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Geography & Archaeology

Professor Elizabeth Fitzpatrick

Ph.D.

Contact Details

PERSONAL PROFESSOR
Archaeology
Room 212
Arts/Science Building
NUI Galway
T: Ext. 2670
E: elizabeth.fitzpatrick@nuigalway.ie
 
researcher
 

Biography

Defend the Arts. They teach us what it is to be human and give us intellectual tools to make sense of our world. 

Elizabeth FitzPatrick is a personal professor of historical archaeology, a director of the Discovery Programme, a member of the International Advisory Board for Medieval Archaeology, London, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. She received her PhD from Trinity College Dublin (1997) and worked with the Archaeological Survey of Ireland and with the Carroll Institute, London, before joining NUI Galway in 1997. She currently holds a Royal Society of Edinburgh European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19) and previously held a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship in the Humanities (2012).

Her research, publications and teaching concern how historical human identities and cultural practices are expressed in landscape, place and settlement, with a particular focus on Gaelic peoples (c. 600-1600 AD). The aim of this work is to recover and restore meanings of past landscapes, places and sites for contemporary society. 

Her recent publications include -  The exilic burial place of a Gaelic Irish community at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome (Papers of the British School at Rome, 2017); Finn’s Seat: topographies of power and royal marchlands of Gaelic polities in medieval Ireland (Landscape History 38:2, 2017), and (with E. Campbell and A. Horning eds)  Becoming and Belonging in Ireland, AD c. 1200-1600: Essays in Identity and Cultural Practice (Cork University Press, 2018). 

Her current major projects are Gaelic Learned Families of Ireland, focussing on their landscapes and lifeways, and an Atlas of Finn mac Cumaill's Places, which investigates the relationship between royal marchlands of Gaelic kings and hunting grounds in the Finn Cycle of Tales. She has been awarded an RSE  European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19) to support this work on the Isle of Arran.

She is currently curating an exhibition on Gaelic Society and Culture in Ireland AD 1200-1600 at Galway City Museum for the Capital of Culture 2020.

FUNDING
Royal Society of Edinburgh European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19), funded by the Caledonian Research Foundation. The Royal Forest of Arran: Landscape and Legend.

Royal Irish Academy Research Grant 2017. Archaeometric Analyses of Late Medieval Inscribed Slates.

National University of Ireland. Grant-in-Aid of Publication 2017. Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD 1200-1600.

RNR2183 Private Philanthropy 2018. Culture and Society in Gaelic Ireland 1200-1600. Exhibition Galway City Museum, for European Capital of Culture 2020.   

PUBLICATIONS
Recent
2018 (with Campbell, E.  and Horning, E., eds) Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD c.1200-1600: Essays in Identity and Cultural Practice (Cork University Press), 492 pp.
2018 Gaelic Service families and the landscape of lucht tighe. In, Becoming and Belonging in Ireland, 167-88.
2017 Finn’s Seat: topographies of power and royal marchlands of Gaelic polities in medieval Ireland. Landscape History 38:2, 29-62.
2017 The exilic burial place of a Gaelic Irish community at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome. Papers of the British School at Rome 85, 205-239.
2016 The last kings of Ireland: material expressions of Gaelic lordship c. 1300-1400 A.D. In K. Buchanan and L.H.S. Dean with Michael Penman (eds), Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles, 197-213. Routledge, London and New York.
2016 (with C. Ó Drisceoil) The landscape and law school settlement of the O’Doran brehons, Ballyorley, Co. Wexford, in Medieval Wexford, 383-415 (Four Courts Press, Dublin).
2015 Assembly places and elite collective identities in medieval Ireland. Journal of the North Atlantic 8, 52-68.
2015 Ollamh, biatach, comharba: lifeways of Gaelic learned families in medieval and early modern Ireland. Proceedings of the XIVth International Celtic Congress, Maynooth, 165-89. Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies.

Forthcoming
2018 Finn’s wilderness place and boundary landforms in medieval Ireland. In, Egeler, M. (ed.), Landscape and Myth in Northwestern Europe (Brepols).  
2019 Wilderness People: Landscapes & Lifeways of Gaelic Learned Families in Ireland AD 1200-1600.
2019 (with P. Naessens) Medieval boundary landscapes and hunting places in fianaigecht. In, Arbuthnot, S., Ní Mhurchú, S. and Parsons, G. (eds), Proceedings of the Second International Finn Cycle Conference.  

One of her contributions to humanities scholarship lies in cross-disciplinary publication projects important to Irish identity and cultural life. Among these are Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD c. 1200-1600 (Cork University Press 2018); Food and Drink in Ireland (Royal Irish Academy 2016); Domestic Life in Ireland (Royal Irish Academy 2011); The Parish in Medieval and Early Modern Ireland: Community Territory and Building (Four Courts 2006); Gaelic Ireland c.1250 – c.1650: Land, Lordship and Settlement (Four Courts 2001 and 2004).

Recent International Events
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, University of the Highlands and Islands, Isle of Skye. The landscape of Síd Beinde hÉtair, Howth, County Dublin. Paper presented at a joint meeting of the Ulster Cycle and Finn Cycle Conferences, 15 June 2018. 

Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. Invited paper. Gaelic medieval landscape identity and imagined cultural space in fíanaigecht. Fenian Tradition and Gaelic Identity, 15 March 2018.

Institute of Archaeology, Oxford. Early Medieval Topographies of Power: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, day-seminar, 7 February 2017.

Institute of Archaeology, Oxford. Wilderness and Territorial Boundaries in Medieval Ireland, 27 February 2017. Celtic Studies, Oxford. Wilderness People: Learned Families of the Gaelic Court 1200-1600, 23 February 2017.

