Warning: Your browser doesn't support all of the features in this Web site. Please view our accessibility page for more details.

Quick Search [?]WHAT IS THIS?
Searches this and other areas of the Web site as you type. Results appear on this page.
Also searches the entire Web site (with results on a new page) if you press enter or click on 'Go'.

books published by department or departmental staff,
2006 to date

	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'.
	The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, Third revised edition, 455 pp. Wordwell, Dublin 2010. This is the third revised edition of John Waddells' The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, first published in 1998. This comprehensive account of Irish prehistory from the Mesolithic to the Later Iron Age is a standard textbook for all students of Irish prehistory.
	Lost and found II: rediscovering Ireland's past by Joe Fenwick (2009) is the second of what it is hoped will be three edited volumes on the theme of discovering Ireland's past. This book is intended to appeal to everyone who shares a curiosity in those dimly illuminated corners of Ireland's distant past and whose thirst for adventure and discovery is sated only by the deep and satisfying draught of scientific fact without the froth of fiction or fantasy. This anthology, therefore, in common with the first volume, Lost and found: discovering Ireland's past, contains an eclectic mix of some 28 copiously illustrated essays, written by recognised experts in their field, each of whom has embraced a novel aspect of the world of Irish archaeology, history, anthropology, geography, Celtic studies and other related disciplines.
	Rathcroghan. Archaeological and Geophysical Survey in a Ritual Landscape by John Waddell, Joe Fenwick and Kevin Barton is published by Wordwell, Dublin (2009). Rathcroghan ( Crúachain) is often referred to as both a royal settlement and a sacred burial place; it is one of several major royal sites in ancient Ireland, such as Tara, Co. Meath, Knockaulin, Co. Kildare, and Navan Fort near Armagh, that are frequently mentioned in early literature. While these sites had a special importance in early historic times, and in some cases bore an extraordinary weight of myth and legend, we now know that they are older archaeological assemblages of impressive complexity and size. This book is the result of a major programme of archaeological field research at Rathcroghan in County Roscommon in the west of Ireland. This project involved the use of a range of geophysical techniques to explore a number of extraordinary monuments in the Rathcroghan and Carnfree area.
	Roscommon Castle. A Visitor's Guide is published by Roscommon County Council. This definitive guide to Roscommon Castle by Kieran O'Conor and Margaret Murphy (2008) provides a detailed account of the history and architectural development of one of the most imposing of Roscommon's monuments. It had a remarkably turbulent history. First constructed in 1269 as a Crown fortress by Robert d'Ufford, Lord Justice of Ireland, it was destroyed by Aedh O'Conor in 1272. Rebuilt, it held an English garrison by 1280. Thereafter it was mostly in O'Conor control until 1569. In 1578 it was granted to Sir Nicholas Malbie, Elizabethan Governor of Connacht.Captured by Confederate Catholics in 1645, it was surrendered to Cromwellian forces in 1652. The great 13 ^th century castle has a twin-towered gate-house and D-shaped corner towers; large windows are the result of 16 ^th century remodelling.
	Michelle Comber's monograph The Economy of the Ringfort and Contemporary Settlement in Early Medieval Ireland was published in 2008 in British Archaeological Reports International Series No. 1773. In a comprehensive study with an economic focus, this work utilises a broad spectrum of information, including structural, artefactual, environmental, technological and documentary to examine the economy of early Medieval Ireland and the domestic life of the non-elite population. Evidence from ringforts forms the basis of the study, but is supplemented with material from other settlement forms such as crannogs and monasteries.
	Temples of Stone. Exploring the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland by Carleton Jones is a major work on the megalithic tombs of Ireland published in 2007 by The Collins Press, Cork. These remarkable monuments are among the most impressive archaeological sites visible in the Irish landscape today. Around 6,000 years ago, the members of a now long-forgotten tribe dragged and lifted carefully chosen stones into place and built Ireland's first 'Temple of Stone'. Over the next 2,000 years, hundreds more megalithic tombs were built across the country and then, around 2000 BC, the building stopped and the knowledge of what these remarkable stone structures meant to their builders was lost. After 4,000 years of silence, however, the stones are no longer mute. Every year archaeologists are discovering more about these enigmatic monuments and instead of a single, simple answer to the question of what the megalithic tombs meant to those who built them, there is a multitude of answers, each one more intriguing than the next. In Temples of Stone, the world of the megaliths and the megalith builders is brought to life in a fully illustrated, popular format. All the key sites in Ireland are discussed and over 100 'Sites Worth Visiting' are listed in the final chapter with photographs, maps and detailed directions.
	Uninhabited Ireland. Tara, the M3 and Public Spaces in Galway by Conor Newman and Ulf Strohmayer was published by Arlen House in 2007. In this work Conor Newman provides an account of the Tara controversy up to 2007. The routing of a new motorway, the M3, through the valley between the Hill of Tara and Skreen, prompted an international controversy and brought out the best and worst in politics and archaeology. Faced with an intransigent Government that seemed to believe sustainable development meant sustaining development at all costs, some archaeologists studiously positioned themselves in neutral ground but others refused to accept a bad planning decision and an act of cultural vandalism at least on a par with that demolition of part of Dublin's longest expanse of intact Georgian architecture in Fitzwilliam Street in 1965.
	Ireland. Oxford Archaeological Guide. Conor Newman (and Andy Halpin).Oxford University Press, 2006. Pp556, 250 illustrations. Paperback. Covering the whole of Ireland, this book is the most comprehensive and detailed compact guide to the island's archaeological sites. All of the major archaeological monuments are included, such as those in the Boyne Valley, Tara, Dun Aonghasa, Clonmacnoise and Dublin. Arranged in eight regional sections, it also includes in introduction providing background and context to the monuments.
	Anna Brindley's The Dating of Food Vessels and Urns in Ireland (2007) is a major contribution to Irish and British archaeology. Using her experience with radiocarbon dates and intimate knowledge of typology and classification, she investigates the chronology and development of the pottery found in the graves of early Bronze Age Ireland. Some 200 samples of bone collagen and carbonate have been dated specifically for this work. The core of this book consists of three sections: the radiocarbon dates plus fully illustrated catalogues; the development of the pottery described in three stages; and a detailed consideration of the radiocarbon dates for each stage against the calibration curve. The result is a tightly structured chronology of calibrated radiocarbon dates for food vessels and urns between 2160 BC and 1500 BC. Book Sales

Archaeology Department Books
1990-1999	2000-2005	2006 to date

Department of Archaeology
National University of Ireland, Galway,
University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Phone: +353 (0) 91 492167 , Fax: +353 (0) 91 525700, E-mail Archaeology
This page was last updated Monday, June 13, 2011

books published by department or departmental staff, 2006 to date

books published by department or departmental staff,
2006 to date