Structures of import - the buildings of Dublin’s historic immigrant communities - Paul Duffy

Imirce - Migration and Ireland through time
NATIONAL MONUMENTS SERVICE
6th ANNUAL ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE
Structures of import-the buildings of Dublin’s historic immigrant communities
As a Scandinavian foundation, Dublin from its outset has been regarded as both urban and foreign, built by settlers from overseas after their own style. From the archaeological evidence, however, we can track the acculturation of this community, as their homes and religious buildings adapted to local conditions and traditions. Dublin has ever attracted settlers from elsewhere, from Welsh royalty and Norman merchants to Flemish artisans and Huguenot refugees-not to forget the largest inward migration into the city throughout its history, that from rural Ireland.
This paper explores the architectural styles and innovations that came to Dublin with these communities, creating the city we have inherited, whilst exploring a complicated legacy strung with a tension between terms such as settler/colonist, governor/conqueror and immigrant/slave.
Paul Duffy is an archaeologist, historian and author, specialising in medieval and urban archaeology. He has directed numerous landmark excavations in Dublin and has led projects in Australia, France and the UK. He has published widely on this work and his historical research centred on the Crusades, in particular Irish involvement in the thirteenth-century Cathar Crusade in Languedoc. He is also the author of Run with the hare, hunt with the hound, a novel set in twelfth-century Ireland.