Events

'Rathra' book-launch

A major new heritage book Rathra – a Royal Stronghold of Early Medieval Connacht by Joe Fenwick was launched by John Waddell, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, NUI Galway, in the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Tulsk, Co. Roscommon on Friday 22 April 2022.
The book explores the date, role and significance of Rathra, a remarkable yet little-known archaeological site concealed among the hidden heartlands of rural county Roscommon. The book runs to 112 pages, is printed in full colour and contains over 75 illustrations. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the archaeology and early history of Roscommon and the greater Connacht region.
It is the newest in a series of archaeological guidebooks produced as part of The Connacht Project, Department of Archaeology, NUI Galway, in collaboraton with Roscommon County Council and generously funded by The Heritage Council as an action of the County Roscommon Heritage Plan 2017-2021.
The book is on sale from Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in Tulsk. It is also available worldwide through their online shop www.rathcroghan.ie/shop. Bulk copies of the book may be ordered by email from heritage@roscommoncoco.ie. 

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Joe Fenwick Rathra: a royal stronghold of early medieval Connacht

Humanitarian Fundraiser for Ukraine

A huge thank-you to all the students and staff who organised, supported and contributed so generously to the book exchange and coffee morning in aid of Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country in the face of the Russian invasion. €1,423.10 was raised on the day (Tuesday, 8 March 2022) all of which was donated to Unicef Ireland who are dealing directly with the unfolding human tragedy where most needed. 

‌Unfurling the 'Stop the War' Ukranian flag during a field-class to Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon on  Wednedsday 6 April 2022

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series, 2022 (via Zoom)

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To make a booking to attend any or all of these events via Zoom please email joe.fenwick@nuigalway.ie in advance.

Our Heritage Week Events for 2021

Three Castles in the Midlands
Dr. Kieran O’Conor will explore the history of three castles in the Midlands. Athlone, Rindoon and Roscommon were once considered as royal fortresses guarding the line of the Shannon. Dr. O'Conor will look at their importance as medieval structures and will give us an insight as to why they were once considered amongst the most important royal buildings in Ireland in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
Kieran’s talk will be hosted by Athlone Castle via Zoom.
This virtual talk is free, but pre-booking is essential as spaces are limited.
The recording of this talk will afterwards be available on Athlone Castle’s social channels.(see: https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects/three-royal-castles-athlone-rindoon-and-roscommon-by-kieran-oconor)

Rathra: a royal stronghold of early medieval Connacht
Roscommon County Council is proud to work in collaboration with Joe Fenwick of NUI Galway on the next publication in our ongoing series of archaeology guidebooks. 'Rathra: a royal stronghold of early medieval Connacht' by Joe Fenwick will explore the date, role and significance of this spectacular multivallate earthwork, a little-known archaeological site concealed among the hidden heartlands of rural Co. Roscommon.
Final preparations for the new book have included commissioning photography and drone footage by Pedro Teixeira. A conjectural reconstruction drawing of Rathra has been commissioned from Uto Hogerzeil and you can see it in the 'Drawing on our Heritage' digital exhibition listed elsewhere on www.heritageweek.ie.
This project is supported by the Heritage Council and we look forward to launching this publication in the coming months.
(see: https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects/rathra-a-royal-stronghold-of-early-medieval-connacht)

Magic of Culture & Nature in the Uí Maine Kingdom, Co. Roscommon.
Daniel Curley, PhD candidate (Archaeology) will contribute
"A brief introduction to the prehistoric and medieval heritage of Magh Finn and Clann Uadach (Taughmaconnell, Dysart and Cam parishes, Co. Roscommon)"  as part of Magic of Culture & Nature in the Uí Maine Kingdom | National Heritage Week 14-22 August 2021

Guided farm walk of the Mucklaghs in the Rathcroghan Archaeological Complex, Co. Roscommon.
Daniel Curley, PhD candidate (Archaeology) and manager of the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre and Petra Kock-Applegren, Farming Rathcroghan EIP-Argi Project Manager, will be leading a guided archaeologial tour on Saturday 21 August as part of a Guided farm walk of the Mucklaghs in the Rathcroghan Archaeological Complex | National Heritage Week 14-22 August 2021 

Corcomroe Tour, Burren, Co. Clare.
Silvina Martin, PhD candidate (Archaeology) will be giving a guided tour of Corcomroe Abbey in the Burren of county Clare. Meet her at the abbey gate at 11.30am, Sunday, 22 August.

