‘Rise Up Dead Man and Fight Again’: Reviving and Defining Mumming in County Fermanagh

This study focuses on how the tradition of mumming in County Fermanagh is defined. Several factors have contributed to the processes of redefinition mumming has been subjected to. The violent conflict, which is agreed to have erupted in the province of Ulster in 1969, played an integral role in the severe decline of mumming around this period. In the 1980s, it was revived and mumming groups became a common sight around Christmas time, in local towns and villages. This continued until the 2000s. However, at present there remains only one mumming group practicing the tradition in Fermanagh: The Aughakillymaude (ACK-LAMAD) Mummers. This thesis explores how mumming has been redefined by both the mummers and the audience. Throughout the thesis, it is argued that while social practices are viewed as possessing longevity and immutability both time and context act to change and define them. mumming exists on the margins of Irish cultural activity. There are no academic departments established to study it, no dedicated archives to store its history, nor are there rules or regulations to bind its existence. Its continuation depends on those involved redefining the tradition. The mummers eke out a space for it through touristic and non-touristic avenues, by framing the tradition as unconventional and marginal. The study challenges notions of the audience, the commodification of tradition, masking, the ability to speak about conflict, reviving a tradition, and the musician. By doing this, it examines how a tradition which exists without any formalities to govern it continues to be redefined and practiced on the margins of Irish cultural activity