University College London Institute of Archaeology and British Museum Seminars, London. Wilderness and Territorial Boundaries in Medieval Ireland, 13 December 2016 

The Eleventh Annual Angus Matheson Lecture, Glasgow University. Finn mac Cumaill’s Places: Boundaries and Natural Resources in the Gaelic World, 29 November 2016. 

Wilderness in the Mythical Tales and Real-World Landscapes of Finn mac Cumaill. Landscape and Myth in North-Western Europe. Institut für Nordische Philologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, 6-8 April 2016.

Recent Appointments
International Advisory Board for Medieval Archaeology, London (2016-present).
Board of Directors, the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland (2015-present);

Awards
Royal Society of Edinburgh European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19)
Fulbright Visiting Scholarship in the Humanities, Harvard (2012) 
Government of Ireland IRCHSS Fellowship in the Humanities & Social Sciences (2006)              
 Ireland–Italy Bilateral Cultural Agreement Travel Bursary Rome (2003-4) 
British Academy/Royal Irish Academy Exchange Scholarship (1997) 











Research Interests

RESEARCH
Professor FitzPatrick's  research and publications concern how historical human identities and cultural practices are expressed in landscape, place and settlement, with a particular focus on Gaelic peoples (c. 600-1600 AD). The aim of this work is to recover and restore meanings of past landscapes, places and sites for contemporary society. She has published widely on medieval landscape, settlement and land-use practices among Gaelic kings and later medieval lords, with an emphasis on royal marchlands, topographies of elite power and territorial boundaries, assembly places and hunting grounds, churches, settlement forms, and medieval use of prehistoric landscapes in Gaelic polities. She is concerned to extend knowledge of medieval Gaelic society beyond its rulers and, therefore, also researches the lands, settlements and lifeways of service families, among them hereditary learned classes of lawyers, physicians, poets, musicians and traditional historians who served the households of ruling families in the Gaelic hereditary arts.

Her current major projects are: 
Atlas of Finn Mac Cumaill's Places: Royal Marchlands in Medieval Ireland & Scotland 
Gaelic Learned Families of Ireland: Landscapes and Lifeways 1200-1600 

ATLAS OF FINN MAC CUMAILL’S PLACES 
A cross-disciplinary research project that investigates the relationship between place lore in the Finn Cycle of Tales (fíanaigecht) and the archaeology, geology, topography and wildlife ecology of boundary landscapes in medieval Gaelic polities of Ireland and Scotland. It addresses the hypothesis that places onto which Finn-related place-names,and tales of Finn were layered indicate royal marchlands of Gaelic elites which they used for hunting, assembling, battling and for the exploitation of earth materials. The character of those marchlands suggest that they may have been royal forests of early medieval origin.

She has been awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19), funded by the Caledonian Research Foundation, for her work on the medieval royal forest of the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, which is an important case study for the Atlas of Finn mac Cumaill's Places. Arran is first documented as a royal forest of the Stewart kings in the fifteenth century. However, allusions in thirteenth-century fíanaigecht to the natural landscape and abundant wildlife of Arran and to its role as a celebrated Lughnasa hunting ground of the warrior-hunter and border hero, Finn mac Cumaill, and his fían, suggests that the island may have had a much earlier purpose as a forestis. The research involves investigating Finn- and hunting-related place-names on Arran, with a particular focus on the landscape setting of Fingal’s Cave between Torr Righ Mòr and the hillfort of Drumadoon on the west side of the island. Fingal’s Cave, which is also known as the King’s Cave, is associated with Finn and with the Stewart king, Robert 1, ‘the Bruce’. It is one of a series of caves at the base of Torr Righ Mòr, south of the renowned Machrie Moor prehistoric complex of megalithic monuments. Fingal’s Cave is distinguished from the others by a series of carvings including ogham, interlace and animal motifs that are being modelled as part of the project. 

Publications associated with the Atlas project include: 
(In Press) 2018 Finn’s wilderness place and boundary landforms in medieval Ireland. In, Egeler, M. (ed.), Landscape and Myth in Northwestern Europe (Brepols).  
2017 Finn’s Seat: topographies of power and royal marchlands of Gaelic polities in medieval Ireland. Landscape History 38:2, 29-62.
2015 Assembly places and elite collective identities in medieval Ireland. Journal of the North Atlantic 8, 52-68.

2015 FitzPatrick, E., Hennessy, R., Naessens, P. and Nagy, J.F. Decoding Finn mac Cumaill’s places. Archaeology Ireland 29/3, 26-31.   

2013 Formaoil na Fiann: hunting preserves and assembly places in Gaelic Ireland. Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 32, 95-118.  
 
Forthcoming 2018 (with P. Naessens) Medieval boundary landscapes and hunting places in fianaigecht. In, Arbuthnot, S., Ní Mhurchú, S. and Parsons, G. (eds), Proceedings of the Second International Finn Cycle Conference.  

Project Funding
Royal Society of Edinburgh European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19), funded by the Caledonian Research Foundation.

Forthcoming and Recent International Events associated with the Atlas project include:

Recent International Events
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, University of the Highlands and Islands, Isle of Skye. The landscape of Síd Beinde hÉtair, Howth, County Dublin. Paper presented at joint meeting of the Ulster Cycle and Finn Cycle Conferences, 15 June 2018. 

Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. Invited paper. Gaelic medieval landscape identity and imagined cultural space in fíanaigecht. Fenian Tradition and Gaelic Identity, 15 March 2018.

