Archaeological Excavation Report

A ring-ditch, three cremation burial cemeteries and a four Fulachta Fiadh

Kilbane is testimony to a long-standing tradition of cremation burial within unenclosed flat cemeteries. Three cemeteries were excavated under the current license, a fourth was dug by Limerick County Council, 03E1343 (McCutcheon, 2006), and finally Aegis Archaeology Ltd (Hayes, 2006) excavated a small example, also in the townland of Kilbane, 02E1707.

The cemetery in Area 1 was small but elaborate. It included eight cremation pits, one of which had been surrounded by a circle of stake-holes and a ring-ditch. Three phases of burials were discerned. An extensive unenclosed flat cremation cemetery was excavated in Area 2. 89 cremation pits with burials of at least 54 individuals were excavated. Social stratification was evidently part of society in Kilbane, with mature individuals primarily buried separately and all juveniles buried with a mature person. Adolescents, once they had reached puberty, were likely to have been buried in their own pit as mature adults.

The cemetery in Area 6 was a small example, with just three burial pits recorded.

Much bone was missing from the pits. Possibly samples of burials had been ritually deposited in nearby watercourses, perhaps the Groody river or the Shannon, only 5km to the west. Ritual deposits of bone may also be accounted for by the small pockets of cremated bone recorded in Areas 3, 4 and 5.

Two 14 C dates were recorded for the current site. These span the Early to Middle Bronze Age which, considering the complexities involved in the Bronze Age community achieving the quality of cremated bone at Kilbane, is further evidence of the long-standing tradition of cremation burial in this area.

The extensive collection of LBA pottery, with 30–35 flat-bottomed vessels represented, together with the remains of four Fulachta Fiadh in the overall site, all pay credence to the existence of a large, well-established community in the area at that time. However, the location of settlement evidence has yet to be established beyond the fact that all of the LBA pottery originally derived from domestic contexts.

Author: Niamh O’Callaghan

Download the report

Archaeological Excavation Report

Fulacht fiadh and isolated pit

In May 2005, Eachtra Archaeological Projects excavated a fulacht fiadh and an isolated pit in Skehacreggaun td., Mungret. The fulacht fiadh dates to the Middle Bronze Age, within the usual date range for these monument types. The isolated pit is likely to date to the Bronze Age and it contained the only artefact recovered through these archaeological works. The scraper suggests craft and subsistence since  prehistoric times.

Author: Jacinta Kiely, Antonia Doolan and Aidan Harte

Download the report

The 50th Consecutive Conference - 13^th - 15^{th April}, 2012

at Mount St Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, Ireland

From Citeaux to Roscrea and Celebrating fifty conferences at Roscrea

Programme:

FRIDAY 13^th APRIL

6.00 Snack supper and registration

6.45 Reception hosted by Roscrea Heritage Society

7.25 Welcome: Dom Richard Purcell, ocso, Abbot of Mt St Joseph

7.35 Official opening of the 50th Conference

The Cistercian World Today

Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, ocso, Abbot General of the Cistercian Order

8.10 The Region of the Isles

Dom Richard Purcell

8.40 The Monastery and the Academy: Brief remarks on a 12th Century turbulence.

Dr Pádraig Hogan, Education Dept., NUIM

8.50 Are we there yet? From Citeaux to Roscrea and beyond.

Dr John Feehan, author, botanist, geologist

9.10 A Cistercian colophon

George Cunningham

9. 20 Hospitium

SATURDAY 14^th APRIL

3.45 Optional rise for vigils

7.30 An early morning walk on the landscape of Mt St Joseph

John Feehan

9.30 Religion and Higher Learning: Reflections on the Spirituality of Bernard of Clairvaux

Pádraig Hogan

10.05 The Cistercians in Medieval Ireland: a Benedictine perspective

Dr Colmán Ó Clabaigh, osb, Glenstal Abbey

10.40 Fr Luke Wadding OFM and his Cistercian contacts in Italy and Ireland, c1618- c1657

Dr Ben Hazard, Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute, UCD

10.55 Coffee

11.25 The Cistercians return to Ireland – early days at Mount Melleray

An tAthair Uinseann Ó Maidín, ocso, archivist, Mt Melleray

11.55 The Story of Mount St Joseph, Roscrea - Part 1

Dom Richard Purcell, ocso, Dom Laurence Walsh, ocso

12.55 The Cistercian Nuns of the Isles

Sr Lily Scullion, ocso, Farm Manager, Glencairn Abbey

1.25 Discussion

1.35 Snack Lunch

3.00 Launch of A Carnival of Learning…celebrating 50 conferences at MSJ.

Edited by Peter Harbison and Valerie Hall.

