The Battle for ‘Authentic’ Heritage: The Case of the Dobbins Restoration

Author:

Kerr Sarah1ORCID,Patrick Laura2

Affiliation:

1. Department of Archaeology and Radical Humanities, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland

2. The Royal Irish Regiment Benevolent Fund, Holywood BT18 9RA, UK

Abstract

This paper introduces a recently restored late-medieval tower house called the Dobbins, located in the historic town of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. The restoration process transformed what appeared visually as a Georgian house into a medieval-esque tower house. Despite considerable historical and archaeological research prior to the restoration, the responses from the local community were mixed. This ignited a discussion surrounding whether or not the Dobbins is authentic. Multiple understandings of authenticity are used to analyse the restoration results and evaluate whether a desire for authenticity can be detected. It is clear that authenticity is a myriad of complexities and contradictions comprising tangible, intangible, stable and dynamic elements, and when this is a motivation for restoration the complexity is embedded in the result. This is deconstructed to find that tourism and local identities underpinned the motivation for authenticity and their role in influencing the hierarchy of narratives retold through the restored Dobbins will be discussed. By exploring the authenticity craze through the prism of the Dobbins, this paper allows a deeper understanding of the term to be generated.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference49 articles.

1. Hewison, R. (1987). The Heritage Industry, Methuen.

2. (2020, May 08). Dobbins Inn. Available online: https://www.dobbinsinn.co.uk/.

3. (2020, May 08). Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Available online: https://www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/business/urban-regeneration/carrickfergus-thi/what-is-the-thi-and-how-to-appl.

4. World Heritage: Defining the outstanding universal value;Jokilehto;City Time,2006

5. Waterlon, E., and Watson, S. (2015). Heritage and Authenticity. The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research, Palgrave Macmillan.

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