Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

  As part of the Chapple Family trip through Fermanagh & Tyrone, we stopped off at the unassuming graveyard of Caldragh on Boa Island. In amongst the small, uninscribed stones and the handful of 19 th and 20 th century headstones is one of the gems of Irish archaeology – the Boa Island figure. This is a so-called ‘Janus’ figure with a face on either side of the stone as wells as the Lustymore Idol – a figure sculpture moved here from a nearby island. Both are probable representations of Iron Age deities and are much better described and explained by Wikipedia [ here ]. The last time I was here with the Chapples Minor was in the summer of 2013. It was a gorgeous day, with wonderful light and I managed to get some acceptable photos of the carvings [ here ]. Unfortunately, the light wasn’t nearly as good on our October 2020 visit and the resulting video doesn’t do justice to these remarkable carvings. However, it does provide the opportunity for a few minutes of relaxation in a ...

  At the end of last year the Chapple family headed off to explore the archaeology of Tyrone & Fermanagh and we stopped along the way at Clogher Hill Fort. Clogher is a complex site that, at least, goes back to the Late Bronze Age. The site is located on one of the highest points in the area and sits at an ancient crossroads that would have put it at the centre of traffic, trade, and (ultimately) power. The site itself appear to have started off as a large enclosure defied by a bank and ditch (Hill Fort), with a later ringfort built on top in the Early Medieval period. Away from the main site, on the southern tip of this north-south running hill, is a beautiful ring barrow of Bronze Age or Iron Age date. Between the two is a roughly triangular mound, thought to be used for royal inaugurations. Excavations by the wonderful Richard Warner in the 1970s produced evidence of contacts with the wider world and demonstrate a trade in high value goods, including wine amphorae from the...

The British Museum holds 70 items identified as coming from Co Meath, along with one labelled as coming from either Armagh or Meath. The majority of these (30) are assigned to the Early Medieval period, followed by the Bronze Age (12). The most common object type represented are bracelets (10), followed by socketed axes (7). The two material types represented in this assemblage are: Metal (54), Stone (11), Bone (4), and Glass (2). < Table of Contents Neolithic/Bronze Age: Stone items Meath adze 20050501.329 Polished stone adze with broken butt, side slightly damaged/indented. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1570407&partId=1 Meath axe 20050501.330 Polished stone axe with taperring rounded butt, slightly damaged; blade chipped. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1570383&partId=1 Meath axe 20050501.332 Polished ston...