My doctoral research examines how archaeological landscapes and Celtic symbols were used to shape Irish identity in Union Ireland (1801–1922). I focus on three areas: the agency of marginalised groups such as women, travellers, and the rural poor in influencing narratives through oral traditions; the roles of antiquarians, nationalists, and British travel writers in interpreting and appropriating archaeology; and the impact of modernisation and mobility on these interactions. By using archival sources, material culture along with feminist, postcolonial, and landscape theory, I aim to reveal how competing interpretations of heritage created a fractured and competing vision of Ireland’s past.