An historical archaeology of manuscript recipe books from early modern Ireland
Madeleine Parker
Supervisor: Professor Tadhg O'Keeffe (Head of School)
Funded by: ...
Abstract
During the 17th and 18th centuries the culture of food and dining changed dramatically, both in Ireland and across Europe, with the onset of modernity. As the modern, capitalist and increasingly globalised world with its inherent notions of individualism came into existence, people’s relationship with all aspects of food and dining were fundamentally restructured.
One critical change, which is the focus of this thesis, was the emergence of household genres of writing namely, the manuscript recipe book. From the mid 17th century the inhabitants of Irish houses, principally women, began to write household cook books, recording both their own and member’s of their community’s recipes, wisdom and cures. These manuscripts are not only invaluable records of daily life within Irish houses, early modern cookery and the material culture of the kitchen, but are an important artefact type in their own right, demonstrating a change in how people related to their world, objects and text. The sudden proliferation of self-referential texts such as the recipe book within houses in this period demonstrates a dramatic shift in people’s relationship with the most elemental component of culture, food. Their arrival within the house is also evidence of the rise of the individualism, as they are objects demonstrating the emerging sense of self, authorship and identity. Historical archaeologists argue that this rise of individualism is one of the most important beacons of the modern age and the arrival of artefacts which demonstrate its emergence are consequently of profound archaeological significance.
The first aim of the thesis is to create a catalogue of manuscript recipe books from households dating from the emergence of the genre in the mid 17th century to the close of the Georgian period (c. 1830). This is an important achievement in itself, as they have been almost entirely ignored by archaeologists and historians alike until now. By studying each of these manuscripts in detail, as both texts and objects, the thesis will explore the changing culture of food within the Irish house. Finally, by undertaking an archaeological study of manuscript recipe books, which as texts are conventionally seen as being the domain of historians, the thesis will explore the practice of Historical Archaeology itself and challenge its traditional boundaries. It will also highlight the importance of being question-led when approaching the past, rather than being discipline-bound.