News & Events

Awards (December 2011)

New Head of Discipline appointed to Archaeology

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Charlotte Damm as Professor and Head of Discipline to Archaeology at N.U.I. Galway.

Charlotte Damm studied for her first degree at University of Aarhus in Denmark, and later received an M.Phil. and a PhD (1991) from University of Cambridge.  She has worked briefly as county archaeologist in Finnmark, Norway and then as director of the excavations at Slettnes, Finnmark (through Tromsø Museum). In 1993 she joined the Department of Archaeology at The University of Tromsø, Norway, where she remained until moving to NUI Galway in 2011 as Established Professor of Archaeology.

While her initial research and PhD focuses on the Danish Middle Neolithic and the interrelationship between the cultural groups there, the empirical basis for her later research is the Stone Age hunter-fishers of Northern Fennoscandia.

She has done fieldwork in Denmark, England, Norway and Finland, as well as in New Zealand, Botswana and on Greenland.

New book published, June 2011

Landscapes of Cult and Kingship edited by Conor Newman (with Roseanne Schot and Edel Bhreathnach) was published by Four Courts Press in June 2011. This 322-page volume of thirteen innovative studies is the result of a conference held in the Moore Institute, NUI Galway in June 2009. It offers new perspectives on cult practices, kingship and royal landscapes in early Ireland and abroad. Contributions include Conor Newman, 'The sacral landscape of Tara', Dr. Roseanne Schot (a research fellow in Department of Archaeology), 'From cult centre to royal centre: monuments, myths and other revelations at Uisneach', Dr Ger Dowling (a research fellow in Department of Archaeology), 'The architecture of power: an exploration of the origins of closely spaced multivallate monuments in Ireland', Elizabeth FitzPatrick et al., 'Evoking the white mare: the cult landscape of Sgiath Gabhra and its medieval perception in Gaelic Fir Mhanach' and John Waddell, 'Continuity, cult and contest'.

Pictured at the NUI Galway Lá na nGradam on 5 Feb 2011 was (l-r):

Ms. Maggie Ronayne, Lecturer in Archaeology, NUI Galway; Dr. Edward Herring, Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies; Karina Barbara Hensel, from Oughterard, Co. Galway, winner of the Monsignor Hynes Prize for Celtic Archaeology 2009-10 and the Athenry Prize, Third Arts (3BA1) 2009-10;  NUI Galway President Dr. James J. Browne; Professor Michael Clarke, Professor of Classics, NUI Galway and Professor Nollaig Mac Congáil, Registrar and Deputy President, NUI Galway.

New Graduates

Joint Award Winners of the Hynes Prize in Archaeology.

Pictured receiving The Monsignor Hynes Prize for Celtic Archaeology from NUI Galway President, Dr James J. Browne, are joint winners (l-r) Emma Cleverley, from Killarney, Co. Kerry and Donna Reid, from Lifford, Co. Donegal. Also pictured  is Maggie Ronayne, Lecturer, School of Archaeology, NUI Galway.

Field Class in the Burren, County Clare.                 

University Scholars in Archaeology

Dr Gerard Dowling, Dr Paul Naessens and Dr Jim McKeon were awarded PhD degrees in June 2009. Dr Dowling’s research explored ’The Architecture of power: an examination of the concept of closely spaced multivallation in Ireland’. Dr Naessens’ research addressed ’The Uí Fhlaithbheartaigh Gaelic lordship of Iarchonnacht: medieval lordly settlement on the Atlantic seaboard’. Dr McKeon investigated ’Anglo-Norman frontier urban settlement in the Plantagenet realm: studies from south Connacht'.

Rathcroghan: Archaeologial and Geophysical Survey in a Ritual Landscape book launch by Fintan O'Toole.

The “Landscapes of Cult and Kingship: Archaeology and Text” conference, hosted by the Department of Archaeology, NUI Galway, commenced with the official book launch of Rathcroghan: Archaeological and Geophysical Survey in a Ritual Landscape co-authored by John Waddell, Joseph Fenwick and Kevin Barton. The book was launched by the well-known writer, broadcaster and Irish Times journalist Fintan O’Toole (Pictured, left to right are Joe Fenwick, Fintan O’Toole and Professor John Waddell).