Institute of Archaeology, Oxford. Early Medieval Topographies of Power: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, day-seminar, 7 February 2017.

Institute of Archaeology, Oxford. Wilderness and Territorial Boundaries in Medieval Ireland, 27 February 2017. Celtic Studies, Oxford. Wilderness People: Learned Families of the Gaelic Court 1200-1600, 23 February 2017.

University College London Institute of Archaeology and British Museum Seminars, London. Wilderness and Territorial Boundaries in Medieval Ireland, 13 December 2016 

The Eleventh Annual Angus Matheson Lecture, Glasgow University. Finn mac Cumaill’s Places: Boundaries and Natural Resources in the Gaelic World, 29 November 2016. 

Institut für Nordische Philologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. Landscape and Myth in North-Western Europe Conference. Wilderness in the Mythical Tales and Real-World Landscapes of Finn mac Cumaill, 6-8 April 2016.

Projector Director: Prof. Elizabeth FitzPatrick, Archaeology, NUI Galway. Research Partners:
Dr Ruth Carden Wildlife Ecology & Osteology Consultancy; Dr Alessandra Costanzo, Earth and Ocean Sciences. School of Natural Sciences, NUI Galway; Dr Karen Molloy, Palaeoecologist, PRU, School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway; Dr Paul Naessens, Western Aerial Survey Consultancy; Dr Liam Ó hAisibéil, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, NUI Galway. Project Advisors: Prof. Stephen Driscoll, Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, University of Glasgow; Dr Peter McNiven, Celtic and Gaelic, University of Glasgow. Prof. Joseph F. Nagy, Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard. Research Associates: Colette Allen, Richard Long, Helen Rietskins.

GAELIC LEARNED FAMILIES OF IRELAND: LANDSCAPES & LIFEWAYS 
Professional learned families were minor elite in the Gaelic social hierarchy of Ireland between AD c. 1200 and 1600. Their leading representatives were integral to court culture in the Gaelic and gaelicised Anglo-Norman lordships of Ireland, and several of them conducted schools in law, medicine, music, poetry and traditional history on their landholdings. The roles of learned people were multi-faceted, kin-based and hereditary, which made them somewhat unique functionaries in later medieval and early modern Europe. They farmed, dispensed hospitality, kept schools and libraries and, apart from practising their own specific art, they crossed over with ease into allied fields of knowledge. Learned families developed and expanded as a major class in Gaelic society from the thirteenth century onward. By the sixteenth century there were hundreds of such families  island-wide, practising the Gaelic arts for their lords, conducting schools and maintaining networks of learning and, most importantly, compiling manuscripts for patrons and for their own libraries. The research focuses on the landscape setting, built environment and material culture of Gaelic learned family landholdings and settlements and includes the results of excavations at the Burren law school settlement of the Ó Dubhdábhoireann brehon lawyers in the Burren, Co. Clare and the Ó Deóradháin lawyers at Ballyorley, Co Wexford, in addition to  number of surveys conducted throughout Ireland on the former landholdings of, among others,  the poetic family of Ó Dálaigh of Muinter Bháire on the Sheepshead peninsula, Co. Cork. 

A strand of the project currently involves investigation of materials of learning used in later medieval learned family schools. This is supported by a Royal Irish Academy Archaeology Research Grant (2017-18) for archaeometric analysis of late medieval inscribed slates from Smarmore, Co. Louth and Cahermacnaghten, Co. Clare. The primary aim is to determine, through a programme of Infrared and Raman microspectroscopy, how the surfaces of slates were prepared and re-used for writing in the schools. Preliminary results suggest that a complex pigmented substance was applied to the some of the slate surfaces. The nature of the pigment and the relationship of the respective inscriptions to it suggest that a thin layer of what could be described as yellow-brown ‘paint’, based on an organic dye substance, a charcoal-type carbon and quartz, all bound by an unidentified mordant (perhaps egg-white) was applied to create clean surfaces, possibly for repeated use and/or permanent record making. The concept of painting slate surfaces, so that lightly incised inscriptions stood out when they were cut into the coloured surface, adds new knowledge to our understanding of late medieval writing materials.

Publications associated with Gaelic Learned Families include:
2018 Gaelic service kindreds and the landscape identity of lucht tighe. In, Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD 1200-1600: Essays in Identity and Cultural Practice, 167-88 (Cork University Press).   

2016 (with C. Ó Drisceoil) The landscape and law school settlement of the O’Doran brehons, Ballyorley, Co. Wexford, in Medieval Wexford, 383-415 (Four Courts Press, Dublin).

 2015 Ollamh, biatach, comharba: lifeways of Gaelic learned families in medieval and early modern Ireland. Proceedings of the XIVth International Celtic Congress, Maynooth, 165-89. Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies.   

2013 The landscape and settlements of the Uí Dhálaigh poets of Muinter Bháire. In S. Duffy (ed.), Princes, prelates and poets in medieval Ireland: essays in honour of Katharine Simms, 460-80. Four Courts Press, Dublin. Forthcoming (2019) Wilderness People: Gaelic Learned Families in Ireland AD 1200-1600. 

Project Funding
Royal Irish Academy Research Grant 2017. Archaeometric Analyses of Late Medieval Inscribed Slates.

National University of Ireland. Grant-in-Aid of Publication 2017. Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD 1200-1600.

Private Philanthropy. Keepers of the Gael: Culture and Society in Gaelic Ireland 1200-1600. Exhibition Galway City Museum, for European Capital of Culture 2020. Launch February 2019.  

