News

Dr Kieran O'Conor awarded AIA Samuel Kress Lectureship in Ancient Art 2017-18

T‌he School of Geography and Archaeology is particularly proud to announce that Dr Kieran O’Conor was one of two archaeologists from Europe who has been awarded the annual Archaeological Institute of America's (AIA) Samuel Kress Lectureship in Ancient Art for the academic year 2017-18. This is the first time that the AIA has chosen a medieval archaeologist for this prestigious award. Dr O’Conor is currently on tour and presenting his research to AIA chapters across the USA and Canada. He will be giving lectures in the Wooster (Ohio), Denver, Tucson, Spokane, Winnipeg, St Louis, Athens (Georgia), Orlando, Gainesville (both in Florida), San Antonio (Texas), Worcester (Mass), Long Island (New York), Ottawa, and Narragansett (Rhode Island). Phew! Whilst in America, Dr O’Conor has also been asked to lecture at a number of other venues not linked to the AIA.

HDip in Arts (Archaeology) Graduations

Congratulations to James McKeon, Matheus Munoz De Almedia and Mary Pereira on receiving  their HDip in Arts (Archaeology) on Tuesday 17 October 2017. Mary and James are pictured here with Professor Elizabeth FitzPatrick (Matheus absent). 

Sligo Neolithic Heritage Guide launched

Dr Stefan Bergh’s guide to ‘Neolithic  Cúil Irra: Knocknarea – Carrowmore – Carns Hill’, published by Archaeology Ireland  ( Heritage Guide No. 78), was launched by Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Flood Relief in the Carrowmore Visitor Centre, Co. Sligo,  on Monday 21^st August 2017. This was followed by a well-attended guided tour of Carns Hill led by Dr Bergh on Tuesday as part of Heritage Week. (Read More).

'Islands in a Global Context'

Islands in a Global Context edited by NUI Galway’s Conor Newman, Mags Mannion and Fiona Gavin will be in shops from 28 June 2017. This lavishly illustrated volume of essays from 30 of the world’s leading experts in medieval art in Ireland and Britain is the seventh volume in the series of international conferences on Insular art. The jacket image of a silver bible cover from the 6th-7th century Kaper Koraon treasure, Syria, speaks to the reach of a collection that focuses on the role of the outside world in shaping Insular art. Islands in a Global Context: Four Courts Press, 320pp, colour illus, large format, €60.00

Setting Higher Standards

In recognition of her outstanding work, Sandra Getty has been commended for her valuable contribution to Archaeology, the School of Geography and Archaeology and the University under the ‘President’s Awards for Support Services Excellence’. It is very well deserved. Many congratulations!

A celebratory event in honour of Conor Newman

... to mark the conclusion of his role as chair of the Heritage Council from 2008-2016 was held in the Moore Institute, NUI Galway on Tuesday evening 7^th March 2017.

Kieran O'Conor reception speech 2017

Newman concluding Heritage Council address 2017

With words from his friends and colleagues Dr Kieran O’Conor and Professor John Waddell and musical interludes provided by Jim Higgins, (Bodhran), Maritin O’Conor (accordion) and special guest, Beatrice Newman (violin) and also by sean-nós singer in residence, Sarah Ghriallas. It was quite an event.

Journal of Irish Archaeology Vol. 24

Volume 24 of the Journal of Irish Archaeology will be appearing very soon. The image on the cover, designed by Angela Gallagher, is intended to highlight the importance of ancestry in the history and prehistory of Ireland. It is composed of a collage of Irish faces and I want to thank everyone who contributed photos towards this illustration. The criteria was that the individuals in the photos had four Irish grandparents which means that the phenotypic traits displayed in the faces, while not necessarily ancient, do have some time depth. Archaeology is now rapidly entering an era in which ancestry (at a variety of scales) will play a much greater role in our interpretations. This shift is being driven by methodological advances in ancient DNA (aDNA) research and I am excited to lead volume 24 of the Journal of Irish Archaeology with a specially commissioned piece by Lara Cassidy and Dan Bradley of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin in which they explain these recent methodological advances, bring us up to date with current aDNA research in Ireland, and point towards the future directions of this research.

PhD graduations: 23 November 2016

Many congratulations to Dr Thor McVeigh, Dr Richard Gray, Dr Betty Gray and Dr Eugene Costello, pictured above, who recieved their PhDs in Archaeology on 23 November 2016 - an outstanding achievement individually and a major milestone for the Discipline of Archaeology!

Archaeological research at the royal site of Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon.