Official launch by Dom Eamon

5.30 Vespers

5.55 Sherry Reception: honouring the recent publication of A Monastic Landscape: the Cistercians in Medieval Ireland by Dr Breda Lynch.

6.35 Dinner

8.15 Celebrating 50 conferences

9.15 Hospitium

SUNDAY 15^th APRIL

9.30 The Story of MSJ, Roscrea – part 2

Dom Richard, Dom Laurence

10.30 Concelebrated High Mass

11.30 Coffee

11.55 Going forth from Roscrea – the story of its daughter houses

Dom Peter Garvey, Abbot of Bolton Abbey, Moone

12.25 The scholarship of 50 Roscrea Conferences: reflections

a) Leaves on trees and leaves in books - joining the evidence.

Valerie Hall, Professor Emerita of Palaeoecology,

QUB

b) Dead saints resurrected; Roscrea 1987-2012

Pádraig Ó Riain, Professor Emeritus of Early and

Medieval Irish, UCC

c) The Fastest Conference Ever Seen — Nought To Fifty In Fifteen Minutes

An tOllamh Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Roinn na Staire,

NUIG

Fête Accompli

Professor Peter Harbison, author and art historian

1.40 Summing up and close of conference

George Cunningham

Archaeological Excavation Report

Early medieval kilns and medieval moated site with associated annexe

Archaeological excavation of the site at Busherstown revealed a complex multi-period site with six phases of activity. In broad outline they confirmed the use of the area from the Early Neolithic period to the present time. The first period of activity was prehistoric in date and comprised a small assemblage of lithics and a circular structure (Structure A) dated on typological grounds to the Bronze Age. The second phase was dated to the early medieval period, when the area was used for cereal processing, as evidenced by the discovery of at least 17 cereal-drying kilns and a further seven possible kilns. The majority of the kilns were located in a line that extended for a distance of 80 m in a NW-SE direction. The firing chambers of the kiln were for the most part located at the NE. A small number of the kilns were partially enclosed (Structures D and E). The third phase of activity was defined by an enclosure (ditches C.68 and 447) which was probably contemporary with the cereal processing. The continuous use of the area of the enclosure in the medieval period was confirmed when certain areas of the site were enclosed through the construction of deep, wide ditches (ditches C.54 and C.63). The ditches (ditches C.227 and C.78) were re-cut in the later medieval period to function as an annexe to a moated site. A substantial ditch, 5.5 m wide by 1.7 m deep, defined the moated site. Only the southern corner of the moated site was located within the road corridor. However, the entire outline can be clearly seen in aerial photographs of the adjoining field to the north-east. Two structures (C and D) were contemporary with the moated site. The post-medieval period was represented by a large number of furrows crossing the site and material which had been dumped into the top fills of the ditches. The site was levelled in the recent past.

Authors: Ewelina Chrobak, Jacinta Kiely and Tori McMorran

Download the report

Archaeological Excavation Report

Early Neolithic pits

The excavations at Kilsheelan, Co. Tipperary uncovered three areas of pits. The pits in two areas (Areas 2 and 3) were isolated and did not contain notable artefacts or environmental evidence. However, at Area 1 there were several pit clusters and artefacts and radiocarbon dates indicated occupation (probably intermittent rather than permanent) during the Early Neolithic.

