Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

1998: Rowan Atkinson and assorted clerics on east window of chancel There are many fine and gorgeous archaeological and historic sites of all ages in the Burren, Co. Clare, but among my personal favourites is Kilfenora. Very little is known of St. Fachanan beyond the tradition that he founded the first church here in the 6 th century and that he is remembered as the first Bishop of Kilfenora. Whatever the truth in the tradition, no buildings survive from that early phase. In any event, Kilfenora wasn’t a particularly important religious centre until the mid-12 th century when it was upgraded to being a Diocese and much of the standing architecture belongs to the decades immediately after this increase in status. The western, nave, portion of this late-12 th to early 13 th century building is still used as a Church of Ireland place of worship, but the chancel is unroofed and boasts a finely carved window. The latter is decorated with several clerics, at least one of which bears more...

In the previous instalment to this series of 360-degree video posts I took you to see the remains of the Early Medieval house at Rinnaraw [ here ]. The back story to this was that I’d left the rest of the family on the beach at Portnablagh and walked back to Rinnaraw on my own. Partly, this was because I didn’t think they’d be all that interested in such an apparently ‘slight’ monument that would require trudging across a field to go see. The other part was that I felt the visit should be a solo encounter with the site and an opportunity for personal reflection and meditation, which is hard to achieve when each of the Chapples Minor are trying to throw the other off the edge of the precipice. All went well. I completed my filming and ruminations in perfect peace and eventually dandered back to where the rest of the family were on the beach. I had hoped that all would have run through their fascination with sand and seawater by now and we’d soon be on our way to see more archaeology. Tu...

Let’s be honest, folks – there are a lot of bad things happening in the world right now … pretty much wherever you are, politics is a roaring dumpster fire of awfulness … we’ve got universities that protect plagiarists on their staff (I see you UCL!) … Keepers of Antiquities that believe private citizens can be ordered about like medieval serfs and claim that you’re an embezzler for expecting something so outlandish as being paid for undertaking work (waves at Maeve Sikora!) … and then there’s the pandemic … it’s all just so depressingly awful. But do you know what’s brilliant? Piggy Back Rides! Sure, they don’t solve any of the above problems, but they are great. That feeling of being carried about is reassuring and throws us back to memories or fantasies of happy, carefree childhoods. How could you improve on all the great things that are encapsulated in the simple joys of the piggy back ride? How about this: a piggy back ride through a great archaeological site! And that is exactly ...

It should come as no surprise that if our first Archaeology 360 video was to be about Nendrum , the next would be about the delightful ruin of Mahee Castle, just a few hundred metres from the monastic site. I’ve written before about Mahee Castle and even created some 3D images of the site. Rather than paraphrase all that again, allow me to direct you to the original blog posts [ here | 3D photos ].       Rather than being a conventional archaeological tour of the site, consider this immersive 360 video to be just as much about an open-eyed meditation on the place – a mindfulness experience, if you will. Look at the ruin, but also listen to the winds blow, the birds sing, and the leaves gently flutter on the breeze.  You can view it on an ordinary browser, but for best results we recommend the immersive experience that comes with an Oculus/Google Cardboard headset. Please feel free to  Like  and  Share  the video and  Subscribe  to the...

The British Museum holds 32 items identified as coming from Co Dublin. The majority of these (17) are assigned to the Medieval period, followed by the Early Medieval (7) and Late Medieval (4) periods. The most common object type represented are jugs (10) and pitchers (6), followed by pins (4) and floor-tiles (3). Only three material types are represented in this assemblage: Pottery (20), Metal (11), and Amber (1). < Table of Contents Neolithic (?)/Bronze Age (?)/Iron Age (?): Amber item Kilmainham bead 18880719.122 Amber globular bead. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1392706&partId=1 Bronze Age: Metal item Dublin spear-head 18750401.440 Copper alloy socketed spear-head, pegged. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=683289&partId=1 Late Bronze Age: Metal item Contarf penannular ring 18490301.180 Gold small pe...

The British Museum holds 156 items identified as coming from Co Co Offaly~King's County. The majority of these (79) are assigned to the Bronze Age, followed by the Early Medieval period (32). The most common object type represented are pins (17), followed by spear-heads (14). The most common material types are Metal (140) and Stone (11). < Table of Contents The Dowris Hoard Neolithic/Bronze Age: Stone items Dowris (Dowris Hoard) whetstone 18531121.100 Stone whetstone fragment. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=806824&partId=1 Dowris (Dowris Hoard) whetstone 18531121.200 Stone whetstone fragment. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=806825&partId=1 Dowris (Dowris Hoard) whetstone 18540714.170 Stone whetstone fragment. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=80...