Posts

Showing posts from January, 2015

People and Their Worlds | UCD Archaeological Research Seminar | Part III

Image
[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] < Part I | Part II The Hill of Ward ( Source ) Straight back from lunch at UCD’s Archaeological Research Seminar People and Their Worlds , and we were into Session 3: Environmental archaeology and the reconstruction of living conditions in past societies. The first speaker in this session was the fantastically interesting Dr Stephen Davis (Royal Irish Academy, Meath Co. Co. , Office of Public Works , and Heritage Council) to speak about The Hill of Ward Archaeological Project: latest surveys and future prospects . The Hill of Ward is a large quadrivallate hilltop enclosure to the east of Athboy, Co. Meath. Historically

Mount Stewart, Co. Down | The Gardens

Image
[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the Amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] < Main post on the house While the intention of the main post was to give some glimpses of the restoration and conservation works ongoing at Mount Stewart house, I also wanted to present some images of the fantastic gardens, originally laid out by Lady Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart , Marchioness of Londonderry. Brief outlines of each of the gardens, their inspirations  and their histories may be found: here . The Harp topiary in the Shamrock Garden The garden is in the shape of a shamrock, with elements such as the  Irish Harp , and the  Red Hand of Ulster , along with references to the mythological race of  Fomorians

Coolbanagher Castle Revisited

Image
It is my great pleasure to introduce the first blog post of the New Year. Sean Murray runs the Laois Archaeology Facebook Page [ here ]. He recently approached me with the desire to revisit the events surrounding the partial collapse and subsequent demolition of the Coolbanagher Hall house in early February 2014 [ here ], and offer some thoughts on the future prospects for similar structures – of great cultural significance, but in need of urgent repair – around the country. I commend the piece to your attention Robert M Chapple *           *           * Coolbanagher Castle Revisited Sean Murray Looking back on 2014, it was quiet a sad year with regard to a number of our National Monuments. In particular the loss of a 13th century  Hall House at Coolbanagher, Co. Laois during storm Darwin in February, struck the local community and the wider public to the core. During that fateful night on the 12th of February, the southwestern corner of the neglected monument bl