In Search of the Irish Dreamtime: Archaeology and Early Irish Literature - J.P. Mallory
Published in 2016 by Thames and Hudson, London, UK
320 pages
ISBN: 978-0-500-05184-9
During my graduate studies, I remember the moment that Celtic literature hooked me. We had just finished reading the Aislinge Meic Con Glinne (The Vision of Mac Conglinne), and I remember walking out of the Barker Center on Harvard’s campus, passing by the eclectic home of the Celtic Languages and Literatures Department in Warren House. Walking back towards the main square, I thought to myself, “This literature is so delightfully strange. I need to know more.”
Thus began my journey down the rabbit hole of medieval Celtic literature. During graduate school, I took additional courses within the Celtic Languages and Literatures department, delving into the thorny debates on linguistics, archaeology, and what exactly the term “Celtic” signifies. The inherent oddities of Celtic literature have puzzled and delighted scholars as we attempt to understand what these imagined worlds signify about the culture that produced them. Yet, how does the archeological record support (or contradict) what we find in some of the earliest examples of Celtic literature? How do we separate the real events of Irish antiquity from the imagination of medieval writers?
In his 2016 book, In Search of the Irish Dreamtime: Archaeology and Early Irish Literature, archaeologist J.P. Mallory explores the connections between Ireland’s archaeological past and its early literary traditions. Throughout this work, Mallory examines how ancient Irish texts, particularly those from the early medieval period, relate to the island's prehistoric and early historic past. As such, Mallory seeks to bridge the gap between the archaeological record and the mythic or literary representations of Ireland’s ancient history.
Overview:
In this book, Mallory delves into the intersection of archaeology and early Irish literature, focusing on the mythological and historical aspects of Ireland’s past. Mallory examines how ancient Irish myths, legends, and stories are tied to archaeological findings, revealing a complex relationship between Ireland's prehistoric cultures and its early written traditions.
The book’s central thesis rests on the idea of "Dreamtime," a term borrowed from Australian Aboriginal culture, to describe a mythical time that predated the current world, where heroes, gods, and supernatural beings interacted with the landscape. This dreamlike or mythic past is key to understanding both the construction of early Irish identity and the deep intertwining of history and myth in Ireland’s cultural consciousness. He utilizes this concept of Dreamtime to argue that the early Irish, through their myths, created a collective memory or narrative that blended actual historical events with mythological elements. This blend, he suggests, shaped the way the Irish viewed their origins, culture, and identity.
Mallory takes a critical approach to the interpretation of early Irish texts, arguing that these stories cannot be fully understood without considering the archaeological evidence from the period. He uses this lens to challenge conventional ideas about the Irish past, offering insights into how myth and history are constructed in the Irish cultural imagination. The book ultimately shows how examining archaeology and literature side by side can provide a richer, more nuanced understanding of early Irish identity, connecting the ancient mythic world with the actual material culture of Ireland’s early societies. Mallory’s work emphasizes the importance of integrating both disciplines to better understand the Irish cultural legacy.
He argues that there is a complex relationship between the archaeological record and the early literary sources. While the literature contains many mythical and fantastical elements, it also reflects a deep engagement with Ireland’s past. He examines how these myths may preserve elements of earlier societies and how the archaeological record can help decode the social and political realities behind these stories, including instances of invasions and colonization over the centuries. For instance, the stories of Irish kingship, warrior bands, and territorial disputes in early Irish literature may reflect actual historical events, but they are re-imagined in a mythic way, borrowing elements from both the world of contemporary medieval writers and the classical world of Hellenistic and Hebraic literature. He argues that the archaeological evidence of prehistoric forts, ceremonial sites, and burial practices offer us tangible clues as to how these myths were rooted in real societal practices.
Mallory also addresses the role of oral tradition in preserving ancient knowledge and how early Irish literature, which was largely composed in the early medieval period (especially during the 7th to 9th centuries), reflects the legacies of much earlier societies. He examines how the early Irish myths and their archaeological roots contributed to the creation of a distinct Irish identity, particularly in the early medieval period when the Christianization of Ireland began to merge with its pagan past. The myths not only provided a narrative of Ireland’s ancient origins but also shaped how the Irish people understood their cultural and social roles in the present.
Deeper Dive:
In Search of the Irish Dreamtime is a complex, academic, and interdisciplinary work that explores the relationship between early Irish literature, archaeology, and mythology. The first three Chapters introduce the key premise of the book: that early Irish literature is not merely a collection of fantastical stories but rather loosely rooted in both real-world landscapes, events, and people of Ireland’s prehistory as well as the medieval world in which the writers lived. Mallory utilizes the work of Homer in the Greek literary tradition to further what he calls, ‘literary archaeology.” He coins the concept of the "Irish Dreamtime" to describe an imagined prehistoric period, akin to the Australian Aboriginal concept of Dreamtime, where myth and history coexist in a symbolic and intertwined manner. He also sets the stage for the interdisciplinary approach that he will take in the rest of the book and the structure, combining archaeological evidence with the Mythological and Ulster Cycles of Irish literature to examine how these myths might reflect real historical or cultural events.
