I feel much historical and archaeological research can consist of finding and collecting fragments and then trying to put together a coherent account based on them. There is particularly in archaeology, a tendency to speculate, which I have found both entertaining, and also something which perhaps draws the subject away from any scientific basis.
The photograph above is a fragment, showing one of the towers of Askeaton Castle in County Limerick. It looks very flat, that is almost as if the outline of the tower has been cut out and superimposed onto the sky, be it in the style of Max Ernst or Photoshop. And I like this flatness, as well as the absence of any colour.
The Castle is undergoing significant repair work, which may last for the next ten years or so. It is open on an occasional basis, and peering across from the bridge next to its entrance, you can see bits of scaffolding, as well as the substantial remains of the Banqueting Hall and the more modern Hellfire Club. I didn’t go into the Castle, as I wanted to preserve (until my next trip perhaps!) the sense of not seeing everything at once, and forcing myself to see it just from the outside.
Through this denial, perhaps some form of mystery will grow. The idea of not visiting somewhere, of not finding out every detail, means that one’s own narrative and ideas can flourish, instead of being guided through an official version. This approach can also be used with fragments, so instead of hoping they might be reconstructed, they can form new physical or conceptual forms, or merely be kept in their broken state. To force things and ideas into hierarchies and classifications has some use, but what if these systems could be abandoned altogether?
