around the idea of murderous, little facts from the hidden spaces of anthropology in Ireland. These facts have produced some interesting results; not least the need for some radical new thinking about the history of anthropology as a whole.

 

Ugly Little Facts: Aidan Baker, Librarian of the Haddon Library in Cambridge, with a collection of papers relating to the Aran Islands. The documents were placed in an envelope in 1913 and “lost.” They were rediscovered in 2013 in a search for Haddon’s notes and/or other papers relating to “The Ethnography of the Aran Islands, County Galway” (Haddon &  Browne 1893). 

 

Murderous Little Facts

The origin of this trope–ugly little facts–comes from an unlikely source. Thomas Henry Huxley is credited with coining the phrase in a conversation recalled by Francis Galton in his memoirs (1908).  Herbert Spencer revealed in conversation that he once wrote a tragedy. Huxley declared that the ‘catastrophe had to be a ‘beautiful theory killed by a nasty ugly little fact.’

My theory–or historiographical framework perhaps–is that the disciplinary history of anthropology operates around a foundational trope. Haddon is represented as taking anthropology out of the armchair and into the field in 1898; after he had escaped from the Darwinian backwater that was Dublin in the 1890s. That claim is not supported by facts in the Haddon papers and related sources but, repeated often enough, it has become a form of disciplinary folklore that has compressed the history of anthropology and circumscribed narratives like that of the  Dublin Anthropometric Laboratory.

 

Reading Haddon: A small section of the Haddon Papers in Cambridge University Library.

 

The strategy I have adopted in response is to use overlooked primary sources as “tropocidal” facts; using ugly, little facts gleaned from the forgotten spaces of anthropology to kill off the armchair trope and suggest some alternative narratives. The Dublin Anthropometric Laboratory, in this scenario,  becomes  (1) the site of a  struggle for disciplinary authority between conservative (biological) and radical (sociological) elements within “organised” anthropology in the 1890s, (2) an agent of the development of an equally radical, photo-ethnographic practice in fieldwork associated with the Laboratory and (3) the starting point for John Millington Synge’s exploration of peasant life in the West of Ireland.

 

 

Photography as ethnography: a photograph taken by Browne on the Great Blasket Island in 1897.  The man in the middle is Tomás Ó Criomhtain, An tOileánach, one of the most celebrated figures of the Blasket Island Community and an important figure in folklore studies in Ireland. Photograph courtesy of the Board of TCD.

 

Forgotten Spaces

This study is  grounded in the discovery of artefacts,  records, and photographs associated with the Dublin Anthropometric Laboratory, which prompted a new reading of Haddon’s association with it. In 2014 Siobhán Ward of TCD started unpacking tea chests containing a substantial collection of historical material from the School of Anatomy.  This material included specimens, instruments, records, paper and a spectacular collection of glass plate negatives dating from 1890. This material had ‘disappeared’ in 1948 when it was placed in long-term storage under the theatre in the “Old” Anatomy Building.

Reconstruction of the anthropological collection began in February 2016 and the contents of the tea chests have since been recorded, sorted, and tallied with related material in other collections in Ireland and UK. It wasn’t long before a gap opened up between the conventional history of pre-modern anthropology in Ireland and the ugly little facts —documentary and material— that had  emerged from “Old” Anatomy.

 

“Unpacking” the Dublin Anthropometric Laboratory in 2016. An early photograph showing the anatomical and anthropological material discovered in the “Old” Anatomy building in 2014. The records of the Laboratory and associated artefacts are visible in the foreground. They include the schedules of measurements taken in the Aran Islands in 1892, Daniel J. Cunningham’s cast of the cranial topography of a chimpanzee, and some of the psychometric instruments designed by Francis Galton.

 

Finally …

“Unpacking” the Laboratory has become, unexpectedly, a confrontation with the historiography of anthropology. This has meant spending just over two years reading what Haddon wrote – rather than reading about what Haddon was thought to have done – and this  has produced some interesting new narratives.

 

This part of the project will conclude in 2019 … hopefully.

 

Ciarán Walsh | Oct 3, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

Jane W. Shackleton: Pioneering Photographer and Unsung Hero of the Gaelic Revival

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on October 28, 2015 – 8:12 pm
Filed under Journalism, Photography, Research

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Jane W.  Shackleton’s singular contribution to the Gaelic Revival has been seriously undervalued. Ciarán Walsh takes another look at the work of this pioneering photographer. In his latest post on the Ballymaclinton blog Walsh questions why Shackleton’s career as a pioneer of social documentary photography been seriously undervalued.

 

 

Fairscin Inise / An Island Portrait is a big hit in the Outer Hebrides.

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on June 26, 2015 – 1:20 pm
Filed under Exhibition, Heritage, Photography

 ceoec.ru

 

 

Definitive exhibition of Blasket Island photography opens in St. John’s Theatre, Listowel.

