Where and what is Ireland?--What are the identities of the people of Ireland?--How has European Union membership shaped Irish people's lives and interests?--How global is local Ireland?This book argues that such questions can be answered only by understanding everyday aspects of Irish culture and identity. Such understanding is achieved by paying close attention to what people in Ireland themselves say about the radical changes in their lives in the context of wider global transformation. As notions of sex, religion, and politics are radically reworked in an Ireland being re-imagined in ways inconceivable just a generation ago, anthropologists have been at the forefront of recording the results. The first comprehensive book-length introduction to anthropological research on the island as a whole, The Anthropology of Ireland considers the changing place in a changing Ireland of religion, sex, sport, race, dance, young people, the Travellers, St Patrick's Day and much more.

"This book is a major contribution to the intellectual history of Ireland. Its great merit is that it not only describes all the major developments in method, theory and controversy, but does so in a consistently intelligible manner. Its rich details, comparative insights and persuasive interpretations make this an essential volume for students of Irish society and culture. - George Gmelch, Union College, USA

With humor and a sense of mission, The Anthropology of Ireland provides a profile of Ireland''s ethnographic past and a clear statement of a program for the present and future. The issues it addresses and the standard of ethnography it represents are at the heart of 21st century anthropology as it confronts the problems of globalization. - Joan Vincent, Columbia University, USA

With solid ethnography to their credit, an impressive command of a broad range of Irish material, and a distinct familiarity with the new directions taken by anthropology in a globalized world, Wilson and Donnan skilfully handle both these transformative processes and the relationship between them. - The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"

Thomas M. Wilson is Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York. Hastings Donnan is Professor of Social Anthropology at the Queen's University of Belfast.