Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

< 3D Images  <  Index of Glendalough Posts The Romanesque chancel arch After my visit to St Mary’s Church/Lady Chapel, I retraced my steps back to the excavation. While my stay at the church had been restful and contemplative, the excavation brought a whole raft of conflicting emotions. At that time it was the first excavation I’d visited since leaving the profession, four years previously. I simultaneously felt drawn to the immediacy of discovery and the so many other positive things that I remembered fondly from my old life. Sure, there were reminders of other aspects of the profession I was keen to leave behind – the sore back & knees, the pay, the constantly being covered in dirt – but there in the sunshine on a well-run research dig it was the good bits that predominated. It was emotional. Romanesque capital I put my cameras and other gear back in the bag, slung my tripod over my shoulder and set off towards the car park. As I turned to...

< Back to Main Post  <  Index of Glendalough Posts To view the 3D Images you’ll need a pair of red/blue glasses. These can be purchased relatively cheaply from Amazon [ here ]. < Back to Main Post  <  Index of Glendalough Posts

< 3D Images    <  Index of Glendalough Posts West gable and graveyard There’s no denying that the central precinct of Glendalough is pretty packed with tourists during the summer season. While the round tower, St Kevin’s church, the graveyard, and all that are lovely and interesting, it’s just not possible to take a photograph without other people getting in the shot (and you becoming part of someone else’s holiday snaps too!). With buses disgorging a seemingly endless stream of sightseers, the site does take on something of the feel of a theme park. While I’m fully aware that these sites would have bustled with activity in their heydays, I do prefer my medieval ruins to be still and peaceful … and that quietude is just not to be found there. Or so I thought. In my wanderings, I bumped into a couple of student archaeologists working on a small trench near the gateway. They directed me up the road and into a field where the main UCD Archaeology Department exc...

< Back to Main Post  <  Index of Glendalough Posts To view the 3D Images you’ll need a pair of red/blue glasses. These can be purchased relatively cheaply from Amazon [ here ]. < Back to Main Post  <  Index of Glendalough Posts

< 3D Images  <  Index of Glendalough Posts Round Towers generally date to the period from the 9th to 12th centuries and probably served a variety of functions, from acting as a belfry to call monks to prayer to a refuge in times of strife. In all but one surviving case they have doors at first-floor level to accommodate either pole valuters or beard-rapelling monks, or (less likely) access by rope ladder [ here  | here ]. Glendalough’s round tower is about 30m tall with an entrance about 3.5m above the present ground level and is constructed from mica-slate and granite. Having suffered damage in a lightning strike, its conical roof was rebuilt in the 19th century using the original stones. Internally, the tower held six wooden floors, each connected by ladder and lit by a single narrow window. The topmost floor had four windows, facing the cardinal points. < 3D Images  <  Index of Glendalough Posts Notes: ...

< Back to Main Post  <  Index of Glendalough Posts To view the 3D Images you’ll need a pair of red/blue glasses. These can be purchased relatively cheaply from Amazon [ here ]. < Back to Main Post  <  Index of Glendalough Posts

< 3D Images  < Index of Glendalough Posts If there’s one image that typifies Glendalough, it’s the unique survival that is commonly known as St Kevin’s ‘Kitchen’. This stone roofed oratory dates broadly to the 12th century, though it appears to have had a complicated building history. If I understand it correctly, the church started as a nave-only structure with a sacristy and chancel added later. The integral belfry with four small windows and conical cap seems intended to mirror the adjacent round tower. It is this feature – resembling a chimney – that led to it being rebranded as a kitchen rather than a church. Seeing as it dates to about a half a millennium after the time of St Kevin, he wasn’t cooking up dinner for anyone there either. < 3D Images  <  Index of Glendalough Posts Notes: Much of the detail about the individual sites has been rather shamelessly taken from some excellent sites & I urge you to go and explo...