Series Editor's Introduction from Emilie Pine

The past is a foreign country and we must explore it; from the commemoration of historic events to the newly visible histories of modern institutions, the remembrance of things past is embedded in the spaces of the Irish rural and urban landscapes. And this is not a new phenomenon – the backward glance has always been an integral element of how Ireland is imagined and framed.

Given this tradition how can we best use the lens of memory studies to read Irish history and culture? And what are the ethical questions raised in the requirement to remember? This series of lectures is designed to give an overview of how memory studies has impacted ways of conceiving Ireland in recent decades, and to pose questions about how we might rethink both the recent and more distant past.

The lectures reflect on the question of how to use a cognitive framework to discuss patterns of national imagining, as well as considering how trauma can be acknowledged and accommodated within an expanded understanding of Irish identity and history. Of particular note in this series are the twin foci of how social space and memory interact, and how gender can determine the ways in which the past is accessed and remembered. 

This lecture series is made possible by funding from the Irish Research Council.