Lunchtime Lecture Series 2021 (via Zoom)

The School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, NUI Galway will continue its successful programme of annual public lectures this coming Spring, 2021. The theme of these lectures explores the relationship between Archaeology, Geography, Irish studies and the natural world and aims to showcase the diverse areas of study within the three disciplines. 

This year’s programme of 9 lectures offers a particularly interesting line up on a varied and engaging range of subject matter. From climate change adaption to Irish traditional soundscapes, and from precious metalworking to moated sites. 

Lectures commence on Thursday, February 4^th at 1.00pm and continue weekly until and including Thursday, April 1^st. Due to Covid-19 restrictions these lectures will take place online via Zoom and like previous years are free to attend. If you would like to join some or all of these lectures, please see the attached poster with the full programme. Prior to each talk, a link to the event will be posted on our Facebook page.

Note: the programme may change at short notice so please check out our website and Facebook page for any updates:  http://www.nuigalway.ie/archaeology/

We look forward to your participation.

Heritage Week 2020 events

The titles of these talks are:

• ‘Medieval Settlement in Leitrim during the Anglo-Norman Period’,
• ‘The Anglo-Normans in Co. Longford’,
• ‘A guided tour of Roscommon Abbey’,
• ‘A guided tour of Roscommon Castle’ and
• ‘Moygara Castle’.

The Heritage Officers in all the latter counties organised these talks, realising that they had to be online because of social distancing rules linked to Covid 19, and provided the funding for what amounted to about a week of filming in all. Some of these talks have yet to be uploaded to the Heritage Week website but these will be on-line shortly (see: https://www.heritageweek.ie/ ).

Keadue heritage walking tour - 19th August

To celebrate Heritage Week, Keadue Community in cooperation with Creative Ireland Programme has organised a guided tour of local Heritage sites conducted by Dr. Kieran O'Conor, NUI Galway. 
Assemble at Knockranny Wood car park at 6.30pm on Wednesday August 19th.
Most famous among the sites is Kilronan Abbey which contains within its walls the remains of the famous Poet, Harper, and Composer, Turlough O'Carolan. The year 2020 is particularly significant because it marks the 350th anniversary of his birth. A cermony will take place in the Abbey to mark the occasion. 

Please note: Due Covid-19 restrictions social distancing to be observed at all times.
Enquiries to info@keadue.net

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series, 2020

Save a pdf copy of the poster by clicking here: Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series (poster) 2020

Dr Kieran O'Conor: upcoming lectures in Chicago and Moate, Sept. 2019

Dr Kieran O'Conor will be spending the week of Sunday 8th September to Friday 13th September in the Chicago area, USA, promoting NUI Galway as a destination for visiting students.

While there, he will be giving a lecture on the subject of medieval settlement in north Roscommon and west Breifne to the Department of Anthropology, Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana and another lecture on Irish castles to the Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago, in downtown Chicago.

The following Monday (16th September), and a little nearer to home, Dr O'Conor will present the Annual Jeremiah Sheehan Memorial Lecture to the Moate Museum and Historical Society in the Grand hotel, Moate, Co. Westmeath. The title of the lecture is 'Motte Castles in Medieval Ireland'.

'Roscommon History and Society' book launch: 12 December 2018

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Roscommon: History and Society, edited by Richie Farrell, Kieran O’Conor and Matthew Potter, was officially launched by Mr John Waters, Irish Times journalist, author and playwright, in the new Roscommon County Council offices in Roscommon town on Wednesday evening 12 December 2018.

Also speaking at the launch were; Mr Richie Farrell, Roscommon County Librarian (retired); Eugene Cummins, CEO, Roscommon County Council; Mr Ivan Connaughton, Cathaoirleach, Roscommon County Council; Ms Mary O’Connell, President, Roscommon Archaeological and Historical Society and Dr Kieran O’Conor, Department of Archaeology, NUI Galway.

'Roscommon: history and Society' is the twenty-sixth volume in the History and Society series published by Geography Publications under the general editorship of Professor William Nolan. It runs to 920 pages and contains 202 illustrations. It consists of 35 chapters, several of which deal with the rich archaeological heritage of county Roscommon, written by 37 authors, a third of whom, we are proud to say, are employees, retired employees or graduates of NUI Galway.

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series 2019

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Book Launch: 'Colomban et son Influence'

Volume 1, 2017	Volume 2, 2018

The second of three volumes of proceedings from the 2015 conference series organised by the international project Making Europe: Columbanus and his Legacy will be launched in Luxeuil-les-Bains, France, on 23^rd November 2018. The series marked the 1400^th anniversary of the death of Columbanus in Bobbio, Italy, in AD 615. The project arose form a Moore Institute project Columbanus; Life and Legacy co-founded and co-directed by Conor Newman (Archaeology, NUI Galway) and Mark Stansbury (Classics, NUI Galway). The proceedings are published by Rennes University Press and the final volume of proceedings from the conference held in Bangor, Co. Down, are in preparation.

