Completed research

• Holocene environmental change in the Burren — Mullach Mór and the Burren uplands
• Barrees, Beara Peninsula, SW Cork: vegetation and land-use history in an upland setting
• Palaeoecological investigations of Holocene peat deposits from Emlagh Bog, Co. Meath
• TIMECHS: Timing and mechanism of Holocene climate change in NW Europe
• Holocene woodland dynamics and human impact in SE Co. Clare
• Palaeoecological investigations in Mayo including Céide Fields (Neolithic)
• Late-glacial studies in western Ireland

Project title: Holocene environmental change in the Burren

The major part of the study was centred on Loch Gealáin, the lake-turlough system in at Mullach Mór, Burren National Park. Multi-proxy investigations, including pollen and macrofossil analyses, etc. were carried out on cores from Loch Gealáin. The results facilitated detailed reconstruction of vegetation dynamics and farming history as well as providing new insights into changes in the local hydrological regime and development of the turlough system at Loch Gealáin (papers in progress).

Investigations carried out in the Burren uplands included pollen and macrofossil analyses, and loss-on–ignition measurements of short peat monoliths from Calluna-dominated heath on the Cappanawalla and Gortaclare uplands. Special attention was paid to coprophilous (dung) fungal spores (CFS) as indicators of local grazing. New insights were also gained regarding the history of the Dryas-Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (mountain avens-alpine bearberry) heaths which are of exceptional biodiversity and conservation value.

Sediments recovered from grykes provided evidence for soil erosion which continued to be important in the Burren uplands until well into medieval times.

Ingo Feeser has returned to Germany to take up a postdoctoral research position in palaeoecology in the University of Kiel (CAU) within the Centre of Excellence for Landscape Studies.

References

Feeser, I. and O’Connell, M. 2009. Fresh insights into long-term changes in flora, vegetation, land use and soil erosion in the karstic environment of the Burren, western Ireland. Journal of Ecology 97, 1083–1100

Feeser, I. and O’Connell, M. 2010. Late Holocene land-use and vegetation dynamics in an upland karst region based on pollen and coprophilous fungal spore analyses: an example from the Burren, western Ireland. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. Published online DOI 10.1007/s00334-009-0235-5, Jan 2010; 18 pp.

Photographs of monoliths and the uplands at Cappanawalla, Gortaclare and Lios Lairthín Mór.

A Monolith CPW1 (scale division = 2 cm);

B Removing monolith CPW1 (view to SW, 21/08/2006);

C Cappanawalla uplands with cattle, a typical Burren upland winter scene (view towards Slieve Elva, 24/03/2007);

D Tumble wall (no longer functional) meets a relatively recent wall (south of CPW1);

E Monolith GTC7 (scale division = 2 cm);

F Gortaclare uplands at sampling site where GTC7 was taken (Calluna-dominated heath and stone-wall windbreak in the background, 12/05/2006);

G Sesleria grasslands on Gortaclare. View north-east towards summit of Slievecarran; a low mound wall runs diagonally in the foreground and in mid-view there is a single wall with a wind-bent Crataegus monogyna bush (21/09/2008);

H Lios Lairthín Mór. View to north from top of peat mound where LLM II was taken (8/06/2007). The bog borders directly onto large stone-wall enclosed fields with species-rich Sesleria pastures and wind-bent Crataegus bushes

Project title: Barrees, Beara Peninsula: vegetation and land-use history

This study, was part of a programme of archaeological survey and excavation led by Professor W.F. O’Brien, into pre-bog field-wall systems in Barrees townland, Beara peninsula, S.W. Cork.
Funding: HEA, PRTLI-2 programme, PAN (EU network), an NUI Galway Postgraduate Fellowship to A. Overland towards a PhD degree and the Millennium Fund at NUI Galway. 

Selected publications

Overland, A. and O'Connell, M. 2008. Fine-spatial paleoecological investigations towards reconstructing late Holocene environmental change, landscape evolution and farming activity in Barrees, Beara Peninsula, southwestern Ireland. Journal of the North Atlantic 1, 37–73.