Forthcoming and Recent Events associated with Gaelic Learned Families of Ireland: 
Keepers of the Gael: Culture and Society in Gaelic Ireland AD 1200-1600, at Galway City Museum for the European Capital of Culture 2020. A multimedia exhibition that will explore Gaelic culture and society through the hereditary keepers of the arts – the learned families of historians, poets, lawyers, physicians and musicians who were the voice of the worldview of Gaelic peoples in Ireland between 1200 and 1600 AD. The exhibition concept is in keeping with the Capital of Culture ethos, which is designed to ‘highlight the richness and diversity of Cultures in Europe’. The exhibition will appeal to people of all cultural backgrounds. Conceived as a journey into a particular culture-group identity on the island of Ireland over a 400-year period, the theme has immediate relevance for contemporary society.  It will show how Gaelic peoples understood and projected themselves, how they were viewed and understood by others and how their senses of self were transformed over time. We live in an era when cultural and ethnic identities are being variously contested, threatened and reasserted, worldwide. This exhibition aims to demonstrate, through views of the Gael, that the past can enlighten some of the critical issues of human identity in our contemporary world; who we are, or who we think we are, is complex and mutable and lies at the heart of this exhibition. 

14 April 2018. Rathcroghan Conference, Keynote. Gaelic Service Families of Machaire Chonnacht and the Landscape of Fraoch. 

7 April 2018. Galway City Museum.  Lifeways of Gaelic Learned Families in Ireland AD 1200-1600. 

27 February 2017. Celtic Studies, Oxford. Wilderness People: Learned Families of the Gaelic Court 1200-1600.

Projector Director: Prof. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick; Research Partners: Dr Richard Clutterbuck, Dr Eve Campbell, Cóilín Ó Drisceoil (Kikenny Archaeology) 

RESEARCH AWARDS 
Royal Society of Edinburgh European Visiting Research Fellowship (2018-19)
Fulbright Visiting Scholarship in the Humanities, Harvard (2012) 
Government of Ireland IRCHSS Fellowship in the Humanities & Social Sciences (2006)         
Ireland–Italy Bilateral Cultural Agreement Travel Bursary Rome (2003-4) 
British Academy/Royal Irish Academy Exchange Scholarship (1997) 

RESEARCH in TEACHING and SUPERVISION
Knowledge has a life-cycle which requires that research feeds back into both undergraduate teaching and postgraduate supervision and, in turn, generates new, targeted research questions. To date, ten PhD students, eight of whom were IRC scholars, and nine M.Litt students, have successfully completed under her supervision. She continues to recruit both PhD and M.Litt students in the areas of medieval landscape and settlement, topographies of power, territory, territoriality and boundaries, assembly places, churches in the landscape, and material culture of Gaelic peoples. She also directs the Higher Diploma in Archaeology which is a gateway to graduate research in the discipline.

Current Postgraduate Research Supervision 
PhD & M.Litt.
  • Peter Casby, Living trees in created environments of Gaelic Ireland c. 700-1600 AD. PhD IRC Scholar
  • Andy Kellogg, The Royal Assembly Places of Magh Adhair and Gamla Uppsala. M.Litt.
Completed PhD & M.Litt.
  • 2016 Elizabeth Gray, Material culture of high-status drinking ritual in medieval and early modern Gaelic Ireland. PhD IRC scholar. 
  • 2016 Richard Gray, Settlement clusters at parish churches in Ireland, 1200–1600 AD. PhD
  •  2016 Colette Allen, Buí: the Cailleach Bhéarra in landscapes of kingship and assembly. M.Litt.
  • 2015 Richard Clutterbuck, Rural landscapes of improvement in Ireland, 1650 to 1850: an archaeological landscape study. PhD IRC Scholar.
  • 2012 Eve Campbell, Displacement and relocation in early modern Ireland: studies of transplantation settlements in Connacht and Clare. PhD IRC Scholar. 
  • 2012 Yvonne McDermott, Patronage and observance: the Franciscans and Dominicans in the lordships of Mac Uilliam Uachtair and Mac Uilliam Íochtair. PhD.
  • 2010 Christy Cunniffe, Clonfert: genesis, development and decline of a Gaelic cathedral settlement. PhD.
  • 2010 Siobhán McDermott, Negotiating the colonial process: settlement and society in Truagh, County Monaghan c. 1591–1800. PhD IRC Scholar.  
  • 2010 Colleen O’Hara, The Cultural Context of Ulster Coarse Pottery c.1200–1650. M.Litt.
  • 2009 Paul Naessens, The Uí Fhlaithbheartaigh Gaelic lordship of Iarchonnacht: medieval lordly settlement on the Atlantic seaboard. PhD IRC Scholar. 
  • 2008 James McKeon Anglo-Norman frontier urban settlement in the Plantagenet realm: studies from south Connacht. PhD IRC Scholar. 
  • 2006 Diarmuid Ó Seaneachain, English plantation settlement and the lost indigenous landscapes of Ulster and Chesapeake Bay in the sixteenth century. PhD IRC Scholar.  
  • 2004 John Malcolm Castles and English lordship in Uí Fhiachrach Muaidhe c.1235 – c.1400. M.Litt., NUI Travelling Studentship.

