Conference Proceedings ProgrammeAbstracts & BiographiesDownloads

IAI Autumn Conference 2007

Rethinking Irish Archaeology:

Old Ground, New Ideas

Date: 19-21 October 2007

Venue: Courtyard by Marriott Galway

Location: Galway

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Conference Programme

The main theme and aim of the autumn conference, 2007, was to expand and develop the debate which began in 2006 with the publication of Archaeology 2020: Repositioning Irish archaeology in the Knowledge Society. 

This debate as energetically taken up by the Royal Irish Academy, firstly through the work of a Consultative Group on Commercial Archaeology that focused its discussion on the issues of report quality, submission and publication. This was followed by the very significant Open Forum event hosted by the Academy in September 2006 the outcome of which was  published in summary and in full.

As a further contribution to the debate, a summary report on the proceedings of this conference outlining the key themes and principles for action was compiled by Teresa Bolger on behalf of the Institute and has been published as an e-document, hard copies are also available directly from the Institute by application.

Friday 19 October

Wine Reception in new Galway Museum

7.00pm

Introduction by Sarah Gillespie

Keynote address:  A Professional Profession

Professor John Waddell, National University of Ireland, Galway

Kindly sponsored by:
Department of Humanities, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology

Saturday 20 October

Session 1 - Chair: Aidan O'Sullivan, Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, Acting Vice-Chair

Resources and Knowledge - Heritage Management

9.15 - 9.30

Introduction to the conference

9.30 - 9.15

Irish Archaeology Tomorrow – The Heritage Council Perspective

Ian Doyle, Archaeological Officer, The Heritage Council

9.50 - 10.10

Regulation and Management in the 21st Century – Policy and Practice

Brian Duffy, Chief Archaeologist, DoEHLG

10.10 - 10.30

The Royal Irish Academy: Its Role in Irish Archaeology

Dr Ann Lynch, Chair RIA National Committee

10.30 - 10.50

Significance and Proportionality in Heritage Management – the contribution of the Burra Charter and other international instruments
Claire Foley, Senior Inspector, DOE/EHS

10.50 - 11.00

Discussion

Tea/Coffee

Session 2 - Chair: Dr Michael Ryan, The Discovery Programme, Chairperson

Fieldwork & Excavation - record to future research

11.30 - 11.35

Introduction to session by Chair

11.35 - 12.00

An Introduction to the Association of Archaeological Consultants of Ireland (AACI Ltd)
Eoin Halpin, Representative of AACI Ltd.

12.00 - 12.25

Opportunities and Initiatives: The Potential Arising from NRA Archaeology

Rónán Swan, National Roads Authority

12.25 - 12.50

Non-Intrusive Fieldwork – New Technologies and Old Techniques
Brian Lacey, The Discovery Programme, Chief Executive Officer

12.50 - 1.00

Discussion

Lunch

Session 3 - Chair: J Christiaan Corlett, Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, Acting Honorary Secretary

Research Opportunities - created at the 'coalface'

2.00 - 2.05

Introduction to session by Chair

2.05 - 2.30

Widening the Frame: Early Medieval Archaeology in the Barony of Rathoath

Matt Seaver, Archaeologist

2.30 - 2.55

Learning from the Past – Twelve Years as an Environmental Archaeologist in Ireland
Eileen Reilly, Environmental Archaeologist

2.55 - 3.20

Research at the Cold Face

Linzi Simpson, Archaeologist

3.20 – 3.45

Edercloon, Co. Longford; Research Opportunity at the Peat Face

Cathy Moore, Archaeologist

3.45 - 4.00

Discussion

Tea/Coffee

4.30 - 6.00

Ordinary General Meeting

Sunday 21 October

Session 4 - Chair: Peter C. Woodman, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University College Cork

