The last couple of days have been slightly mundane and focused more on rest and practical chores, so much so that I felt they didn't warrant a separate blog post each. As this will most likely be the case every weekend, I will only be posting blogs from Tuesday-Saturday for the remainder of this field trip. Not for the first time since my arrival here, I have been thinking about how much easier this project would be if I were able to drive a car. What should be incredibly sim

To finish off the week, I thought I would try to find the remaining two people that I had been advised to talk to about my project. The first man was the owner of a B&B just outside Ballyvaughan, and the second lived in Kinvara, Co. Galway. I had always been meaning to go to Kinvara at some point anyway, as I had been informed by multiple people that it was easier to cycle there for my weekly shop than it was to cycle to Ballyvaughan. I travelled to Ballyvaughan first, picked

As I have mentioned previously, oral history plays a huge role in my research. I partly converse with locals about their knowledge of the famine just so that I can locate the whereabouts of famine constructions that I am hoping to photograph. However, I also do this so I can observe their sometimes lack of knowledge on the subject. So far, the latter has been much more prevalent. I began today with the names of three people who could possibly aid me with my research, two men

The goal for today was to explore the site of a village in Oughtmama, which supposedly could have been deserted during the time of the famine. Following the map that I had acquired from the tourist office in Ballyvaughan, I made my way down towards Bellharbour. According to the map, I needed to continue passed the Bellharbour turn-off, head on in the direction of Kinvara, and take a right up a marked trail after a kilometre or two. This right turn alluded me (as can be seen f

After acquiring a number of possible sources yesterday, I spent the morning following them up at the research facility. I contacted the researcher in NUI Galway, as their current project is focusing on the archaeology of the famine in North Clare, specifically the famine villages and workhouses around Ballyvaughan. I was also able to analyse the map of the area that I had been given and made an attempt to determine whether or not certain green roads were built during the fami

What stands out most from my last field trip to North Clare is the cycle from Carron to Ballyvaughan. Or rather, the cycle from Ballyvaughan to Carron. I would leave Ballyvaughan, head east along the coast to Bellharbour, and then head inland up to the village of Carron. After cycling around the Burren with heavy camera equipment, the climb from Bellharbour to the research facility in Carron was not the most enjoyable way to end the day. As can be seen from the map below, mos

Back in January I undertook a 3-week field trip to North Clare as part of my ongoing Landscape as Witness project, documenting famine constructions through the use of oral history, aftermath photography, and ethnographic research. Although the field trip was a success, I quickly realised that 3 weeks was nowhere near enough time to collect all the data I needed. A few months later I received funding from the Thomas Dammann Junior Memorial Trust to undertake another field trip