Museums, Communities and the Politics of Heritage in Northern Ireland

Bibliographic Data

ID24022806
AuthorsElizabeth Crooke (0000-0002-6413-736X, corresponding author)
Year2004
Pages77-87
Publication date2004-12-17
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenuePolitics of Heritage (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9780203339978-15
OpenAlexW1580716762
ISBN9780203339978
LanguageEN
Citations received5

The public representation of the past in Northern Ireland has never been the single domain of the ‘official’ museum and heritage sector. The traditions of marching, murals and street painting has ensured that a sense of history is omnipresent in particular urban and, sometimes, rural spaces. A form of political stability has begun to emerge since the 1998 Belfast Agreement and now military fortifications, ephemera of legal and illegal organisations, as well as oral histories of the Troubles are emerging as ‘political heritage’ in the landscape of reconciliation. Alongside this, Northern Ireland has three national museums, which together form part of the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland, a number of county museums, and several museums specialising in aspects of local heritage, such as the linen industry or the Battle of the Somme. In addition to this, new museums are currently in planning. As we review heritage provision in Northern Ireland, it can be considered in two ways. The most predominant includes the official representations offered by local and national museums; that preserved by the sites and monuments record; and that provided by other heritage organisations such as the National Trust. An alternative form of heritage in Northern Ireland, which is beginning to come to the fore, is the unofficial, unsafe, contested history of the conflict, which is seeking recognition.

Archaeology · Ethnology · Geography · Political science · Politics · Cultural Identity and Heritage · French Urban and Social Studies · Historical Art and Culture Studies · History · Law

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