Collection - for public display and research

9.30 - 9.35

Introduction to session by Chair

9.35 - 10.00

What’s in the Cupboard? The Research Potential of Museum Collections

Raghnall Ó Floinn, Head of Collections, National Museum of Ireland

10.00 - 10.25

Spreading the Word: Presenting Archaeology in Museums

Sinead McCartan, Curator of Prehistoric Antiquities, Ulster Museum

10.25 - 10.50

Archaeology: An Expression of Our Identity

Eamon McEneaney, Director, Waterford Museum of Treasures

10.50 – 11.00

Discussion

Tea/Coffee

Session 5 - Chair: Paul Gosling, Department of Humanities, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology

Creating the foundations - teaching archaeology

11.30 - 11.35

Introduction to session by Chair

11.35 - 11.55

A time to ring some changes or a time to reassert old values?

Michael Monk, University College Cork

11.55 - 12.15

Pathways to Horizons: Teaching Archaeology at UCD
Dr Graeme Warren, University College Dublin

12.15 - 12.35

Archaeology and Science: Teaching Archaeology in the Institutes of Technology

Chris Read, Sligo Institute of Technology

12.35 - 12.55

Teaching and Research in Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queens University Belfast

Dr Finbar McCormick, Queen's University Belfast

12.55 - 1.00

Discussion

Lunch

Session 6 - Chair: Professor Gabriel Cooney, School of Archaeology, University College Dublin

Placing archaeology in modern Ireland

2.00 - 2.10

Introduction to session by Chair

2.10 - 2.20

Aidan O'Sullivan (IAI role)

2.20 - 4.00

Open Forum 

Panel:

Dr Brian Williams
Professor Sue Christie
Pat Cooke
Dr Elizabeth FitzPatrick

End of Conference

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Abstracts & Biographies

Keynote Address: A Professional Profession

Professor John Waddell, National University of Ireland, Galway

John Waddell is Professor of Archaeology in the National University of Ireland, Galway.

This address offers a brief commentary on some of the issues facing the Irish archaeological profession in some of its activities. Download full text.

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Saturday

Session 1: Resources and knowledge - heritage management

Chair: Dr Aidan O’Sullivan, Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, Acting Vice-Chair

Aidan O’Sullivan, MA, PhD is Senior Lecturer (and Research Officer) in UCD School of Archaeology and acting Vice-Chair of IAI. He was formerly a Project Director and Research Archaeologist (1992-2000) in The Discovery Programme. He is the author – or co-author - of eight books on archaeology (including most recently, Maritime Ireland (2007); Coolure Demesne Crannog, Lough Derravaragh (2007) and Rethinking Wetland Archaeology (2006). He has directed a range of archaeological projects on wetlands, maritime and early medieval Ireland. He is a Principal Investigator of UCD’s Early Medieval Research Cluster and of the Early Medieval Archaeology Project (EMAP) Heritage Council funded research programme that is attempting to establish collaborative research between Universities and the Commercial Archaeological Sector.

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Irish Archaeology Tomorrow – The Heritage Council Perspective

Ian Doyle, Archaeological Officer, The Heritage Council

Ian Doyle is Archaeology Officer with the Heritage Council since 2004. Prior to that he worked on various pre-development archaeological projects as well as on a series of Heritage Council projects such as the Unpublished Excavations Survey published in 2002. In 2006-07 he co-ordinated the Heritage Council response to the Ministerial request for a policy paper on research needs in Irish archaeology.

This paper will look at initiatives aimed at Irish archaeological practice including recent policy advice from the Heritage Council to government. The need for greater awareness raising and engagement of the public in our heritage will be discussed, in particular recent surveys undertaken by the Heritage Council  of heritage awareness will be outlined. Some thought will be given at the end of the presentation on the implications of climate change on our national heritage.

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Regulation and Management in the 21st Century – Policy and Practice

Brian Duffy, Chief Archaeologist, DoEHLG

Chief Archaeologist in the National Monuments Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government. A graduate of UCG (now NUIG) and worked for the last 31 years in the National Monuments Service on the Archaeological Survey, National Monuments in State Care and Planning & Development impacts before being appointed Chief Archaeologist.

