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THE CONNACHT PROJECT (ARCHAEOLOGY)

Exploring the Medieval literature and related archaeology of Connacht

The Connacht Project is an interdisciplinary research initiative under the direction of Professor Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha, School of Humanities, investigating aspects of the early Irish literary evidence relating to the ancient province of Connacht. This extraordinarily rich body of material includes extensive tales such as Acallam na Senórach, the ’Colloquy of the Ancients’ (dealing with the exploits of the legendary Fionn mac Cumaill and others) and the Táin Bó Cuailgne, the ’Cattle Raid of Cooley’ (that great epic of the Ulster Cycle), as well as Patrician texts and Bardic poetry.

The archaeological component of this project addresses a number of sites and monuments where myth, history and archaeology converge. These include the study of the ringfort and mound at Rathbrennan, near Roscommon, where according to Acallam na Senórach, Patrick, met the warrior Caílte and the king of Connacht, the study of elements of the archaeology of the royal site of Crúachain (Rathcroghan), Co. Roscommon, where the Táin Bó Cuailgne began, and the archaeology of Cloonfree, a moated site near Strokestown, celebrated as a royal settlement of the 14^th century in Bardic poetry.

	Rathbrennan
	The mound in the fort of Rathbrennan where Patrick is said to have met         the king of Connacht and Cailte, the nephew of Fionn mac Cumaill.

Rathbrennan consists of a pair of imposing conjoined ringforts near the summit of a hill just east of Roscommon town and has a circular mound in the interior and near the rampart of the easternmost example. It is the subject of a programme of detailed topographical survey. A preliminary plan clearly shows the location of the mound near the rampart and the puzzling fore-works that mark the entrance to this monument (Professor John Waddell and Joseph Fenwick).

		Crúachain—Rathcroghan
	According to legend, the Mucklaghs in Rathcroghan were named because they were believed to be the result of the rootings of a magical boar.

The area of the great ceremonial earthworks known as the Mucklaghs in Rathcroghan is being geophysically surveyed to see if there are traces of other archaeological monuments in the immediate vicinity of these enigmatic monuments. These are two very large linear earthworks each formed by a curving set of parallel banks varying in length from about 100m to 285m (Professor John Waddell, Dr Roseanne Schot and Dr Gerard Dowling).

Heritage Week 2012 An introductory talk at the Cruachan Ai Heritage Centre followed by a walk and talk around Rathcroghan mound with an on-site demonstration of field survey equipment was given by Joe Fenwick and Roseanne Schot as part of Heritage Week events in County Roscommon on Sunday 19th August.

Thanks to Howard Goldbaum, a virtual tour of some of the monuments at Rathcroghan is available at: http://www.voicesfromthedawn.com/?p=1430

		Cloonfree
	The moated site at Cloonfree near Strokestown is heavily obscured by trees today.

The royal settlement at Cloonfree is the subject of several Bardic praise-poems. It is a large sub-rectangular enclosure, a Gaelic version of an Anglo-Norman fortification. According to the literary evidence it was a royal residence around 1300 AD with an impressive feasting hall. The remains of this ’shapely fort with burnished doors’ have been surveyed by the Discovery Programme and more extensive investigation of the Cloonfree landscape is proposed (Dr Kieran O’Conor).

Publications

Kieran O'Conor 2002 (with T. Finan), The moated site at Cloonfree, Co. Roscommon, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 54, 72-87.

Kieran O'Conor 2008 (with M. Murphy) Roscommon Castle - A Visitor's Guide. Roscommon.

John Waddell 2009 (with J. Fenwick and K. Barton), Rathcroghan Co. Roscommon: Archaeological and Geophysical Survey in a Ritual Landscape. 249 pp. Wordwell, Dublin.

John Waddell 2009 Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon - where the Táin Bó Cúailnge began.  Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide No. 44, Wordwell, Dublin.

John Waddell 2011 Continuity, cult and contest.  In R. Schot, C. Newman and E. Bhreathnach (eds), Landscapes of Cult and Kingship, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 192-212.  A proof copy of this article is available on-line through the National University of Ireland Galway's library web site (in ARAN).

Kieran O'Conor 2013 (with B. Shanahan) Roscommon Abbey - A Visitor's Guide. Roscommon.

    

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