Research Projects

  Project Start Date End Date
GUF SUPPORT FOR KEEPERS OF THE GAEL EXHIBITION RESEARCH AT NUIG GALWAY 01-JUN-18 31-DEC-20
Archaeometric Analysis of Late Medieval Inscribed Slates 01-MAY-18 01-MAY-18
Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD 1200-1600 Essays in Identity and Cultural Practice 05-JUL-17 22-MAR-18
IRC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP 2016 PETER CASBY - Resource Management of Living Trees in Created Environments of Gaelic Society. c.700 AD - 1600 AD 01-OCT-16 30-SEP-18
GENERAL ACCOUNT ELIZABETH FITZPATRICK 20-FEB-13 20-FEB-18
IRC HIGH STATUS DRINKING RITUAL IN MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN GAELIC IRELAND AND SCOTLAND ELIZABETH GRAY 01-OCT-12 30-SEP-15
THE EVOLUTION OF IRISH RURAL LANDSCAPES 1650 TO 1850 DR ELIZABETH FITZPATRICK IRCHSS R CLUTTERBUCK 01-OCT-10 30-SEP-13
GAELIC HEREDITARY LEGAL FAMILIES E FITZPATRICK 01-JUN-07 30-SEP-09
IRCHSS FELLOWSHIP 2006 -07 DR E.FITZPATRICK 01-SEP-06 24-AUG-09
MILLENIUM FUND 2002 IRISH EARLS IN ROME EF 01-JAN-03 29-NOV-04
938 NHC GEP E FITZPATRICK ARCH 30-AUG-98 31-DEC-13

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2017) 'Finn’s Seat: topographies of power and royal marchlands of Gaelic polities in medieval Ireland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Ronan Hennessy (2017) 'Finn’s Seat: topographies of power and royal marchlands of Gaelic polities in medieval Ireland'. Landscape History, 38 (2):29-62 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2017) 'The Exillic Burial Place of a Gaelic Irish Community at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome'
FitzPatrick, E (2017) 'The Exillic Burial Place of a Gaelic Irish Community at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome'. Papers Of The British School At Rome, 85 :205-239 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2015) 'Assembly Places and Elite Collective Identities in Medieval Ireland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2015) 'Assembly Places and Elite Collective Identities in Medieval Ireland'. Journal Of The North Atlantic, 8 :52-68 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2014) 'Gods make their own importance'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2014) 'Gods make their own importance'. Proceedings Of The Royal Irish Academy, 114C :vii-x [Details]
(2012) 'The true, the beautiful and the old'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2012) 'The true, the beautiful and the old'. Proceedings Of The Royal Irish Academy, :vii-xi [Details]
(2009) 'Native Enclosed Settlement and the Problem of the Irish 'Ring-fort''
Fitzpatrick, E (2009) 'Native Enclosed Settlement and the Problem of the Irish 'Ring-fort''. Medieval Archaeology, 53 :271-307 [DOI] [Details]
(2009) 'Native Enclosed Settlement and the Problem of the Irish Ring-fort'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2009) 'Native Enclosed Settlement and the Problem of the Irish Ring-fort'. Medieval Archaeology, 53 :271-307 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2007) 'Interpreting a Cultural Landscape: a case for seaweed-harvesting at Aughris, Co Sligo'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2007) 'Interpreting a Cultural Landscape: a case for seaweed-harvesting at Aughris, Co Sligo'. Journal Of Irish Archaeology, 16 :11-33 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2001) 'The Gathering Place of Tír Fhiachrach? Archaeological and Folkloric Investigations at Aughris, Co Sligo'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2001) 'The Gathering Place of Tír Fhiachrach? Archaeological and Folkloric Investigations at Aughris, Co Sligo'. Proceedings Of The Royal Irish Academy, 101c :67-105 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(1998) 'The Inauguration of Tairdelbach Ó Conchobair at Áth an Termoinn'
FitzPatrick, E. (1998) 'The Inauguration of Tairdelbach Ó Conchobair at Áth an Termoinn'. Peritia, 12 :351-358 [Details]