Author: Julianna O’Donoghue

Download the report

County Donegal Heritage Office, Cultural Services & Roads & Transportation Directorate Donegal County Council presents

Care & Conservation of
Historic Graveyards

Free Seminar

Ionad an Mhachaire,
An Machaire / Maghery, County Donegal
Saturday, October 22, 2011
9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Burial grounds are sites of heritage, cultural, religious and personal interest to members of the public. As such, they provide an ideal opportunity to engage the public in built, cultural and natural heritage management at the local level. Historic graveyards also provide Donegal residents, visitors, tourists and our diaspora with an essential link in connecting people to the material heritage of our ancestors. Like Donegal County Council, many community and ecclesiastical groups are involved in managing historic graveyards on the Record of Monuments and Places.
There is a need to raise awareness of the built, cultural and natural heritage in historic graveyards so that community groups are equipped to employ best conservation practice in their activities so that the protection afforded these sites under the National Monuments Acts is observed.
The ‘Care & Conservation of Historic Graveyards’ seminar is organised by the County Donegal Heritage Office, Cultural Services and the Roads & Transportation Directorate of Donegal County Council in association with the Teampall Cróine Conservation Group & the Peadar O’Donnell Weekend.

The seminar is free but booking is required:
John Kerrigan
Heritage Research Assistant, County Donegal Heritage Office, Donegal County Council,
Station Island, Lifford, County Donegal.
Telephone: (074) 917 2359
E-mail: hra@donegalcoco.ie

The event is aimed at community groups, burial ground committees, heritage groups, historical societies, ecclesiastical groups, ‘Tidy Towns’ committees, Rural Social Scheme participants, FÁS employees, local authority staff and anyone who has an interest in local heritage and history.

Programme

9:00 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. Welcome
Cllr. Noel McBride, Mayor of County Donegal
9:40 a.m. The Dos & Don’ts of Graveyard Maintenance
Victor Buckley, National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht
10:00 a.m. C ooley Graveyard, Moville
Martin Hopkins, Cooley Cross Heritage, Development Committee
10:10 a.m. Graveyards – Full of Life:
The Management of Flora, Fauna & Wildlife Habitats
Ralph Sheppard, Donegal Biodiversity Project
10:40 a.m. Symbols of Death – Recording Graveyard Memorials
Caimin O’Brien, Archaeological Survey of Ireland
11:10 a.m. Tea & Coffee
11:40 a.m. Templecrone Historic Graveyard, Termon, Maghery
Nóirín Farren, Teampall Cróine
Conservation Group
11:50 a.m. The Conservation of Architectural and Ecclesiastical Ruins
Duncan McLaren, Dedalus Architecture
12:20 p.m. St. Catherine’s Church & Graveyard
Hugh Boyle, Killybegs Local Training Initiative
12:30 p.m. The Care of Historic Graveyards – A Local Authority Perspective
Joseph Gallagher, Heritage Officer, Donegal County Council
12:50 p.m. Open Forum – Questions & Answers
1:20 p.m. Lunch: Soup & Sandwiches
1:50 p.m. Site Visit to Templecrone, Historic Graveyard
Termon, Maghery

Download the Seminar Brochure

Earls, Gunners & Tourists

The Past and Future of Carrickfergus Castle

Carrickfergus Town Hall
Friday 28 October 2011

Carrickfergus Castle

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has combined with the Castle Studies Group and Carrickfergus Borough Council to organise a conference about Carrickfergus Castle. It was first built at the end of the 12th century (probably started in 1177-9) and was continuously occupied from then until 1927 when the army handed it over to the Northern Ireland Government as an Ancient Monument. It was built on a rocky promontory projecting into the sea with three wards; the inner one is dominated by a Great Tower; the outer by the double-towered gatehouse.

The castle is in need of a full review of the state of its research, conservation and presentation. The aim of the conference is to inform the local community and the wider academic one of the plans for this, concentrating on the Great Tower, which needs urgent physical conservation.

Papers are intended to cover the wider context of the castle and the Great Tower, the evidence for its development and ideas for conservation.

Saturday Workshops

There are specialist workshops in the Great Tower for the Castle Study Group on the Saturday morning following the conference. As space is very limited, these are by invitation only.