Overland, A. and O'Connell, M. 2009. Palaeoecological investigations in the Barrees Valley. In: O'Brien, W. Local worlds. Early settlement landscapes and upland farming in south-west Ireland. Collins Press, Cork, pp. 285–322.  

View towards the main area of archaeological survey and excavation from a low hill at the north-east side of Loch Beag (the lake is partly visible in foreground). Heath dominates in the foreground, followed by pastures and Q. petraea woodland, and beyond these heath, rough pasture and blanket bog where the short monoliths and the long core, BAR-L1, were taken. The area of main archaeological interest is enclosed by an ellipse (photograph: October 15, 2004). [click for higher resolution image].

Maps at various scales showing location and main features of the study area [click for higher resolution image].
(a) Map of southern Ireland. The Beara peninsula is shaded and centres of population (B, Bantry; C, Cork, K, Killarney; L, Limerick) are indicated;
(b) Detail of south-western Ireland centred on the Beara peninsula. Towns (Ba, Bantry; CB, Castletown Bere; Ke, Kenmare), villages (Ar, Ardgroom; Ey, Eyeries; Gl, Glengarriff), pollen sites (Ca, Cashelkeelty; Ur, Uragh Wood) and relief are shown;
(c) The study area and immediate surrounds. Roads, contours, the main archaeological field monuments and village of Eyeries are shown. An arrow points to Loch Beag;
(d) Detailed map of the study area showing pollen sampling sites and archaeological features including stone field walls as recorded during archaeological survey.

Project title: Palaeoecological investigations at Emlagh Bog, Co. Meath, eastern Ireland

Aims: Palaeoecological investigations towards reconstruction of vegetation and land-use history.
Overall context: These investigations were carried out as part of the project Contested Landscapes: the Valley of the Leinster Blackwater from Prehistory to the Middle Ages. This multi-disciplinary research project was co-ordinated by Conor Newman, Department of Archaeology. It formed part of the research programme Landscape and Society in Early Ireland, a research priority area of the Moore Institute.
Personnel: Dr Karen Molloy was responsible for the palaeoecological investigations, including pollen and macrofossil analyses and sampling for radiocarbon dating. Tephra investigations were carried out by Ciarán McCausland in the context of BSc (Environmental Science) Hons project. Mary Dillon carried out charcoal analysis from samples derived from excavations at Raffin Fort.
Funding: HEA, PRTLI-2.

Publications
Dillon, M., Newman, C., Molloy, K. and O’Connell, M. 2008. Environment and ritual in a late Iron Age context: an example from Raffin Fort, Co. Meath, Ireland. In: Charcoals from the past: cultural and palaeoenvironmental implications (eds G. Fiorentino and D. Magri). BAR International Series 1807, 75–92.

Newman, C., O’Connell, M., Dillon, M. and Molloy, K. 2007. Interpretation of charcoal and pollen data relating to a late Iron Age ritual site in eastern Ireland: a holistic approach. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 16, 349–365.

Project title: TIMECHS: Timing and mechanisms of Holocene climate change in NW Europe (EU, 4th FP, phase 2. Feb. 1998-Dec. 2000)

Brief description: This project involved reconstructing Holocene climate change based on multi-proxy data derived from a 12-m long, and partially varved, core taken from An Loch Mór, Inis Oírr, Aran Islands.

