Irish Placenames: Post‐Colonial Locations

Abstract

The names of places speak of complicated cultural geographies of language and location. Placename changes have often been explored as examples of power‐laden contests over the meaning of places and collective identities. Yet projects to research, preserve and reinstate Gaelic placenames in contemporary Ireland (both North and South) raise more complex questions of cultural identity, authenticity and diversity. These questions are central to post‐colonial cultural politics. By combining ideas of pluralism, multiplicity and diversity with those of authenticity, belonging and truth, these contemporary placename projects represent efforts to reimagine concepts of identity, cultural location and tradition. They suggest ways to negotiate the theoretical contradictions between and practical politics of critiques of colonial cultural suppression and celebrations of cultural retrieval.