In light of the review of archaeological policy and practice now underway this paper will outline some of the issues that may be discussed in the review. Emphasis will be on archaeological policy, regulation and practice.

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The Royal Irish Academy: Its Role in Irish Archaeology

Dr Ann Lynch, Chair RIA National Committee

Senior Archaeologist with the National Monuments Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and currently chairperson of the Royal Irish Academy Committee for Archaeology. A graduate of UCC and the Universiteit van Amasterdam, since joining the National Monuments Service in 1981, I have directed excavations at a number of national monuments including Tintern Abbey, Poulnabrone and Dublin Castle. Current responsibilities include co-ordination of the Peatland Survey, co-ordination of the archaeology of national monuments in state care, overall management of the Underwater Archaeology Unit and co-ordination of the enforcement of the National Monuments Acts in relation to damage caused to sites.

The Royal Irish Academy has had a role in Irish archaeology since 1785 when it was founded to promote study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Its early collections of antiquities now form the core of the National Museum’s treasures and its library is one of the finest research libraries in the country. This presentation will give a short account of the structural organisation of the academy and its strategic role in the world of Irish learning. The work of the Academy Committee for Archaeology will be outlined including the contribution being made by its varied research projects to the creation of knowledge. As we move forward into what will hopefully be a new era in Irish archaeology, the potential contribution of the Royal Irish Academy will be discussed.

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Significance and Proportionality in Heritage Management – the contribution of the Burra Charter and other international instruments

Claire Foley, Environment and Heritage Service, DOE, Northern Ireland

In charge of the  Scheduling Programme since 1986. Excavator of Parkes Castle, Creggandevesky Court Tomb and Kiltierney Iron Age cemetery among others. Developed the archaeological policies now practiced in Agri-Environment schemes in Northern Ireland. Founder member and former chair of IAI, serving member of the RIA Committee for Archaeology and the Council of the Discovery Programme. Former Trustee of CBA and member of drafting committee for the Council of Europe Faro Convention.

The fundamental principles for protecting and managing the vast range of archaeological sites in Ireland are much the same as for every country in the world. Too often archaeologists struggle alone to find 'new' approaches and solutions and to convince owners and agents of the relative importance of one action over another.  This paper will outline some of the overarching principles and illustrate them with recent applications in Northern Ireland. The value of heritage for society will be briefly rehearsed. Download a list of relevant charters and international instruments.

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Session 2: Fieldwork and Excavation – Record to Future Research

Chair: Dr Michael Ryan, The Discovery Programme, Chairperson

Michael Ryan is Director of the Chester Beatty Library and Chairman of the Discovery Programme. A former Chairman of IAPA, he was President of the Royal Irish Academy from 2002 – 2005. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and Honorary Professor of Art History and he has recently been appointed an adjunct Professor in the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin. In the National Museum from 1970 – 1992; he was Keeper of Irish Antiquities 1979 – 1992. Co-author with the late Frank Mitchell of Reading the Irish Landscape and his collected essays on Early Medieval Irish Metalwork were published by Pindar Press in 2000. A former member of the Heritage Council, he chaired its Standing Committee on archaeology and its Museums and Archives Committee.

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An Introduction to the Association of Archaeological Consultants of Ireland (AACI Ltd)

Eoin Halpin, Representative of AACI Ltd

Eoin Halpin is director of Archaeological Development Services Ltd and co-founder of the Association of Archaeological Consultants of Ireland. He has extensive experience in all aspects of the archaeological process. He is a member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists and a member of the Institute of Archaeologist of Ireland of which he has just completed a term as chairperson. His work has appeared in numerous publications in academic journals, historic society journals and monographs.

The Association of Archaeological Consultancies of Ireland was founded by a group of like minded individuals working within the consultancy sector of Irish archaeology. Its main aims are the maintenance of standards, to represent its members in the decision making process, to address the skills deficit in the profession, to encourage publication and dissemination of information and finally to encourage focused debate and discussion from a sector in archaeology with defined issues and commonality of purpose.

