Recent excavations at Brusselstown Ring, a prehistoric hillfort in County Wicklow, Ireland, have confirmed that many of the anomalies found in previous surveys of the site are roundhouse structures. With more than 600 possible examples identified across the hilltop, the…
The skeletal remains of a wildcat, found in the Burren, Co. Clare, have been radiocarbon dated to c.3600 BC, providing the first concrete evidence that this species, now-extinct in Ireland, was present during the Neolithic period. A total of 39…
Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past.
Medieval monasteries and their communities have been (and continue to be) well studied, but not so the structures associated with those who chose a more solitary route to salvation: hermits and anchorites. Dr Simon Roffey’s new book, An Archaeological History of Hermitages and Eremitic Communities in Medieval Britain and Beyond, sets out to remedy that omission, as Chris Catling reports.
Review by Ceri Pennington This book presents a compilation of new interpretations of prehistoric rock art across Britain and Ireland. The beautifully illustrated volume is filled with images displaying art from a range of different sites. Case studies originate from…
She is a goddess of poetry, medicine, and blacksmithing, but there is no mention of the fire that becomes associated with her sainted counterpart.
This summer offers a wealth of opportunities to get involved in fieldwork in the UK and Ireland. Ceri Pennington has put together some regional highlights for 2023, but see www.the-past.com/digs for even more archaeological experiences.
Skellig Michael – the larger of two rocky islets that lie 8 miles (13km) west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland – was the favoured retreat of early medieval monks seeking an escape from worldly temptations. Reading the newly published Book of the Skelligs, Chris Catling gains some insights into the conditions those hermits endured and the reasons why the islands were added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1996.
Review by Michael Potterton Thirty years ago, when I was a history and archaeology undergraduate at University College Dublin, the phrase ‘Ireland and the Crusades’ seemed almost as absurd as ‘Ireland and the Palaeolithic’ or ‘Ireland and the Renaissance’. Times…
A large mill complex was discovered in the south-east corner, on the banks of the River Nore.
Review by Finbar McCormick Skellig Michael, a rocky outcrop off the south-west coast of Ireland, boasts the best-surviving early medieval monastery in Ireland, if not western Europe. Ironically, despite the richness of Ireland’s early medieval documentary sources, mentions of the…
I would restore the great chambers of Boyne, prepare a sepulchre under the cupmarked stones. Seamus Heaney, ‘Funeral Rites’
Some of the latest stories from the world of archaeology and heritage from Ireland and the UK.
After years of unrest and escalating violence, the Irish Free State came into being on 6 December 1922. To mark its centenary, Patrick Mercer looks at the grisly events that led to its creation.
This book is the third in Routledge’s ‘Archaeologies of the Viking World’ series, and maintains the high standard of the others in terms of content. The book’s core idea is that groups with connections to southern Scandinavia established an often-loose…
Review by KK. This thought-provoking book reimagines how we approach maritime archaeology – demonstrating that it is not solely for the adventurous diver but can, and should, be practised from the comfort of dry land. Specifically, by examining all of…
Review by George Nash. When looking at the prehistory of Ireland, we are instantly drawn to the complex societies that were involved in the construction and use of burial monuments of the Neolithic, some five to six millennia ago. The…
Review by Andrew Tibbs. This invaluable contribution to our knowledge of hillforts is the most complete study on the subject in Britain and Ireland to-date. A long-awaited volume, it sheds much light on these somewhat enigmatic structures, detailing the results…
Its discovery is significant because while there is archaeological evidence for secular literacy in the Roman and early medieval periods in Britain, this is not really the case in Ireland
Which monk founded a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in around 634?
The English Tudors were determined to crush Irish independence, but Gaelic warriors fought back. Tim Newark describes the Irish warlords who took on the armies of Elizabeth I.
Current Archaeology explores recent news about a WWII minesweeper HMS Mercury discovered in the Irish Sea, the winner of the Kenyon Medal which is awarded in recognition of work in fields of archaeology and Classics, and new revelations about a plague hospital in Bristol.
On its recovery, the idol was taken to University College Dublin for an extensive three-year conservation project.
Its alphabet represents a written language ancestral to Scottish Gaelic, modern Irish, and Manx
In 1938, the large triple-banked early medieval ringfort of Lisnacaragh at Garranes was excavated by Professor Brendan O’Riordain of University College Cork. He uncovered debris from fine metalworking and imported pottery on a scale that has yet to be repeated…
Patrick Mercer begins an occasional series looking at some of history’s less well-known battles.
The Irish archaeologist Barry Raftery (1944-2010) wrote: ‘Death represents the ultimate confrontation between the human and the supernatural worlds. The surviving burial remains and the associated funerary monuments thus provide us with the clearest and most tangible surviving evidence of religious beliefs and practices’. With this as her theme, Elizabeth O’Brien has studied every excavated Irish burial dating from the period c.200 BC to c.AD 800. She found great diversity and one common strand – burial in close proximity to ancestors or to people regarded as saints, as Chris Catling reports.
It used to be said that Christianity in Roman Britain was a short-lived phenomenon that sputtered out in the 5th century, needing the missionary efforts of St Columba, St Ninian, and St Augustine of Canterbury to revive it in the later 6th century. But there is now an increasing body of evidence that the religion continued to thrive as a force for learning, culture, and social organisation in the western parts of England and Wales, with links to Brittany and Ireland. Chris Catling goes in search of the latest thinking.
Although a little heavy on detail, this is a thorough study of the subject which presents, in a chronological fashion, the archaeological evidence for (mostly copper and bronze) metalworking from sites across the British Isles. The evidence is examined critically,…
Flimston is a baseline study site for the EU-funded Ireland–Wales CHERISH project (2017-2023), which is studying climate change and eroding coastal heritage in Ireland and Wales.
COVID-19 restrictions have not stopped the Sligo Community Archaeology Project, which can boast of some very exciting prehistoric discoveries in the county over the past few months. This initiative (undertaken in partnership with the Heritage Council) aims to connect archaeologists…