Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

< 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 Some time ago I was invited to speak at an event in south County Dublin and, seeing that I had some time on my hands and was in the right general vicinity, I took the opportunity to carry on to the end of the M50 and off into Wicklow to renew my acquaintance with the wonderful monastic site at Glendalough.* Last time I’d been there was when I was an undergraduate, so a return visit was long overdue. Glendalough (the valley of the two lakes) was founded by St Kevin in the 6th century. However, none of the standing structures date to this early time. The gateway is a unique survival. Today it is a roofless structure with rather fine granite arches in the north and south walls, along with projecting ante. It appears to originally have been two-stories tall and had a wooden roof. Just inside the gateway, and butted up against one of the ante, there is an incised cross on a large sub-rectangular stone that is usually interpreted as ...

< Back to Main Post   < Index of Glendalough Posts Original images courtesy of Conor McDermott, personal collection 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

Some time ago I had the opportunity to visit the Early Christian monastic site of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow for the first time in a couple of decades. I saw the sights, I took some photos. I even turned some of the photos into 3D anaglyphs. I intended to follow all of this up with a series of posts for this blog, extolling the virtues of this magnificent site, presenting my images, and telling a few stories along the way. That was 2015 and I’m only getting around to completing it now, in 2017. The purpose of this post is to act as a Table of Contents to the various posts. As each post is published, the corresponding links will go live, so if you can’t reach an individual post, do come back later! The Posts Glendalough: The Gateway Glendalough: St Kevin’s ‘Kitchen’ Glendalough: Roundtower Glendalough: St. Mary'sChurch - or Lady Chapel Glendalough: St Saviour's Priory *           *     ...

The Glensinsheen Gorget (collar) is considered to be among the finest gold ornaments ever produced in Ireland. It dates to the Bronze Age and is thought to have been created between 800-700 BC. It was discovered in the Burren at Gleninsheen, Co. Clare by a young boy out with his dog. He spotted ‘something’ in a fissure (or ‘grike’) between two areas of limestone pavement (known as ‘clints’) and retrieved this treasure. Unfortunately, not everyone was as enthused with his discovery and, thinking it was a piece of coffin furniture, he was forbidden from bringing it inside his home. It languished under a bush for a number of years before it was identified as archaeological and was passed on to Adolf Mahr, then head of the National Museum of Ireland. It’s a wonderful piece of complex ornamentation that would have been utterly striking when worn in the Bronze Age, but it’s the story of its discovery and near loss to scholarship that draw me back to it time and time again when I v...

My good friend B G Scott is researching Iron Age horse harnesses. He is currently looking for parallels to the cheek pieces illustrated below. Please feel free to share this with friends and colleagues who may be able to help. You may either contact him directly, or all messages/comments on this blog and other social media outlets will be passed back to him. Thanks to all who can assist on this - it is much appreciated. Robert *           *           * The cheek piece shown in these rather poor pictures is one of a pair, unprovenanced except to ‘Ireland’. The arms end in simple animal heads, and there is no decoration anywhere. It seems likely that the two strap tags do not belong with the piece. I have not been able to locate a parallel to date, and would be most grateful if any colleagues have come across anything similar. All assistance gratefully received and fully acknowledged. Best wishes Dr Brian G...

The National Museum of Ireland has many wondrous, beautiful, and rare objects on display. Just think of the spectacular Bronze Age gold display, the Ardagh Chalice and the other amazing artefacts in the Treasury, the prehistoric pottery, along with the Viking and medieval material upstairs. Most people are unaware that the museum also boasts a mythological rarity … their very own phoenix. This mosaic gem is near the very Dandy Lion on the ground floor, near the centre of the Bronze Age gold exhibit. I’ve long thought him a particularly arrogant bird, rising up with flame-feathered wings outstretched and an imperious look in his eye. On more recent consideration, I’m not sure if he’s not just using a cloak of superiority to mask his discomfort at having an especially barbed and sharp tongue … it must be the source of much distress and suffering. Go visit the museum & spare a thought for the phoenix.