Books

  Year Publication
(2004) Royal inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c.1100-1600: a cultural landscape study.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2004) Royal inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c.1100-1600: a cultural landscape study. Woodbridge: Boydell. [Details]
(1998) The medieval churches of County Offaly.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Caiman O'Brien (1998) The medieval churches of County Offaly. Dublin: Government of Ireland. [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2019) 'Finn's Wilderness and Boundary Landforms in Medieval Ireland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2019) 'Finn's Wilderness and Boundary Landforms in Medieval Ireland' In: Landscape and Myth in North-Western Europe. Turnhout: Brepols. [Details]
(2018) 'Gaelic Service Kindreds and the Landscape Identity of Lucht Tighe'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2018) 'Gaelic Service Kindreds and the Landscape Identity of Lucht Tighe' In: Becoming and Belonging in Ireland AD c. 1200-1600: Essays in Identity and Culture Practice. Cork: Cork University Press. [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2016) 'The last kings of Ireland: material expressions of Gaelic lordship c.1300-1400 A.D'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2016) 'The last kings of Ireland: material expressions of Gaelic lordship c.1300-1400 A.D' In: Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles. Oxford and New York: Routledge. [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2016) 'The landscape and Gaelic law school settlement of the O’Doran brehons, Ballyorley, Co. Wexford'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Coilin Ó Drisceoil (2016) 'The landscape and Gaelic law school settlement of the O’Doran brehons, Ballyorley, Co. Wexford' In: Medieval Wexford. Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]
(2014) 'A Gaelic inauguration landscape at Cornashee/Sheebeg, Co. Fermanagh'
Eileen Murphy and Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2014) 'A Gaelic inauguration landscape at Cornashee/Sheebeg, Co. Fermanagh' In: An Archaeological Survey of County Fermanagh, vol. 1, part 2. Belfast: The Northern Ireland Environment Agency. [Details]
(2013) 'The landscape and Bardic School settlement of the Uí Dhálaigh Gaelic poets of Muinter Bháire'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2013) 'The landscape and Bardic School settlement of the Uí Dhálaigh Gaelic poets of Muinter Bháire' In: Princes, prelates and poets in medieval Ireland: essays in honour of Katharine Simms. Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]
(2011) 'Evoking the white mare: the cult landscape of Sgiath Gabhra and its medieval perception in Gaelic Fir Mhanach'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick, E. Murphy, R. McHugh, C. Donnelly (2011) 'Evoking the white mare: the cult landscape of Sgiath Gabhra and its medieval perception in Gaelic Fir Mhanach' In: Landscapes of cult and kingship. Dublin: Four Courts Press, Dublin. [Details]
(2011) 'Aughris headland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2011) 'Aughris headland' In: Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape. Cork: Cork University Press. [Details]
(2010) 'Memorialising Gaelic Ireland: the curious case of the Ballyshannon fragments and the Irish monuments at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2010) 'Memorialising Gaelic Ireland: the curious case of the Ballyshannon fragments and the Irish monuments at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome' In: Imeacht na n-Iarlaí University of Ulster. Derry: Guildhall Press. [Details]
(2006) 'The material world of the parish'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2006) 'The material world of the parish' In: The parish in medieval and early modern Ireland: community, territory and building (Conference Proceedings). Dublin: Four Courts Press, Dublin. [Details]
(2005) 'The landscape of Máel Sechnaill’s rígdál at Ráith Áeda, 859 AD'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2005) 'The landscape of Máel Sechnaill’s rígdál at Ráith Áeda, 859 AD' In: Above and beyond: essays in Memory of Leo Swan Wordwell . Bray: Wordwell. [Details]
(2004) 'The finds from Galway city: an overview'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2004) 'The finds from Galway city: an overview' In: Archaeological investigations in Galway City, 1987–1998 Wordwell, Bray. Bray: Wordwell. [Details]
(2004) 'Buildings and architecture'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Paul Walsh (2004) 'Buildings and architecture' In: Archaeological investigations in Galway City, 1987–1998 Wordwell, Bray. Bray: Wordwell. [Details]
(2004) 'Parley sites of Ó Néill and Ó Domhnaill'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2004) 'Parley sites of Ó Néill and Ó Domhnaill' In: Regions and rulers in Ireland, 1100-1650: essays for Kenneth Nicholls. Dublin: Four Courts Press, Dublin. [Details]
(2004) 'Archaeological investigations in Galway city: summary conclusions'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Paul Walsh (2004) 'Archaeological investigations in Galway city: summary conclusions' In: Archaeological investigations in Galway City, 1987–1998 Wordwell. Bray: Wordwell. [Details]
(2004) 'Background to the Galway excavations project'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2004) 'Background to the Galway excavations project' In: Archaeological investigations in Galway City, 1987–1998 Wordwell. Bray: Wordwell. [Details]
(2004) 'Royal inauguration mounds in medieval Ireland: antique landscape and tradition'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2004) 'Royal inauguration mounds in medieval Ireland: antique landscape and tradition' In: Assembly places and practices in medieval Europe Dublin (Conference Proceedings) . Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]
(2003) 'Leaca and Gaelic inauguration ritual in medieval Ireland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2003) 'Leaca and Gaelic inauguration ritual in medieval Ireland' In: The Stone of Destiny: artefact and icon Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series 22, Historic Scotland. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland. [Details]
(2003) 'On the trail of an ancient highway: rediscovering Dála’s road'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2003) 'On the trail of an ancient highway: rediscovering Dála’s road' In: Lost and found: discovering Ireland's past Wordwell, Dublin. Dublin: Wordwell. [Details]
(2003) 'Royal inauguration assembly and the Church in Medieval Ireland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2003) 'Royal inauguration assembly and the Church in Medieval Ireland' In: Political assemblies in the earlier middle ages Studies in the Early Middle Ages 7 Brepols, Turnhout (Conference Proceedings). Turnhout: Brepols. [Details]
(2001) 'Assembly and inauguration places of the Burkes in late medieval Connacht'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2001) 'Assembly and inauguration places of the Burkes in late medieval Connacht' In: Gaelic Ireland c1250–c1650: Land, lordship and settlement, Four Courts Press, Dublin (Conference Proceedings). Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]
(2001) 'Settlement studies: the architectural and archaeological record'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2001) 'Settlement studies: the architectural and archaeological record' In: Gaelic Ireland (Conference Proceedings). Dublin: Four Courts Press, Dublin. [Details]
(1998) 'The early Church in Offaly'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1998) 'The early Church in Offaly' In: Offaly: history and society. Dublin: Geography Publications, Dublin. [Details]
(1994) 'The Archaeology of Durrow'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1994) 'The Archaeology of Durrow' In: Durrow in history. Tullamore: Esker Press. [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2015) Proceedings of the XIVth International Celtic Congress, Maynooth 2011
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2015) Ollamh, biatach, comharba: lifeways of Gaelic learned families in medieval and early modern Ireland Proceedings of the XIVth International Celtic Congress, Maynooth 2011 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2013) Proceedings of Harvard Celtic Colloquium 32, 95-118
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2013) Formaoil na Fiann: hunting preserves and assembly places in Gaelic Ireland Proceedings of Harvard Celtic Colloquium 32, 95-118 [ARAN Link] [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2013) Excavations at Cabhail Tighe Breac, Cahermacnaghten, Co. Clare in I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2010.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Richard Clutterbuck (2013) Excavations at Cabhail Tighe Breac, Cahermacnaghten, Co. Clare in I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2010. Wordwell, Dublin. [Details]
(2011) Cahermacnaghten: late medieval/early post-medieval building. In I. Bennett Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2008.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2011) Cahermacnaghten: late medieval/early post-medieval building. In I. Bennett Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2008. Wordwell, Dublin. [Details]
(2008) Excavation of a building at Cahermacnaghten, Co. Clare, in I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2007.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2008) Excavation of a building at Cahermacnaghten, Co. Clare, in I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2007. Wordwell, Bray. [Details]
(2003) Excavation of an enclosure at Aughris, Co Sligo. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2001.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2003) Excavation of an enclosure at Aughris, Co Sligo. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations Bulletin: Excavations 2001. Wordwell, Bray. [Details]