The Fourth Chapter explores the archaeological evidence for early Irish society and how it might be connected to the myths found in early Irish texts. As such, he attempts “to compare the written record of the Lebor Gabála and its attendant summaries in the Annals of the Four Masters with the archaeological record” (85). Mallory discusses Ireland's prehistoric periods, focusing on the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and early Bronze Age, and connects archaeological findings—such as burial mounds, standing stones, and ancient settlements—with the mythological traditions described in early Irish literature. Mallory examines the relationship between the material culture of early Ireland and the mythology that has been passed down to us today. For instance, he reflects on how certain places mentioned in Irish mythology (like Tara, Emain Macha, or Uisneach) might have had significant real-world archaeological counterparts, helping to ground mythological places in historical geography. The chapter underscores the idea that early Irish myths may loosely reflect the collective memories of events and places that were significant to ancient Irish communities.
In Chapter Five, Mallory turns his attention to the natural environment. By examining the way that the Irish landscape is portrayed in the earliest Irish tradition and comparing it to the archaeological record, Mallory attempts to ascertain which elements within the Irish storytelling tradition were imported from outside of Ireland. As such, he goes into meticulous detail regarding the types of trees on the island (hazel, oak, ash, etc), the various types of plants and their uses as described in the Ulster Cycle, and the roles of animals (insects, amphibians, birds, mammals, wild animals, and domesticated livestock) in early Irish society. Mallory argues that the natural environment, unlike architecture and material culture, is most resistant to the changes of time, and as such, “the Ulster tales provide us with a general picture of the Irish landscape (mixed on occasion with exotic animals from the Bible or classical lierature) that could date from at least the Bronze Age until the Middle Ages” (132).
In Chapter Six, Mallory shifts his focus from the natural environment to the built environment of Ireland. Starting with the smallest unit (field camps) and working his way up to ancient royal sites, Mallory examines the material archeological evidence, such as fortifications, enclosures, hillforts, houses, furniture, and linear earthworks. Although the evidence from the built environment is often too generic and ambiguous to pin down to any one period, Mallory argues, “the world of early medieval Ireland provided a much more convenient template for those who created the built environment of the Ulster tales” (173).
In Chapter Seven, Mallory addresses the mythical invasions of Ireland as recounted in the Book of Invasions and other texts, as well as the Iron Age weapons found in various archeological digs. These invasions—by the Milesians, the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Fomorians, and others—are often portrayed as foundational moments in Irish history. Mallory explores the idea that these invasions are symbolic, reflecting cycles of cultural change and conflict. He suggests that these mythical narratives may be tied to real historical events, such as the arrival of different cultural or ethnic groups in Ireland. By examining a litany of different swords, shields, spears, slings, axes, armor, and other tools of warfare, Mallory attempts to parse what could have been authentically ancient (spears), what is medieval (shields), and what were foreign imports (accessories, bow and arrow, armor, helmets).
Chapter Eight primarily focuses on a singular question: what do the widespread mentions of chariots in Irish literature tell us about their society and the culture that produced these stories? The standard reading is that the existence of chariots is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that the Ulster cycle preserves an authentic depiction of Iron Age Ireland. Through a painstaking examination of the archeological evidence, Mallory complicates this thesis. In conclusion, he writes, “A review of the evidence, both archeological and literary, leads to a conclusion that falls somewhere between those who advocate that the Ulster Tales provide a ‘window on the Iron Age’ and those who believe that descriptions of chariots may have been borrowed from the classical texts that were available to to the medieval monks who copied and created the tales” 228).
In Chapter Nine, Mallory turns toward other artifacts of material culture, including clothing, containers, musical instruments, games, and other miscellaneous technology, to see where they fit within the timeline of Irish history. Finally, the Tenth Chapter analyses the burial practices of ancient Ireland and compares them to descriptions of disposing of the dead within the Ulster Cycle. Mallory does not believe that the Ulster cycle tales preserve an authentic account of the burial practices of Iron Age Ireland. Rather, he argues that the authors of these tales could have acquired their references from three sources: prehistoric mounds and other landscape monuments, the landscape between the 5th and 7th centuries when Christian and pagan burial practices were nearly indistinguishable, and outside foreign sources from their Anglo Saxon or Viking neighbors, such as burying warriors with shields.