Main partners and their contributions:

• Co-ordination of project: Prof. M. O’Connell
  Plant fossil investigations were carried out mainly in the Palaeoenvironmental Research Unit, with the assistance/participation of other specialists, as follows:
  Pollen analytical investigations (Dr K. Molloy, NUI Galway)
  ’Other microfossil’ analyses (Dr B. van Geel, University of Amsterdam and K. Molloy, NUI Galway)
  Macrofossil investigations (Dr J.-N. Haas, University of Innsbruck)
• Sedimentological studies and varve analysis (Dr Timo Saarinen, Geological Survey of Finland)
• Ostracod investigations (Dr J.A. Holmes & Dr R. Jones, Kingston University; present address, University College London)
• Stable isotope (*18O and *13C) investigations (Dr M. Leuenberger & Dr U. Eicher, University of Bern)
• Radiometric dating (Dr J. van der Plicht, University of Groningen and Dr H. Heijnis, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation)
• U-Th dating and other geochemical contributions (Dr F. McDermott, UCD and Prof. C.J. Hawkesworth, Open University; present address: University of Bristol)
• Tephrostratigraphic investigations (Prof. F.M. Chambers, Dr J.B. Hunt and Dr J.R.G. Daniell, University of Gloucester)
• Bulk geochemical investigations (Dr G. Schettler, GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam)
• Diatom analyses (UL; Dr C. Dalton)
• Bathymetric investigations at An Loch Mór (K. Barton, Applied Geophysics, NUI Galway)

Lake coring was carried out by a coring team from the Palaeoenvironmental Research Unit, NUI Galway (Dr K. Molloy & Prof. M. O’Connell) and the Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel (Dr W. Dörfler & Dr H. Usinger) using an Usinger piston-type corer.

Funding: EU, 4th Framework Programme, Phase 2. Feb. 1998-Dec. 2000; Contract No. ENV4-CT97-0557. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, provided financial support towards coring by the Palaeoenvironmental Research Unit and University of Kiel (1996).

Selected publications
Chambers, F.M., Daniell, J.R.G., Hunt, J.B., Molloy, K. and O’Connell, M. 2004. Tephrostratigraphy of An Loch Mór, Inis Oírr, W. Ireland: implications for Holocene tephrochronology in the northeastern Atlantic region. The Holocene 14, 703–720.

Holmes, J., Jones, R., Haas, J.N, McDermott, F., Molloy, K. and O’Connell, M. 2007. Multi-proxy evidence for Holocene lake-level and salinity changes at An Loch Mór, a coastal lake on the Aran Islands, western Ireland. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26, 2438–2462.

Molloy, K. and O’Connell, M. 2004. Holocene vegetation and land-use dynamics in the karstic environment of Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, western Ireland: pollen analytical evidence evaluated in the light of the archaeological record. Quaternary International 113, 41–64.

Molloy, K. and O’Connell, M. 2007. Fresh insights into long-term environmental change on the Aran Islands based on palaeoecological investigations of lake sediments from Inis Oírr. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 59, 1–17.

O’Connell, M., Molloy, K., Usinger, H. and Dörfler, W. 1997. Coring deep calcareous lakes in south-east Clare and Inis Oírr (Inisheer), western Ireland, towards the reconstruction of Late-glacial and Holocene environments. Würzburger Geographische Manuskripte 41, 151–152.

Schettler, G. and Romer, R.L. 2006 Atmospheric Pb-pollution by pre-medieval mining detected in the sediments of the brackish karst lake An Loch Mór, western Ireland. Applied Geochemistry 21, 58–82.

Schettler, G., Romer, R.L., O’Connell, M. and Molloy, K. 2006. Holocene climatic variations and postglacial sea-level rise geochemically recorded in the sediments of the brackish karst lake An Loch Mór, western Ireland. Boreas 35, 674–692.

Project title: Holocene woodland dynamics and human impact in SE Co. Clare

Brief description: This research programme was initiated in conjunction with archaeological research and excavation at Mooghaun trivallate hillfort, near Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co. Clare. 

The research was supported from a variety of sources including:
   Discovery Programme (Dr K. Molloy; 1996-99)
   NUI Galway research graduate Fellowship to Heber McMahon (1999-2000)
   Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (12-month Feodor Lynen Fellowship to Dr A. Friedmann (2000/01) and financial help towards coring by the PRU and University of Kiel (1996)

Publications

Molloy, K. 1997. Prehistoric farming at Mooghaun – a new pollen diagram from Mooghaun Lough. Archaeology Ireland 11 (3), 22–26.