Edited Books

  Year Publication
(2018) Becoming and belonging in Ireland, AD c. 1200-1600: essays in identity and cultural practice.
Eve Campbell, Elizabeth FitzPatrick, Audrey Horning (Ed.). (2018) Becoming and belonging in Ireland, AD c. 1200-1600: essays in identity and cultural practice. Cork: Cork University Press. [Details]
(2015) Food and drink in Ireland.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and James Kelly (Ed.). (2015) Food and drink in Ireland Food and drink in Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. [Details]
(2011) Domestic life in Ireland.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and James Kelly (Ed.). (2011) Domestic life in Ireland Domestic life in Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. [Details]
(2006) The parish in medieval and early modern Ireland: community, territory and building.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick and Raymond Gillespie (Ed.). (2006) The parish in medieval and early modern Ireland: community, territory and building The parish in medieval and early modern Ireland: community, territory and building. Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]
(2005) John Quincy Adams, Dermot Mac Morrough or the conquest of Ireland: an historical tale of the twelfth century.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick with Martin J. Burke and Olivia Hamilton (Ed.). (2005) John Quincy Adams, Dermot Mac Morrough or the conquest of Ireland: an historical tale of the twelfth century John Quincy Adams, Dermot Mac Morrough or the conquest of Ireland: an historical tale of the twelfth century. New York: Maunsell Academica Press. [Details]
(2004) Archaeological investigations in Galway City 1987-1998.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick, Madeline O'Brien and Paul Walsh (Ed.). (2004) Archaeological investigations in Galway City 1987-1998 Archaeological investigations in Galway City 1987-1998. Dublin: Wordwell. [Details]
(2004) Gaelic Ireland c.1250 – c.1650: land, lordship and settlement.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick David Edwards, Patrick Duffy (Ed.). (2004) Gaelic Ireland c.1250 – c.1650: land, lordship and settlement. Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]
(2001) Gaelic Ireland c. 1250-c.1650: land, lordship and settlement.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick, David Edwards, Patrick Duffy (Ed.). (2001) Gaelic Ireland c. 1250-c.1650: land, lordship and settlement. Dublin: Four Courts Press. [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
(2015) 'Decoding Finn mac Cumaill's places'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick, Ronan Hennessy, Joseph F. Nagy and Paul Naessens (2015) 'Decoding Finn mac Cumaill's places' Archaeology Ireland, :26-31. [Details]
(2008) 'Antiquarian scholarship and the archaeology of Cahermacnaghten, Burren, Co. Clare'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2008) 'Antiquarian scholarship and the archaeology of Cahermacnaghten, Burren, Co. Clare' The Other Clare, 32 :58-66. [Details]
(2007) 'San Pietro in Montorio: burial place of the exiled Irish in Rome, 1608–1623'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2007) 'San Pietro in Montorio: burial place of the exiled Irish in Rome, 1608–1623' History Ireland, 15 (4) :46-51. [Details]
(2001) 'An Tulach Tinóil: Gathering-sites and meeting-culture in Gaelic lordships'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2001) 'An Tulach Tinóil: Gathering-sites and meeting-culture in Gaelic lordships' History Ireland, 9 (1) :22-26. [Details]
(1997) 'The Historic assembly sites of Tulach Uí Dheadhaidh and Carn Mhic Táil'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1997) 'The Historic assembly sites of Tulach Uí Dheadhaidh and Carn Mhic Táil' The Other Clare, 21 :17-19. [Details]
(1997) 'The crowning hand of God'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1997) 'The crowning hand of God' Archaeology Ireland, 11 (1) :21-23. [Details]
(1994) 'A monument to Archbishop Thomas Walsh in the Town of Cashel, Co Tipperary'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1994) 'A monument to Archbishop Thomas Walsh in the Town of Cashel, Co Tipperary' Journal of the Butler Society, 3 (4) :562-564. [Details]
(1993) 'Raiding and warring in monastic Ireland'
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1993) 'Raiding and warring in monastic Ireland' History Ireland, 1 (3) :13-18. [Details]

Community Engagement Publications

  Year Publication
(1995) The Wet Hillside of Saint Lugna: a history of leitir Lugna, Slieve Bloom, County Offaly.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1995) The Wet Hillside of Saint Lugna: a history of leitir Lugna, Slieve Bloom, County Offaly. Ferbane: Community Engagement Publications [Details]

Encyclopedia Entry

  Year Publication
(2005) Medieval Ireland: an encyclopedia, 11-13, 153, 230-1, 389-91, 412-15 .
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2005) Medieval Ireland: an encyclopedia, 11-13, 153, 230-1, 389-91, 412-15 . New York; London: Encyclopedia Entry [Details]
(2003) The encyclopedia of Ireland, 159, 513-4.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2003) The encyclopedia of Ireland, 159, 513-4. Dublin: Encyclopedia Entry [Details]

Field Guide

  Year Publication
(2012) Burren: a guide to the medieval landscape.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2012) Burren: a guide to the medieval landscape. Dublin: Field Guide [Details]
(1995) The Care and Conservation of Graveyards.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (1995) The Care and Conservation of Graveyards. Dublin: Field Guide [Details]

