“A is for Aircháelán”: the case for compiling a compendium of food in Ireland

Abstract

Similar to any geography, food and beverages have been an integral part of Ireland’s cultural fabric. Yet, in Ireland, despite a growing body of publications, a lacuna exists. Until now, no one has undertaken the compilation of an overarching reference work on food which aggregates the extant body of knowledge held not only in predictable sources like cookbooks, but also in other fields or disciplines, such as anthropology, archaeology, and horticulture, for example. This article argues the case for such a reference work by critically examining previous initiatives to compile national reference works and by reviewing the exponential growth of Ireland’s food literature over the past thirty years. The article then briefly describes the author’s ongoing work to compile a compendium of food in Ireland and provides examples of the entries in that compilation to demonstrate the diversity of sources and content.