Molloy, K. 2005. Holocene vegetation and land-use history at Mooghaun, south-east Clare, with particular reference to the Bronze Age. In: Grogan E. (ed.), The North Munster Project, Vol. 1. The later prehistoric landscape of south-east Clare. Discovery Programme Monographs 6. Wordwell, Bray, pp 255–301.

O’Connell, M., Molloy, K. and McMahon, H. 2001. Reconstructing prehistoric farming activity and human impact at a fine spatial resolution: palaeoecological investigations at Mooghaun, Co. Clare, western Ireland. In: Schauer, P. (ed.), Beiträge zur Siedlungsarchäologie und zum Landschaftswandel. Regensburger Beiträge zur Prähistorischen Archäologie 7, 161–186.

Project title: Palaeoecological investigations at Céide Fields

Introduction: During the 1990s, detailed palaeoecological investigations were carried out at this important Neolithic site. Survey and excavation of the blanket bog-covered landscape, under the direction of Professor Seamas Caulfield, have revealed what is probably the most extensive and best preserved Neolithic landscape in Europe. Features include megalithic tombs (mainly court-tomb type), large circular enclosures and a regular, stone-wall field system that extends over more than 1000ha. Excellent preservation of these features and also an exceptional plant fossil archive (pollen and macrofossils, including pine timbers) result from the extensive growth of bog.
Pollen analytical investigations carried out by Dr K. Molloy have shed new light on the timing, nature and duration of Neolithic activity, as well as providing insights into other aspects of Holocene environmental change in the region.

Funding: Heritage Council.

Selected publications 
Molloy, K. and O’Connell, M. 1995. Palaeoecological investigations towards the reconstruction of environment and land-use changes during prehistory at Céide Fields, western Ireland. Probleme der Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet 23, 187–225.

O’Connell, M. and Molloy, K. 2001. Farming and woodland dynamics in Ireland during the Neolithic. Biology and Environment (Proc R Ir Acad, Ser B) 101, 99–128.

---

Project title: Investigations into Late-glacial environmental change in western Ireland

Since the early 1990s, four Late-glacial sequences from western Ireland have been investigated in considerable detail as follows (list of illustrations at the end):

L. Namackanbeg, Spiddal, Connemara
Small and enclosed, 4.6 km N of Spiddal, at 90 m asl (M 132 269; 9° 18'W, 53° 17'N) on granite bedrock.
Pollen analyst: Dr Valerie Andrieu
Publication: Andrieu et al. 1993

Illauncronan, Co. Clare
Small kettle-hole lake at c. 45 m asl in valley floor 2.5 km N.E. of Crusheen. (R 420 888; 8° 52'W, 52° 57'N) on Carboniferous limestone within a drumlin field.
Pollen analyst: Dr Valerie Andrieu
Publication: Andrieu et al. 1993

Lurga, Co. Galway
Shallow partially cutover blanket bog at c. 30 m asl, overlying Late-glacial sediments and Carboniferous limestone in Burren-like terrain, 6.3 km S.W. of Gort (R 420 965; 8° 52'W, 53° 01'N).
Pollen analyst: Dr Aage Paus
Publications: Andrieu et al. 1993; Paus et al. 1994 and Evans and Griffiths 1994 in IQUA Burren Fieldguide, No. 18 (O’Connell M (ed.))

Tory Hill, Co. Limerick
Large mainly in-filled (marl and peat) lake basin at 30 m asl, 3 km N.E. of Croom, Co. Limerick (R 537 433; 8° 41'W, 52° 32'N). On Carboniferous limestone bedrock with a substantial drift cover.
Pollen analyst: Prof. C.C. Huang; stable isotope data: Dr U. Eicher, University of Bern
Publications: Andrieu et al. 1993; O’Connell et al. 1999

Funding: Financial support for the above Late-glacial research projects was received from: EU, Forbairt/Enterprise Ireland and NUI Galway (postgraduate fellowship).

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Accessibility