'Researching Rathcroghan, the Tara of the West'
an article by Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent of The Irish Times (Satruday 9th November, 2016)

A conjectural reconstruction of Rathcroghan Mound, by J.G. O’Donoghue (Archaeological Illustrator) in collaboration with Joe Fenwick (Archaeological Field Officer, NUI Galway), as it might have looked during the Later Iron Age, some 2000 years ago (©J.G. O’Donoghue/Roscommon County Council).

Turlough Hill Excavations 2016, Co. Clare.

Vodcasts of Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series 2015 (Natural and Human Heritages)

Dr Brídín Carroll
Locating the Locale of Local Food.
A review of Irish consumers’ varied understandings of ‘local food’, arising from research which recognises the power attributed to localisation to address the ‘grand challenges’ facing the food system.

Dr Frances Fahy & Dr Mary Jo Lavelle
What’s Ireland Consuming?
Household consumption remains somewhat of a black box for policymakers. Focusing on external conditions – the impact of a global recession and economic downturn – we examine consumption activities based on a survey of 1,500 households.

Dr Maura Farrell
Rural Ireland: Moving Forward or Remaining the same.
Rural Ireland has witnessed unprecedented change in recent decades. These changes in contemporary spaces of rurality have resulted in the agricultural community sharing the landscape with a diversity of people, industry and communities.

Joe Fenwick
Repopulating the Archaeological Landscape of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site.
A presentation of the re-emerging traces and places of past human settlement and activity hidden in the shadow of the great prehistoric monuments of the ‘bend of the Boyne’.

Conor Newman
The Sword in the Stone: the Galway Connection
Though usually considered the stuff of kingly legend, the motif of the sword in the stone appears to have some basis in reality. The story begins on the Maree peninsula.

Multiple Book Launch - 15 December 2015

The Discipline of Archaeology has been remarkably successful in recent years in attracting both post-graduate and overseas students to NUI Galway, based largely on its innovative and supportive teaching environment and its internationally-recognised reputation as a hub of scholarly research and progressive publication. Its success is also due, in no small measure, to the exceptionally rich resource on its doorstep: the diversity of natural and cultural landscape environments afforded by the midland, western and wild Atlantic seaboard – a ready-made, outdoor archaeological laboratory.  Another great resource available to the Nation and much sought after abroad, is the calibre of its graduate students and alumni and the exuberant enthusiasm that each exude for their chosen profession, which, in turn, is reflected in their assured scholarship and impressive publication record. It was with particular pleasure, therefore, that the Discipline of Archaeology had the honour of simultaneously launching, not one, but a total of six books published by some of its recently graduated PhD students – a remarkable achievement by any account and a source of great pride to the School of Geography and Archaeology.

Pictured above are four of the authors with their books (L-R) Dr Fiona Beglane (Anglo-Norman Parks in Medieval Ireland), Dr Mags Mannion (Glass Beads from Early Medieval Ireland: Classification, Dating, Social Performance), Dr Phyllis Mercer (Irish Portal Tombs: A Ritual Perspective) and Dr Robert Hensey (First Light: The Origins of Newgrange), surrounded by academic staff of Archaeology (L-R) Conor Newman, Dr Kieran O’Conor, Dr Stefan Bergh, Dr Carleton Jones, Professor John Waddell and Professor Elizabeth FitzPatrick. Those authors absent from the photograph are Dr Eve Campbell (The Field Names of County Louth) and Dr Katherine Leonard (Ritual in Late Bronze Age Ireland: Material Culture, Practices, Landscape Setting and Social Context). Congratulations to one and all!

	Fiona Beglane (PhD in Archaeology, NUI Galway - 2012) Anglo-Norman Parks in Medieval Ireland €45 Four Courts Press
	Eve Campbell, co-ordinator (PhD in Archaeology, NUI Galway - 2012) The Field Names of County Louth The Louth Field Names Project commenced in early 2012 under the auspices of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, County Louth I.F.A. and the County Louth Library Service.
	Robert Hensey (PhD in Archaeology, NUI Galway - 2010) First Light: The Origins of Newgrange (Oxbow insights in Archaeology)
	Mags Mannion (PhD in Archaeology, NUI Galway - 2013) Glass Beads from Early Medieval Ireland: Classification, Dating, Social Performance. This is the first dedicated and comprehensive study of glass beads from Early Medieval Ireland, presenting the first national classification, typology, dating, symbology and social performance of glass beads.  €30 Archaeopress
	Phyllis Mercer (PhD in Archaeology, NUI Galway - 2013) Irish Portal Tombs: A Ritual Perspective €49 (BAR British Archaeological Reports)
	Katherine Leonard (PhD in Archaeology, NUI Galway - 2014) Ritual in Late Bronze Age Ireland: Material Culture, Practices, Landsape Setting and Social Context. Archaeopress