ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with the theme of commemoration and the politics of heritage in both present and past times, illustrating how memory impinges on the individual and collective consciousness. It explores the social, economic and political complexities of why individuals who fought in Irish regiments in the British Army are little understood in modern Ireland, largely because their stories are not open to interrogation. The book focuses on the politics of remembrance as it applies to diasporic visions held of Ireland among Irish-Australians and Irish-Americans. It examines the meaning of ancient monuments in general as socially contingent edifices that belie a single narrative interpretation, and also focuses on the 'life-history' of Newgrange. The book presents the complex relations between the concepts of heritage, memory and identity within various historical, geographical and archaeological contexts.