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on August 9, 2014 – 5:20 pm
Filed under Exhibition, Heritage, Photography

A photograph of the Great Blasket Island in the 1930s taken by Thomas H. Mason of Dublin. L-R: Domhnall Mharas Eoghan Bháin Ó Conchuir and Pádraig 'Ceaist' Ó Catháin who are mending currachs, the traditional boats used by the islanders. it features in The definitive book of photographs of the Great Blasket Island was published by Collins Press in June 2013. The book was authored by Michéal and Dáithí de Mórdha of Ionad an Bhlaoscaoid Mhóir and the photographs were edited by Ciarán Walsh of curator.ie. It also features in an exhibition of the same name.

A photograph of the Great Blasket Island in the 1930s taken by Thomas H. Mason of Dublin. L-R: Domhnall Mharas Eoghan Bháin Ó Conchuir and Pádraig ‘Ceaist’ Ó Catháin.

The definitive exhibition of photographs of life on the Blasket islands opens in St. John’s Theatre in Listowel on Saturday 9 August 2014.

‘An Island Portrait’ has been developed by The Great Blasket Centre and www.curator.ie to accompany the publication by Collins Press of a book of photographs of the Blasket Island. The text was written by Micheál de Mórdha  (Director) and Dáithí de Mórdha (Archivist) and the photographs were edited by Ciarán Walsh of ww.curator.ie. The exhibition contains 50 photographs dating from 1892 onwards and it combines  classic ‘outsider’ views of the islanders and their way of life with photographs from family albums. The ethnographic look is counterbalanced by personal and, at times,  intimate glimpses of family life on the island.

Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin, the last child to live on the Great Blasket Island with Dáithí de Mórdha, The Great Blasket Centre,  in front of a photograph of Gearóid with his Grandfather Maurice Mhuiris Ó Catháin, taken by Dan MacMonagle after the Island was evacuated in 1953. The exhibition was curated by Ciarán Walsh of Curator.ie.

Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin, the last child to live on the Great Blasket Island with Dáithí de Mórdha, The Great Blasket Centre,  in front of a photograph of Gearóid with his Grandfather Maurice Mhuiris Ó Catháin, taken by Dan MacMonagle after the Island was evacuated in 1953.

www.curator.ie and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge agree on joint research project

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on December 13, 2013 – 4:48 pm
Filed under Heritage, Photography, Research

 veroxybd.comaton-mebel.ru

 

 

 

Further details to be announced in January 2014.

 

www.curator.ie participating in RAI conference on anthropology and photography, London.

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on December 11, 2013 – 4:01 pm
Filed under Criticism, Heritage, Photography

RAI Anthrop Photog

Босерон

www.curator.ie is participating in a conference on anthropology and photography being organised by the RAI (Royal Anthropological Institute) in the British Museum, London, on 29th- 31st May 2014.

Ciarán Walsh is a member of a panel being convened by Dr Jocelyne Dudding of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge University. The panel came together as a result of the ‘Headhunter’ project being shown in Cambridge University in September followed by the National University of Ireland Maynooth in October 2013. Dr. Mark H. Maguire, Dept. of Anthropology, NUI Maynooth and Dáithí de Mórdha of Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir (The Great Blasket Centre) will also be taking part. Dáithí is co-curator of the ‘Headhunter’ project.

The panel will be examining the importance of photography in the Ethnographic Survey of Ireland of 1891-1903 in the context of social, cultural and political issues that framed anthropology in Ireland in the 1890s and, continue to influence it to this day.

Information: RAI (Royal Anthropological Institute)

Exhibition of Blasket Island photography extended due to popular demand.

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on November 26, 2013 – 2:16 pm
Filed under Exhibition, Heritage, Photography

 Цемент и портландцемент отличия

 

 

Fairscin Inise, Mám as bhailiúchán grianghraf Chartlann Ionaid an Bhlascaoid

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on October 29, 2013 – 11:21 am
Filed under Exhibition, Heritage, Photography

 

 

91 Nmhoga Mason 600dpi

 

 

 

Léargas ar leith ar shaol phobal an Bhlascaoid Mhóir

 

Sheol rí caide na Ríochta, agus oileánach aitheanta, Mick O’Connell, ó Dhairbhre, taispeántas úrnua grianghraif a thugann léargas iontach ar phobal an Bhlascaoid Mhóir idir na bliantaibh 1892 agus 2010, in oifigí na Roinne Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta ar an mBóthar Nua, Cill Áirne, ar an gCéadaoin, 30/10/2013, ag 18.30 mar pháirt d’imeachtaí Oireachtas na Gaeilge 2013. Is é seo an chéad uair atá an bailiúchán seo á thaispeáint lasmuigh den nGaeltacht.

Is é atá sa taispeántas seo, arna chur le chéile ag Ionad an Bhlascaoid agus Ciarán Walsh ó www.curator.ie, rogha de na pictiúir ar fad atá i gCartlann an Ionaid. Cuireadh an taispeántas seo le chéile mar cheiliúradh ar fhiche bliain a bheith caite ó bhunú an Ionad. Tógadh Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir i 1992–93 agus ó shin i leith táthar tar éis cnuasach an-luachmhar de phictiúir a tógadh de lucht an Bhlascaoid a chur le chéile i Leabharlann an Ionaid agus is ann anois atá an cnuasach is mó ar domhan de phictiúir den mBlascaod nó go deimhin d’aon phobal in Iarthar na hÉireann.