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Opportunities and Initiatives: The Potential Arising from NRA Archaeology

Rónán Swan, National Roads Authority

Rónán Swan is a Senior Archaeologist with the NRA, and is currently Acting Head of the NRA Archaeology Section based in Dublin. Rónán graduated with a BA in Archaeology and Geography from UCD in 1992 and with an MSc in Archaeology from the University of Southampton in 1994. He worked as an archaeologist and an assistant co-ordinator on several FÁS Heritage Projects before spending a number of years as a freelance archaeologist working on excavations and surveys throughout Ireland. In 1997 Rónán joined Arch-Tech Ltd and worked on a variety of projects, including archaeological assessments, excavations, and heritage projects. In 2001 Rónán joined Westmeath County Council as Project Archaeologist working out of the National Road Design Office in Mullingar. In 2006 Rónán joined the NRA and in 2007 was appointed Senior Archaeologist with responsibility for the Midwest region that included the Mullingar, Galway and Limerick National Road Design Offices. Since April of this year he has been in his current position.

Over the past ten to fifteen years, there have been enormous changes in Archaeology in Ireland. Since the early 2000’s there has been a remarkable growth in the numbers of Archaeological projects being undertaken, and similarly a parallel increase in the amount of archaeological data being gathered, and as a consequence there are now tremendous opportunities for archaeological research arising from these projects. One of the principal drivers has been the National Development Plan, which in the late 1990’s set out to overcome Irelands traditional infrastructural deficit. In the context of this the National Roads Authority was charged with implementing government policy in relation to the national road network.

This paper aims to take a broad view of Archaeology within the NRA, and the scale of the work that is being undertaken in providing core archaeological data and the management aims of ensuring that access to this potential research material is made available to the profession. The paper also discusses some specific archaeological research initiatives that the NRA is involved in, which highlight the potential for further collaborative projects. 

From 2001 to 2006, the NRA had a small archaeological team, with the majority of its project manager Archaeologists working for individual local authorities. In January 2007, Archaeology was restructured within the NRA along a regional basis whereby four regional teams have been created, with a co-ordinating Dublin team.  Each regional team - the Eastern Team, the North-West Team, the Mid-West Team and the Southern Team - is lead by a Senior Archaeologist, who manages NRA Archaeologists and Assistant Archaeologists based in the various National Road Design Offices (NRDO). The Head Office team is based in Dublin and is managed by the Head of Archaeology. This new regional approach allows for a more structured and consistent approach and will further enable the achievement of the NRA Archaeology Sections overarching goal of effectively managing archaeological works on NRA projects. This is particularly important given that the taxpayer funds all NRA archaeological work. The new structure has also seen the formation of a management team, which oversees research, methodologies, procurement, policy formulation, and publication.

Currently there are in excess of 500 archaeologists actively involved in archaeological work on National Road Schemes, These archaeologists are undertaking archaeological assessments, excavation works and post excavation, as well as those working on route planning and selection and Environmental Impact Assessments, as well as the specialists.

NRA Archaeology has initiated a number of research projects. These can be distinguished between research projects such as the Ballyhanna Research Project and the M3 Research Framework, which, are directed at addressing specific archaeological issues and broader issues such as the development of the Guidelines for the Assessment of Archaeological Heritage Impacts of National Road Schemes, as well as review documents, such as the Gifford study on Archaeological Projects prior to 2001. The NRA also sponsor a small number of specific research projects within Universities. 

While not a research initiative in itself, one of the critical developments underway is the production of new archaeology contract documents, as they establish the framework within which all works take place. Since 2001, archaeological contracts on NRA schemes have been procured in accordance with EU procurement rules and this will remain the case. However, these contracts, while similar, all had individual nuances, and most did not explicitly include for the publication of the results. Following recent Department of Finance directions regarding the procurement of government tenders, a new set of model contract documents is currently being prepared by NRA Archaeology Section in association with NRA Procurement, which will cover all aspects of the archaeological project from initial test investigation, right through to the final publication. For the first time a methodology for contract performance appraisal and review will be established.