In his conclusion, Mallory brings the book’s themes together, emphasizing the central idea of the Irish Dreamtime. Mallory revisits the concept introduced in the introduction, arguing that early Irish literature is not merely a reflection of a distant past but an ongoing process of memory-making. The myths, stories, and landscapes of early Ireland form a "dreamtime" in which history, memory, and myth converge. Mallory reflects on the role of memory in shaping both individual and collective identities, as he ascertains which elements might be genuine artifacts of Iron Age Ireland and which are medieval inventions. He contends that the medieval scribes who wrote these myths wrote them with the belief they were writing stories loosely “based on actual events.” As he concludes, “In the end the early medieval Irish literari created a Secondary World that they passed off as the Irish Iron Age. That they did a superb job is evident in the centuries of scholars who have argued whether this imagined world was a real document from Ireland’s prehistoric past” (289).
Commendations:
In Search of the Irish Dreamtime possesses several notable strengths. First, one of the book’s most significant strengths is its interdisciplinary approach, which blends archaeology and early Irish literature. Mallory brings together two distinct fields—archaeology and literature—that are far too often studied in isolation. By combining these disciplines, he offers a more holistic view of the Irish past, suggesting that myth and material culture are inextricably linked. I have always advocated for interdisciplinary approaches to thorny academic problems, and I believe that Mallory’s approach enriches our understanding of how early Irish literature may reflect real-world events, practices, and beliefs.
Additionally, Mallory does an excellent job of drawing connections between the archaeological evidence and the mythological content of early Irish texts. He skillfully uses archaeological findings to support interpretations of Irish myths, showing how certain legendary places, figures, and events in literature may be rooted in actual historical realities, albeit transformed by myth-making processes. He also points out where the authors of these myths might have pulled from their own lived experience, as well as the Greek and Biblical texts to which they had access. Most of the text is well-organized, and Mallory addresses unique and specific Irish texts in each chapter, making it easy to read each chapter independently.
Finally, I also deeply appreciated Mallory’s nuance and care with the source material, which provides a fresh perspective on the relationship between mythology and history. Avoiding the pitfalls of either treating these mythical accounts as pure fantasy or taking them squarely at face value as a window into Iron Age culture, Mallory instead highlights the material culture that is available to us and how these artifacts could have informed later storytelling traditions. His argument that early Irish literature is not purely imaginative or fantastical but can be informed by actual historical and archaeological contexts challenges traditional interpretations. This critique of the standard academic narrative about Irish myths as mere flights of fancy is both bold and important for rethinking the ways we interpret early Irish culture.
Critiques:
On the other hand, Mallory’s work suffers from a few key weaknesses. One of the biggest issues with the work is that it can often be incredibly dry, often going into excruciating detail about the specifics of Iron Age weaponry and livestock bones. For those outside of academia or without a solid background in archaeology or early Irish literature, Mallory’s writing may be overly dense and somewhat inaccessible. The specialized terminology and the scholarly depth of the analysis might make it challenging for the general readers or even undergraduates in Celtic Studies to fully engage with the content. I have spent years studying this material, and even I occasionally found myself a bit lost in all the details. As such, prior knowledge of Irish mythology and archaeology is most likely needed to fully appreciate the nuances of the arguments presented.
Another weakness of the work is due to the inherent paucity of sources to which we have access. While Mallory's combination of archaeological and literary analysis is often insightful, some of his conclusions could be viewed as speculative. The connection between archaeological evidence and the often fragmentary and deeply symbolic nature of early Irish texts can lead to ambiguous interpretations. When interpreting early and medieval Irish literature, it can be incredibly difficult to differentiate between the layers of historical events and the later mythologized versions of those events. This can lead to a tendency to read too much historical content into the myths, potentially oversimplifying the complex, often imaginative nature of myth-making. As such, readers may find that Mallory’s conclusions sometimes overreach or lean too heavily on assumptions that cannot be fully substantiated by the available evidence.
Conclusion:
Overall, In Search of the Irish Dreamtime is a valuable, if somewhat dry, addition to the scholarship on the relationship between Celtic myths and the archeological record. While its narrow scope and attention to small details might make it unappealing to a general audience, Mallory’s work will likely appeal to specialists in the field or Celtic enthusiasts looking to strengthen their understanding of the material culture of Iron Age Ireland. While most readers might not walk away with much useful information, Mallory’s innovative approach to the concept of “dreamtime” and his critique of traditional views on Irish mythology make the book a significant and challenging read for those interested in the deeper connections between myth, history, and material culture in early Irish society.
Medieval Irish literature continues to inspire and befuddle scholars and general readers alike with its strange worlds, imperfect heroes, and strange blends of warrior ethos with supernatural elements. Ireland’s ancient past has been remembered and mythologized in myriad ways over the centuries, and these stories continue to inspire popular culture today. Mallory’s painstaking work shows that the boundaries between history, archaeology, and mythology are dynamic and fluid and that the study of early Irish literature can be enriched by a closer examination of the material culture and historical context in which these stories were told. The myths and archaeological evidence together form a complex portrait of Ireland’s ancient past, one that blends history, myth, and memory into a shared cultural narrative. As such, I can easily recommend this book to those looking for a nuanced perspective on how the Irish mythic past shaped their identity and continues to influence Irish culture today.