Programme Schedule

Location:    Carrickfergus Town Hall - The Jubilee Hall

09:00 Registration & Reception
09:40 Welcome Address to Conference by Mayor Alderman Jim McClurg
09:50 Terence Reeves-Smyth (NIEA) - Lecture  ‘Carrickfergus Great Tower and its Roof - Problems and Opportunities’
10:30 Pamela Marshall ‘Great Towers in Context’
11:10 Tea & Coffee
11:40 John Goodall (Country Life) - ‘Evidence and Preconception: Restoring and Presenting Great Towers’
12:20 Kathryn Roberts  ‘Castle Conservation in Practice – Cheptow and Harlech’
13:00 Lunch  (a light lunch is provided)
14:00 Con Manning (Dept. Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht) - ‘The Great Tower in Ireland’
14:40 Dermot MacRandal (NIEA) - ‘Practicalities of Creating Replica Historic Roofs’
15:20 Tea & Coffee
15:50 Tom NcNeill - ‘Carrickfergus Castle.  The Evidence and A Way Forward’
16:30 -17.30 Discussion

Download the Conferece Brochure

Heritage is a fundamental contributor to our economy, supporting employment across a range of sectors including tourism, agriculture, forestry, culture and provides resources for research and innovation across the country.

This conference will explore how heritage contributes to our identity and economy but will also explore how we can sustainably use heritage resources to deliver employment, healthier lifestyle, sustainable tourism and creativity. Speakers will address how heritage and culture provide competitive differentiation in a globalized world.

Place as resource

Heritage: Inspiring Innovation for Economic Growth

Heritage Innovation Conference
Thursday October 27^th 2011

Royal Collage of Physicians, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Introduction

Mr. Conor Newman, Chair, The Heritage Council

Opening of Conference

Mr. Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs

SESSIONS

The Heritage Economy

Mr. John O’Brien, Head of Business Strategy, The Industrial Development Agency
The Value of Heritage as an Incentive for Foreign Direct Investment

Dr. Guido Licciardi, Urban Specialist, The World Bank
(Presentation Topic to be Announced)

Mr. Chris Whitfield, Associate Director (Policy & Research), Ecorys, UK
The Economic Value of Ireland’s Historic Environment

Mr. Brian Williams, Assistant Director, Northern Ireland Environment Agency
The Economic Value of Northern Ireland’s Historic Environment

Heritage and Innovation

Dr. Finbarr Bradley, Economist
Leveraging Distinctive Resources for Innovation

Mr. Gearóid Ó Riain, Managing Director, Compass Infomatics
Compass highlights the role that heritage plays in the innovation economy, combining critical information and data systems to become a recognised leader in the area

Mr. Michael Hoey, Country Crest foods Company
Country Crest highlight how the application of environmental management and renewable energies gives companies a competitive advantage

Mr. Michael Feerick, CEO, ALISON
South East Galway Diaspora Project: Archives and 21stC tourism

Heritage-led Urban Regeneration

Mr. David Geddes, Principal Consultant, Locum Consulting
The impacts that heritage environments have on towns and cities

Ms. Liz Cameron, Executive Member for Business and the Economy, Glasgow City Council
Glasgow: How Glasgow’s Heritage is Core to its International Reputation as a Key Tourism Destination

Mr. Eamonn McEneaney, Director, Waterford Museum of Treasures
How Waterford is utilising its heritage assets to forge a new identity and tourism opportunities for the city

5.00pm – 6.30pm Reception

Place are limited, booking is essential.

To book e-mail abarcoe@heritagecouncile.ie or phone 056-7770777

Cost: a fee of €50, includes lunch and reception

Mount St Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary

49th Consecutive Conference: Friday 4th – Sunday 6th November 2011

Theme: Art and Devotion in Medieval Ireland

FRIDAY 4th NOVEMBER

6.00 Snack supper and registration

6.45 Reception hosted by Roscrea Heritage Society

7.25 Welcome: Dom Richard Purcell, OCSO, Abbot of Mt St Joseph

7.40 Seeing the Sacred: the religious image and the late medieval Irish devotional World

Professor Salvador Ryan, Professor of Ecclesiatical History, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth

