Newgrange, heritage and the Irish nation: two moments of transformation

Abstract

This chapter seeks to instil a sense of temporal depth into the presentation of heritage by charting the biography of the changing heritage experience of the ancient monument of Newgrange, and its relationship to the construction of the Irish nation over the last two centuries. Through examining the interpretation and presentation of the important archaeological site of Newgrange during two specific moments of the site's life history, it explores how a specific construction of ancient heritage came to be associated with the status of the Irish nation. In 1833, George Petrie's intended broad-based Irish cultural nation version of Newgrange, ultimately paved the foundations and even under-wrote the legitimacy of separatist and Republican national missions. In 1997, a new heritage centre named Bru na Boinne was opened, a new site on the south bank of the River Boyne. Through the Bru na Boinne Heritage Centre, the Newgrange monument itself has been presented as an element within a wider 'ritual landscape'.