New Crops, Old Fields

From our homes to our houses of government, from our schoolyards to our stadia, from our galleries to our gable walls, folklore is not only preserved but continues to be reimagined in all aspects of everyday life in Ireland. In the twenty-first century, the traditions of Irish folklore are engaged in a constant process of regeneration, where the old and the new, the oral, the textual and the visual intermingle. However, while the «first life» of Irish folklore has amassed a vast literature, what has attracted less attention is its «second life»: the variety of ways in which traditions have been reused and recycled in other contexts by politicians, poets, visual artists, sportsmen, tourism officers, museum curators, writers and musicians.

This volume is concerned with those moments of cultural creation that occupy the space between the «first life» and «second life» of folklore and, in particular, the ways in which folk traditions are reinvented. Featuring essays from both authorities in the field and emerging voices, this interdisciplinary collection demonstrates the rich diversity of folk culture, as a practice and as an area of study, in contemporary Ireland.

Conor Caldwell is a musician, broadcaster, teacher and researcher based in Belfast. He completed his PhD at Queen’s University Belfast in 2013 with a thesis studying the life and music of celebrated Donegal fiddler John Doherty.

Eamon Byers is a teacher and writer based in London. He completed his PhD at Queen’s University Belfast in 2014 with a thesis exploring the interaction between medievalism and folk music in English culture from the eighteenth century to the present day.