'Lost and Found III' book launch: 2 December 2018

The directors of Wordwell Ltd together with Charlie Byrne's Bookshop are pleased to announce that Eithne Verling, Director of Galway City Museum, will be launching Lost and Found III: rediscovering more of Ireland's past edited by Joe Fenwick (Archaeology, NUI Galway) at Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, the Cornstore, Middle Street, Galway, at 6.30pm on Friday 2 November 2018

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Eithne Verling, Director of Galway City Museum.	Nick Maxwell, Publisher, Wordwell Ltd.	Joe Fenwick, Archaeology, NUI Galway

Laser-scanning and Photogrammetry Workshop: Wednesday 4th July 2018

There will be a ‘Laser-scanning and Photogrammetry Workshop’ in the Moore Institute Seminar Room (GO11), Hardiman building, between 10.00am and 1.00pm on Wednesday 4th July 2018. This initiative is hosted by the Discipline of Archaeology, School of Geography and Archaeology and will be presented by Robert Shaw and Gary Devlin (Discovery Programme, Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Dublin), Ryan Lash (Inishark Archaeological Field Project, University of Notre Dame, USA) and Joe Fenwick (Archaeological Field Officer, School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway). All welcome!

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series 2018

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Public Lunchtime Lectures

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series 2017 (Town Hall Theatre, Galway).

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Click here for a dpf version of the Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series in the Town Hall Theatre 2017

Some Archaeology Society Events for 2017

11 Jan - Socs Day Part 2, 10 am - 5 pm, Aras Na MacLeinn
14 Jan - Field trip to Slieve Aughty, leaving the quad at 10, back by 6
16 Jan - Triche Cét Lecture by Dr. Paul MacCotter, 7 pm, AC216
23 Jan - Cards Against Archaeology! 7 pm, AC216
30 Jan - Lecture by Dr. Michelle Comber - Caherconnell excavations, 7 pm,    AC216
6 Feb - Archery Workshop, 7 pm, location tbd
13 Feb - Llangorse, a Viking Crannog - Lecture by Dr. Alan Lane, 7 pm AC216
20 Feb - Wales Info Night, 7 pm, AC216
27 Feb - Corrib Log Boats Lecture by Dr. Karl Brady - 7 pm, AC216
7 Mar (TUESDAY!!) - Gold Filigree Lecture by Niamh Whitfield, 7 pm, location tbd
13 Mar - Mystery Event - watch this space for details! 7 pm, AC216
20 Mar - Film night, TBD, 7 pm, AC216
27 Mar - AGM, 7 pm, AC216
10 Apr - 14 Apr - Wales Field Trip, location, erm, Wales

Further informal discussion of lectures at Sliding Rock, unless otherwise noted.
Got questions? Got suggestions? archsoc@socs.nuigalway.ie, www.facebook.com/groups/NUIGArchSoc

Dr Mags Mannion to present a paper at the 8th International Congress of the Association Française pour l’Archéologie du Verre (AFAV)

Dr Mags Mannion will present a paper on her research on glass beads at the 8th International Congress of the Association Française pour l’Archéologie du Verre (AFAV).  Mags together with leading academics in the field of glass studies will present papers in English and French on the theme of GLASS IN WESTERN EUROPE AD 700-1600. Her paper will explore the variety of imported beads current in early medieval Ireland and discuss the appreciation of Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Continental glass beads by the native population and also their adoption and incorporation in the maintenance of individual status and authority.

The AFAV, French Association for Glass Archaeology was established in 1985, it is devoted to the promotion and study of ancient glass (from Antiquity to the Modern era) and dissemination of this research.  The association organises a triennial international conference on a specific themes and the publication of the proceedings of each conference.

The conference will take place from the 5-7 December 2016 in Besançon (France). The conference is organised by the AFAV together with the Department of Historical Heritage of Besançon and the city department of preventive archaeology, the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme et de l’Environnement C. N. Ledoux  and the laboratory Chrono-Environnement. 

Click here to view Archaeology Society news and events throuthout 2016‌ and 2017

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series 2016

‌Book Launch: 15 December 2015

Spring Lunchtime Lecture Series, 2015: Natual and Human Heritages (Vodcasts)

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