{"id":185,"date":"2014-06-13T19:40:59","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T19:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbooks.concordia.ca\/irishlandscape\/chapter\/8-3-case-studies\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T23:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T23:58:15","slug":"summary","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbooks.concordia.ca\/irishlandscape\/chapter\/summary\/","title":{"raw":"Summary, References, and Resources","rendered":"Summary, References, and Resources"},"content":{"raw":"

Summary<\/h1>\r\nAran sweaters and Kerrygold butter are objects that can be consumed, purchased in stores, worn on bodies in the case of Aran sweaters, or eaten with meals and baked in recipes in the case of butter from the Golden Vale. In both cases, these physical items are created from natural materials made from animals who live on and consume from the physical Irish landscape \u2013 wool of sheep in the case of the Aran sweater and milk from cattle in the case of Munster dairy. In the process of creation, they are informed by farming practices within the counties of Tipperary, Kerry, Limerick and Cork, as well as on the Aran islands, where farmers are involved in the harvesting of milk and wool to create said products. Thus humans are involved in the process of creation at the farming stage, as well as in the manufacturing stage, where butter is processed in factories, and Aran sweaters are produced either through domestic knitting practices or now also in factories that mass produce these clothing items for global consumption.\r\n\r\nThe global consumption of both Kerrygold and Aran sweaters reveal circulating\u00a0ideas about\u00a0Irish national culture internationally. For example, Aran sweaters are both present in international museums and galleries as a form of important artwork from the west of Ireland, but also sold in tourist shops the world over as well as within Ireland in specific Aran sweater shops as well as throughout airport duty free areas. Likewise, Kerrygold butter has international reach, sold throughout the globe and maintaining a high status in major markets including the United States and Europe.\r\n\r\nAt home and abroad, these creations hold ideas about what it means to be Irish, as well as projections of Irish culture for a wide variety including those living in the Irish diaspora. For example, the Kerrygold advertisements present a particular meaning of Irishness that is tied to the land, rural farming, and dairy, tying the dairy industry as inextricably linked to Irish national culture. Likewise, the patterns of Aran sweaters weave together imagery of the islands where they emerge from, including fishing ropes as well as land patterns that speak to remote life on the islands for those living in international contexts. Both Aran sweaters and international Irish butter circulation represent ideas of Irish rurality, farming practices (such as cattle farming or fishing), and gendered nature of labour through their branding and imagery. They express one kind of lifestyle within the Irish landscape that is not necessarily indicative of all experiences of the physical, cultural, or human landscape.\r\n\r\nBased on what we have learned throughout this text, you may now be able to identify aspects of the Irish landscape - environmental, human, political, urban - that are overlooked in the globally circulating narratives and imaginings of the Irish landscape present in products such as Kerrygold and Aran sweaters. While the makers of these items contribute to the 'making' of the Irish landscape, the many varying case studies shown throughout these seven chapters highlight a more diverse, dynamic, and ever-changing landscape that makes up the island of Ireland.\r\n

References<\/h1>\r\nAgriland. September 2016. \u201cHistory of Kerrygold: A Story of Irish Farming.\u201d Accessed October 20, 2024.\r\n