Community-led Heritage Knowledge Co-Production for Sustainable Development: community archaeology in Ulster and the Western Isles of Scotland

For centuries the north coast of Ireland and Western Scotland were intrinsically linked by a common set of cultural traditions, language and political structures. This was a maritime province connected by short and easily navigable sea routes that had its high-water mark with the fifteenth-century Century Lordship of the Isles. The shifting political landscape and other socio-economic changes have meant that the shared identities and connections between these communities have all but vanished, and the Scottish Island communities that were once at the centre of this kingdom now experience geographical and social peripherality and the many problems this brings. With the onset of the Troubles Northern Ireland became increasingly isolated as the extended period of conflict closed the country and paralysed economic growth. As Ulster stutters out of conflict sections of the community are looking increasingly to the past to reaffirm and reposition themselves in contemporary society. Large sections of the unionist tradition look towards Scotland to define their identities and histories in an emerging Ulster Scots tradition. The nationalist community remains firmly embedded in a Gaelic Irish tradition that looks southwards for its cultural identities. Simultaneously, a new sense of nationhood is being developed in Scotland as politicians embrace a selective view of the past that sidelines the role the peoples of the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and others. Yet increasingly, archaeology is demonstrating the depth of connections between these communities and recent excavations of the seventeenth-century town at Dunluce Castle, for example, have confirmed vividly that the shared heritage of this region extended well into the early modern period through a linked economy, familial connections and cultural traditions.
We propose a project to develop a researcher network across Ulster and Western Scotland (University of Ulster, Queen's University Belfast, Glasgow University, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Historic Scotland and the Kilmartin House Trust and co-produce this historic resource working with three communities in the project area (Colonsay Heritage Trust and Kilchattan Primary School, Colonsay Bushmills Heritage Group, Ballintoy Community Group and Millstrand Integrated Primary School in Antrim and Tavvallich Village Commnity Group and Tayvallich Primary School in Mid Argyll. This will build an awareness of a shared past and challenge and question contemporary versions of identity and place. It will play a part in economic regeneration and enhanced community well-being by contributing to current proposals to develop a heritage centre on Colonsay.
We will build on established institutional and community links to create a researcher-community partnership between HE institutions, community groups, schools and heritage organisations within the region. We will bring together existing archaeological research and resources within the project area and findings from an initial programme of archaeological survey and investigation to deliver three open days in May/June 2011 (one each in Colonsay, Kilmartin museum and Kinbane, Antrim), a social networking programme for three schools (one each from Colonsay, Mid Argyll and Antrim) and a web site and online blog to support community-researcher interaction, hosted by the University of Ulster. This will stimulate researcher-community dialogue, support future community-led applications for HLF funding and potential applications for co-produced heritage research projects. A round of follow up meetings and workshops with community and research partners in September/October 2012 will further support this process. The project will culminate in the design and production of a poster, artefact and digital exhibit, displayed in each project area before being permanently housed initially at the village hall on Colonsay to directly support the Colonsay Heritage Trust.

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