8.15 The Cloths of Heaven: Eucharistic Vestments in Late Medieval Ireland

Dr Colmán Ó Clabaigh, OSB, Glenstal Abbey

8.50 Discussion

9.15 Hospitium

SATURDAY 5th NOVEMBER

8.45 Optional rise for vigils

9.30 Visualising Christianity in sixteenth-century Ireland: the Seanchas Búrcach manuscript

Dr Bernadette Cunningham, Deputy Librarian, RIA

9.55 Reliquaries in Saints’Lives

Professor Raymond Gillespie, NUI Maynooth

10.20 The Miracle of Lismore

Dr Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel, UCC

10.45 Discussion

11.00 Coffee

11.30 Image and Idol: Devotional Statues in Medieval Ireland

Dr Rachel Moss, RIA and TCD.

12.05 Easter and the Eucharist: A study in Franciscan iconography

Dr Malgorzata Krasnodebska-D’Aughton, UCC

12.40 Making the Arma Christi speak: text and image in late medieval Ireland

Salvador Ryan

1.10 Snack Lunch

2.30 Optional field trips

a) view the relics, stained glass and library of Mount St Joseph Abbey

b) Roscrea Heritage

c) Monaincha

5.30 Vespers

5.55 Sherry Reception hosted by Roscrea Credit Union. Midland launch of Pádraig Ó Riain’s A Dictionary of Irish Saints (Four Courts Press).

Dom Laurence Walsh OCSO

Also honouring the publication of Glendalough - City of God

6.35 Dinner

8.00 Wish I had been present - lecturers share a wish or a comment

8.40 Saturday Colophon

George Cunningham

9.10 Hospitium

SUNDAY 6th NOVEMBER

9.30 In hoc signo vinces: the story of Holycross Abbey

Dagmar Ó Riain-Raedel

9.55 Relics and pilgrims: pilgrimage as a cultural and religious experience

Malgorzata D’Aughton

10.20 Discussion

10.30 Concelebrated High Mass

11.30 Coffee

11.55 European religious imagery in Anthony Gearnon’s

Parrthas an Anma (Louvain, 1645)

Bernadette Cunningham

12.20 Purgatory and Prayer: Some Devotional Imagery

on Irish Tombs

Rachel Moss

12.45 Passports to Paradise: the monastic habit in Late Medieval Ireland

Colmán Ó Clabaigh

1.10 What if?

Raymond Gillespie

1.30 Discussion on conference theme

1.40 Summing up and close of conference

George Cunningham

1.55 Lunch

Download Conference Brochure

Raiders, Traders and Innovators – The Vikings and County Louth

Major Viking Exhibition and Conference
County Museum, Dundalk, Ireland

Friday October 21st running to February 2012

Following the discovery of the Viking site in Annagassan last year, the County Museum, Dundalk has announced details of a major exhibition entitled Raiders, Traders and Innovators – The Vikings and County Louth.  The exhibition will examine the impact that the Vikings had in the county, will open on Friday October 21st running to February 2012.  Featuring objects from the National Museum and the County Museum’s own collection the exhibition will highlight the nature and extent of Viking activity under a variety of different topics during their period in the county.  It will also feature the story behind the discovery and ultimate identification of the Linn Duachaill site in Annagassan.

Coinciding with the exhibition a conference highlighting the nature of Viking longphorts will be held the weekend of October 22nd and 23rd at the Town Hall Theatre.  With speakers from Ireland and Britain the conference will highlight the importance of the discovery of the Linn Duachaill site at Annagassan, making comparisons with other sites located throughout the country, as well as several sites in Britain.

Amongst those scheduled to contribute include Dr. Donnchadh Ó Corráin (UCC); Dr. Eamonn Kelly ; Dr. Howard Clark, Dr. Cathy Swift (University of Limerick), Dr. John Sheehan (UCC), Dr. Mark Clinton, Dr. Gareth Williams (British Museum) and Linzi Simpson.

The weekend will also feature a guided tour of the Annagassan site.  A conference fee of €45 will be charged, this includes conference lunch and banquet at the Crown Plaza (an alternative price of €20 will be charged for those who do not wish to attend the banquet).

More information about the conference may be had by contacting Brian Walsh at  00 353  042 9327056.