Drawing on the work of specialists in art history, religion, science, sport and leisure, war, and heritage studies, this volume explores aspects of the construction of national identity in Ireland and elsewhere. The book thus transcends some of the limiting, specialism boundaries which bedevil academia and restrict a proper understanding of identity and culture, and their relations with particular places, wherever they may be. The resulting volume of stimulating essays demonstrates, among other things, that cultural history, to which this volume is a contribution, need not necessarily or exclusively be the preserve of 'cultural historians'. This collection is based on papers presented to the 26th biennial Irish Conference of Historians, held at the University of Ulster, May 2003.