https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/149 Mon, 06 Nov 2017 23:48:27 GMT 2017-11-06T23:48:27Z https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/534 The transformation of Galway: an urban history of a port town 1600-1700 Towler, John Galway’s wealth and position as a major Irish trading port at the beginning of the seventeenth century stemmed from a mixture of geography and politics. Its staunch support of the Crown, since its foundation in the early thirteenth century, enabled it to secure a range of special privileges. This situation allowed it to evolve as a settlement akin to a ‘city state’, exempt in the main from much of the fiscal duties imposed on commerce and trade within the English mercantile system. This special relationship began to fall apart as the Reformation and Protestant interests began to impact on what was an almost exclusively Catholic community, with power residing in the hands of a monopolistic clique of powerful and wealthy merchant families. Until the Gaelic uprising of 1641, there was little visible evidence of a conflict of interest between Catholics and Protestants in terms of their political affiliations, and even during the early stages of the formation of the Confederacy, the Galway community was reluctant to join forces with the other Old English communities. However, the siege and subsequent surrender of Galway to the Cromwellian forces in 1652, resulted in the town being left in a state of stagnation by the time of the Restoration of Charles II in1660. During the closing decades of the seventeenth century, Galway’s trading activity dwindled as the town struggled to regain its former markets. For a brief period in the late 1680s, Catholics regained control of Galway’s municipal affairs. They subsequently supported James II in the Williamite Wars, only to lose control once more following the surrender of the town to General Ginckle on 21 July 1691. To date, no published work has closely researched the significant transformations, from 1600-1700, in Galway’s economy, morphology, politics and society. This study seeks to address this lacuna by assembling and interpreting a vast range of historical evidence, so as to produce an original, integrated, meticulous and far-reaching narrative and analysis that reconstructs the urban history of seventeenth-century Galway. As well as making extensive use of the primary and secondary historical sources relating to aspects of Galway’s urban history, this study is also informed by recent scholarship on the seventeenth-century colonial policies that England adopted in its conquest of Ireland, particularly those which contributed to the outbreak of the Confederate Wars, the subsequent Cromwellian settlement of Ireland and the economic changes brought about by the Cattle Acts and the Navigation Acts after the Restoration. As a whole, this study relies not only on the perspective of the historian, but upon interdisciplinary perspectives drawn from cognate disciplines such as geography and archaeology. Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/534 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/532 Rural housing and sustainable community development in the West of Ireland: a case study of County Mayo McKeogh, Stephen Ireland’s economy has been transformed in the past decade; it has become one of the fastest growing economies within the European Union. Growth has been unprecedented and unbalanced, primarily located in the east and within larger urban centres. The impacts of economic growth have been far reaching, both direct and indirect. One impact has been upon housing. Increased demand for property; to house the population combined with increased investment and tourism demands upon housing stock are impacting upon the sustainability of many rural areas. The West of Ireland is currently in a unique position as it faces the challenges of renegotiated EU regional/spatial and agricultural policies, demographic shifts, a dynamic housing sector, tourism changes and increased environmental restrictions on land use in the countryside. Three case studies have been chosen in Co. Mayo, predominantly a rural county in order to examine impacts of housing on sustainable community development. The county provides an ideal location for a study of rural housing issues as it now must grapple with a complexity of issues concerning land, people, services, employment, and housing incorporating new spatial development plans. A complex history of Irish emigration, coupled with recent rises in return /in-migration and variable spatial patterns makes for an interesting research topic. Housing policies and developments have responded to population shifts, but the pace of change has been rapid in some locations. Economic issues, social change and environmental impacts will need to be examined across different rural spaces. This research is deliberately broad, and therefore seeks to examine various, inter-related issues within the context of changing housing processes. This research does not seek to generalize about its findings but rather, to find a baseline of resident and agency meanings, terms and discussions to base future research on. Because little holistic research has been done in this particular geographical area an inductive approach will be taken, in order to provide a baseline theory that might give an insight into the social constructions and subjective reality of the research participants: residents and agencies involved in housing and community Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/532 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/531 Land use and settlement in Ballcroy National Park, County Mayo Kiely, Rosemarie The settlement patterns and land use designs from the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century in Ballycroy National Park, County Mayo are the concerns of this study. The geography, history, archaeology and ruins of seven case study sites are discussed in this study. The literature relevant to this study was reviewed and a number of key issues highlighted. These include the lack of scholarly attention devoted to these remote mountainous townlands (Nephin Beg mountain range) and the lack of scholarly documents relating to the townlands studied in this research. Generally, this applies to the whole of the Erris region, with the exception of the work of Dr. Séamus Caulfield in the Céide Fields project of north Mayo. A number of methodologies are utilised in this study, including architectural surveys of ruined buildings and comparative analysis. Original primary source material was integrated into this study, although the deficiency in written sources for the Erris region in Ireland (which includes the Ballycroy region) is noted. This study has revealed a wealth of vernacular buildings for the Ballycroy region of Erris as well as farm buildings and techniques used within field system designs along river courses in blanket bog landscapes. The three main components involved in this study are firstly to examine the topography of the landscape within and around Ballycroy National Park, County Mayo. Secondly, to investigate the history of settlement in the area, this is to investigate the social, political and economic circumstances of local people through the time-period involved in this study. Thirdly, to record the human interaction with the landscape by using a GPS (global positioning satellite) device. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/531 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/533 The mendicant friaries in late medieval Mayo: perspectives on their history, archaeology and architecture, 1400-1540 McDermott, Yvonne The religious houses founded by the Mendicant orders in Mayo between 1400 and 1540 are the concern of this study. The history, archaeology and architecture of five case study sites are discussed, namely the friaries of Burrishoole, Moyne, Murrisk, Rosserk and Strade. The literature relevant to this study was review ed and a number of key issues highlighted. These include the lack of scholarly attention devoted to medieval studies, attitudes to the medieval period in Ireland, and the debates concerning the Reformation in Ireland and the Dissolution of the monasteries. A number of methodologies were utilised in this study, including architectural surveys of the case study sites and comparative analysis. Primary source material was integrated into this study, although the dearth of documentary sources for the late medieval church in Ireland should be noted. The history of the friaries was examined and placed in the broader context of developments in late medieval Ireland, where they formed part of the revival of the Gaelic and Gaelicised communities in the fifteenth century. Architecturally, the friaries display the Late Irish Gothic style. Moyne and Rosserk are structurally well preserved with their domestic ranges intact, making them the most complete o f the case study sites. The architectural surveys found that the friaries contain varying amounts of ornamentation with fine exam plesat Strade and Rosserk. This study makes an important contribution to the growing field of medieval studies in Ireland by focusing on a group of friaries which have elements of Irish and even European importance. Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/533 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z