Deir Stiúrthóir an Ionaid, Micheál de Mórdha, gur “bronnadh roinnt mhaith pictiúir orainn le fiche bliain anuas, cuid acu gur cóipeanna de phictiúir as mhór-chnuasaigh eile iad, agus níl aon bhiaiste nach dtagann tuilleadh pictiúir ón mBlascaod in ár dtreo. Bain lán do shúl astu, a dhuine, mar go bhfuil os do chomhair anseo taifead de phobal suaithinseach, nach bhfuil ar marthain de ach dornán beag daoine, mar go bhfuil a bhformhór sa chré agus sinn ag druidim  go tréan leis an seascadú bliain ó bhailigh na daoine leo amach as an mBlascaod Mór.”

Ag cur leis sin dúirt an Mórdhach: “Ceapaim go gcuirfidh an taispeántas leis an éagsúlacht mór d’imeachtaí fíor-thaitneamhacha atá i gclár An tOireachtas 2013,  atá ar bun i gCill Áirne arís i mbliana,  is go dtabharfaidh sé éachtaint eile fós ar  an saibhreas oidhreachta atá againn  anseo sa Ríocht.”

Léirítear ann pobal an oileáin agus iad i mbun a ngnóthaí laethúla ar muir is ar tír, ag iascaireacht, ag feirmeoireacht, iad i mbun tí agus ag friotháil ar chuairteoirí. Tá oileánaigh  mór-cháile ina measc, leithéidí Thomás Ó Criomhthain, Mhuiris Ó Súilleabháin & Pheig Sayers, maraon le grianghraif a thóg cuairteoirí mór le rá ar nós John Millington Synge, Carl Von Sydow agus teaghlach MacMonagle Chill Áirne.

Tá an taispeántas le feiscint in árus na Roinne oscailte  ó Luan go hAoine idir 0915 agus 1730.

 

BREIS EOLAIS:

 

Dáithí de Mórdha – Ionad an Bhlascaoid – 0669156444 – daithi.demordha@opw.ie

Mícheál de Mórdha – Ionad an Bhlascaoid – 0669156444 – micheal.demordha@opw.ie

Ciarán Walsh – www.curator.ie – 087 2370846 – curator.ie@gmail.com

 

 

‘An Island Portrait’ opens in Killarney, the best exhibition of Blasket Island photography – ever.

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on October 28, 2013 – 4:32 pm
Filed under Exhibition, Heritage, Photography

91 Nmhoga Mason 600dpi Photo: Currachs or Naomhóga by Thomas Mason.межвенцовые утеплители, как сделать оптимальный выбор

 

 

Life on the Blasket Islands as never seen before.

 

On Wednesday, 30 October, Mick O’Connell, football legend and islander, opened  an exhibition of photographs of the Blasket Islands and the people who lived there.  ‘An Island Portrait’ is being shown in the gallery of the Dept. of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in Killarney. It features photographs from the archives of The Great Blasket Centre in Dún Chaoin. It covers the period 1892 to 2010,  from the the earliest known photographs of the island to contemporary photographs of the islanders.

‘An Island Portrait’ was developed by The Great Blasket Centre and www.curator.ie to accompany the publication by Collins Press of a book of photographs of the Blasket Island. The text was written by Micheál de Mórdha  (Director) and Dáithí de Mórdha (archivist) and the photographs were edited by Ciarán Walsh. The book combines classic ‘outsider’ views of the islanders and their way of life with photographs from family albums. The ethnographic look is counterbalanced by personal and, at times,  intimate glimpses of family life on the island.

This approach is continued in the exhibition. Many of these photographs have never been exhibited before and the result is a unique insight into life on an island that was evacuated in 1953 but never abandoned.

 

An Island Portrait / Collins Press

 

 

‘The Man Who Shot Peig’ and Other Stories from the oldest press photography agency in Ireland

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on June 26, 2013 – 12:26 pm
Filed under Exhibition, Journalism, Photography

The photograph shows Daniel MacMonagle (centre) in the Gap of Dunloe in 1913 with photographers Louis Anthony and Franz Haselbeck. Ciarán Walsh / www,curator.ie is currently working on a piece for the Irish Independent on 100 years of photography by the MacMonagles of Killarney. A centenary exhibition opens in the Library in Killarney on 6 July 2013.

Daniel MacMonagle (centre) in the Gap of Dunloe in 1913 with photographers Louis Anthony and Franz Haselbeck.

 

Ciarán Walsh / www,curator.ie is currently working with Don MacMonagle on a piece for the Irish Independent on 100 years of photography by the MacMonagles of Killarney. A centenary exhibition opens in the Library in Killarney on 6 July 2013.

 

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Latest News



An Island Funeral, Inishbofin, 16 July 2023.



TCD to announce return of ancestral remains to Inishbofin



Blogging resumes on Ballymaclinton: An Irish giant, 24 stolen skulls, one colonial legacies project and a slave owner named Berkeley.



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