Online Multimedia

  Year Publication
(2014) Natural and Human Heritages http://www.ouririshheritage.org/page/natural_human_heritages_lecture_series_vodcasts-2?path=0p4p2p42p.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2014) Natural and Human Heritages http://www.ouririshheritage.org/page/natural_human_heritages_lecture_series_vodcasts-2?path=0p4p2p42p. Online Multimedia [Details]

Review Articles

  Year Publication
(2006) Author's response. Reviews in History.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick (2006) Author's response. Reviews in History. Review Articles [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Medieval Settlement Research Group, Cambridge Member /
Irish Environmental History Network (IEHN) member /
Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement Member /
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Fellow /

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
1997 British Academy/Royal Irish Academy Exchange Scholarship British Academy and Royal Irish Academy
2003 Bilateral Cultural Agreement Travel Bursary Dept Foreign Affairs
2006 Government of Ireland Research Fellow in the Humanities and Social Sciences IRCHSS
2012 Fulbright Scholar Award in Humanities Fulbright Commission

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
College Postrgraduate Committee Member 10-JAN-18 /
College Research Committee Member 01-MAY-17 /
Discovery Programme Advisory and election of Directorate 11-JAN-16 / 01-JAN-20
Advisory Board, Assembly Sites in Wales (UCL) Member 05-DEC-14 /
Chair, Graduate Research Committee in Archaeology, NUI Galway Chair 01-SEP-14 /
Chair, Research Committee, School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway Chair 02-SEP-13 /

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
Carroll Institute of Irish History Historical Researcher /
Office of Public Works Archaeologist /
Archaeological Survey of Ireland Archaeologist /
NUI Galway Lecturer Above The Bar /

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
1997 TCD PhD Medieval archaeology

Languages

  Language
French
Irish

Community Engagement

  Title Type From / To
Outreach Natural and Human Heritages at Galway City Museum /
Advocacy http://www.ouririshheritage.org/page/natural_human_heritages_lecture_series_vodcasts-2?path=0p4p2p42p /

Teaching Interests

I teach historical archaeology at undergraduate level, and place studies and medieval landscape archaeology at postgraduate level. 

UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING 2015-16
  • AR337 Gaelic Peoples: Identity and Cultural Practice (3BA)
  • AR250 Sacred Places and Christian Buildings in Medieval Ireland (2BA)
  • AR1100 Working with Archaeology and Human Heritages (1BA) 
POSTGRADUATE TEACHING 2015-16
  • AR6100 Reading the Past in Practice (HDip)
  • AR6101 Dissertation in Archaeology and Place (HDip)
  • Module B Landscape Archaeology (MA)

Current Postgraduate Students (Taught)

  Name Degree Primary Supervisor
Marie Moran HIGHER DIPLOMA (LEVEL 8) Y
Mary Elanor Pereira HIGHER DIPLOMA (LEVEL 8) Y
Suzanne Hogan HIGHER DIPLOMA (LEVEL 8) Y
James McKeon-McDonnell HIGHER DIPLOMA (LEVEL 8) Y
Sonya White-Maher HIGHER DIPLOMA (LEVEL 8) Y
Deirdre Gloster HIGHER DIPLOMA (LEVEL 8) Y

Recent Postgraduate Students

  Graduation Name Degree Primary Supervisor
2005 Grainne Melia Masters N
2009 Paul Naessens PhD N
2010 Siobhán McDermott PhD N
2004 John Malcolm M.Lit
2013 Katherine Sexton Masters N
1999 Sinead Armstrong M.Lit Y
1999 Fiona White M.Lit Y
2012 Eve Campbell PhD N
2010 Christy Cunniffe PhD N
2006 Niamh Naughton Masters N
2010 Colleen O¿Hara M.Lit Y
2004 Nigel Keary Masters N
2000 Oliver McHugh M.Lit Y
2015 Richard Clutterbuck PhD N
2005 Orla Howley Masters N
2010 Valerie Kelly Masters N
2013 Mary Wolf Masters N
2011 Treasa Ní Dhonnchadha Masters N
2012 Yvonne McDermott PhD N
2000 Linda Shine M.Lit Y
2008 James McKeon PhD N
1999 Siobhain Scully M.Lit Y
2001 Helen Bermingham M.Lit Y
2006 Diarmuid Ó Seaneachain PhD N
2012 Donna Brady Masters N

Modules Taught

  Term/Year Module Title Module Code Subject / Desc
2015-16 Semester 2 Gaelic Peoples: Indentity and Cultural Practice AR337
2015-16 Semester 1 Sacred Places and Christian Buildings in Medieval Ireland AR250
2015-16 Semester 1 Working with Archaeology and Human Heritages AR1100/1101
2015-16 Semester 1 Interpreting Landscapes MALA Module B
2015-16 Semester 1 and 2 Higher Diploma Dissertation in Archaeology and Place AR6101
2015-16 Semester 2 Reading the Past in Practice AR6100

Internal Collaborators

  Name Description of Collaboration
Dr Ronan Hennessy
Research partner for Atlas of Finn mac Cumaill's Places

External Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country Description of Collaboration
Dr Paul Naessens Contract sector IRELAND
Research partner for Atlas of Finn mac Cumaill's Places
Professor Stephen Driscoll University of Glasgow SCOTLAND
Research partner for Atlas of Finn mac Cumaill's Places
Professor Joseph Falaky Nagy Harvard U.S.A.
Research advisor for Atlas of Finn mac Cumaill's Places