The past, present and future of environmental history in Ireland

Abstract:AbstractThis essay reviews the status of Irish environmental history. Although presently embryonic in scope, there are important beginnings as well as many key antecedent studies, often written by scholars in the disciplines of social, economic and agricultural history, and historical geography. The work of these scholars suggests the great potential of the discipline in Ireland, with a rich body of evidence awaiting interrogation by environmental historians. Starting with the advent of the Irish written record and the early medieval period, we highlight a selection of the most pertinent documentary sources and outline their potential for environmental historians. Key questions that might be asked by Irish environmental historians are suggested. A concise introduction to the large body of relevant work that examines the history of human-environmental interactions in Ireland, including within the allied disciplines of environmental and landscape archaeology and palaeoecology, is provided. Integrating the results and insights of these disciplines with those that can be gleaned from scrutiny of the documentary record should be of central concern to environmental historians of Ireland. Improving our awareness and understanding of the human consequences of past environmental change has never been more important than in the context of current debates about the social and economic effects of environmental changes presently experienced and projected for coming decades.