Laura McAtackney Historical Archaeology at the Maze/Long Kesh Site, Northern Ireland Email: arlrmma@bristol.ac.uk

My Research
My MLitt/PhD research (2004-present) focusses on the remains of the Maze/Long Kesh site in Northern Ireland , which lie on a 270 acre site outside the town of Maze, Co. Antrim, about 10 miles from Belfast. The work builds upon research begun during my MPhil in Heritage Management at the University of Cambridge, and upon my professional background with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). My research is funded by a full AHRC grant (Ring Fenced Doctoral Award in 'History of Architecture and the Built Environment').

Although the Maze has been devoid of prisoners since 29 September 2000, following the release of the majority of paramilitary prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement, it still occupies a prominent position in the lives of both communities in Northern Ireland. This is hardly surprising when one considers the centrality of this site during many of the most significant moments of the Troubles: from the highly public and contentious escalations of Republican protest at the removal of political status in the 1970s, culminating in the Hunger Strike of 1980-1981, to the then Secretary of State’s impromptu visit to persuade loyalist paramilitary leaders to remain on ceasefire in 1998. The Maze was not a spectator during the Troubles, rather its existence facilitated, instigated and enabled both communities and the State in their courses of action. The Maze is a highly visible landmark both through the physical remains of the infamous H-Blocks and as a mutable symbol of justice:injustice; guilt:innocence; and state repression:state policing, dependent on existing mindset and ideology.

These iconic buildings have been unoccupied since 2000, and at present the site remains in limbo as consultation continues between innumerable government departments and agencies, interest and pressure groups and the general public as to its future development. In this period of inaction, the perfect opportunity has arisen to attempt to understand the site, its significance and impact through an interdisciplinary engagement with its materiality - an approach which is grounded in my training in archaeological method and theory. I am examining the in-situ physical remains, the artefacts – both discarded on site and created and shipped off site, graffiti etc. This will be supplemented by examination of the archival material of government agencies relating to the site, including the plans of the development of the site from its first inception as an RAF base to present day. An important aspect will also be the collection of on site oral histories of those associated with the Maze, be they officers of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, internees or paramilitary prisoners, and an engagement with the personal collections of items owned by people for whom the Maze has been significant.

This variety of sources and perspectives will help me to explore the many material lives of the Maze; an assemblage of buildings, an iconic site, a system of control, alongside those who became voluntarily or involuntarily bound up with with it. Studying people and things at the Maze, I shall explore the contradictions, subversions, complexities and emotions that persist in the ongoing negotiations at the site.

My research constitutes a contextual investigation of a political prison in an Irish, colonial and worldwide setting, exploring the human impact of the Maze during the Troubles, and afterwards. I give special attention to the role of print, screen and new media, and the shifting significances of the site. I feel that by focusing upon the materialities of the Maze, and by extending the techniques of historical archaeology to the site, new stories of people and place can be told.

Publications

in prep. Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory (edited with Matt Palus and Angela Piccini). Oxford: British Archaeological Reports
2005. What can archaeology tell us about the maze site? Archaeology Ireland
2005. Artefacts of fear - and why we should preserve them. British Archaeology