This year also sees the development of an on-line searchable database of all final reports held by the NRA, and is a joint project between NRA Archaeology and NRA IT. It is currently being tested and is in its final stages of development. This database provides a simple mechanism for collating information on archaeological discoveries on national road projects. It is expected to be available to researchers within the coming year, and will be updated on a regular basis as the excavation reports are received.

A parallel development is the NRA’s dissemination programme including; the annual Heritage Week Discoveries Seminar, which gives archaeologists and specialists working on NRA schemes an opportunity to present their results to the general public and to their colleagues the proceedings of which are then published to coincide with the following years seminar. The NRA also publishes Seanda, an archaeological magazine distributed free of charge to all consultancies, libraries, secondary schools and local archaeological and historical societies. The NRA will also continue its support of local museum exhibitions, conferences and seminars.

Additionally this year will see the publication of the first of the NRA Archaeology scheme Monographs, Ed Danaher’s “Monumental Beginnings: The Archaeology of the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road” is to be published in December 2007, while next year will see the publication of Monographs for the M4 Kinnegad-Enfield-Kilcock, the N25 Kilmacthomas, the N30 Jamestown-Moneytucker projects and the N5 Charlestown Bypass.

In order to encourage more publication, an internal publication committee has been established to set definitions and standards and provide quality control. It is of course recognised that publication is a broad church that will encompass a variety of formats from the gazetteer to the narrative, which will be reflective not only of individual schemes, but also of the archaeologists who are writing them.

Resulting from these initiatives, not only should we see an ever increasing amount of archaeological data being gathered but also an ever increasing amount of archaeological knowledge created, that will provide exciting opportunities for archaeologists (regardless of whether they’re public, private or academic), to re-interrogate traditional models and to imagine totally new models. The objective has to be to share as much of this information as possible to encourage the widest possible discourse. Further information can be obtained from the NRA Website.

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Non-Intrusive Fieldwork – New Technologies and Old Techniques

Dr Brian Lacey, The Discovery Programme, Chief Executive Officer

Dr Brian Lacey is CEO of the Discovery Programme. He was Director of the Donegal archaeological survey from 1979 to 1983 and also conducted rescue excavations in the centre of Derry in the 1970s and ‘80s. He now focuses on linking archaeology with the early historical sources, particularly for Donegal and Derry. He is editor of JRSAI.

Excavation as we all know (but perhaps not the public) is not the whole of archaeology or, indeed, the whole of archaeological fieldwork. Increasingly, non-intrusive surveys along with landscape contextualisation, is producing major results. The marriage of new technologies with old techniques is constantly adding to our research methods. This paper will reflect on these and related issues from a perspective that has been growing for over a quarter of a century.

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Session 3: Research Opportunity – Created at the ‘Coalface’

Chair: J Christiaan Corlett, Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, Acting Honorary Secretary

Chris Corlett is an archaeologist with the Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government, Acting Honorary Secretary of the Institute of Archaeologist of Ireland and Honorary Librarian of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.

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Widening the Frame: Early Medieval Archaeology in the Barony of Rathoath

Matthew Seaver, Archaeologist

Matthew Seaver is a consultant archaeologist currently working with CRDS. He graduated with a BSc in Archaeology from University of Bradford in 1995 and an MA in Archaeology from University College Dublin in 1997. His postgraduate work was focussed on Medieval Settlement in County Meath. He has worked in archaeological consultancies since and conducted excavations of a multi period landscape at Laughanstown, County Dublin (2000-2003) and of a major Early Medieval Settlement complex at Raystown, County Meath (2004-2005). Both these excavation programmes are being prepared for publication. Major research interests include the evolution of the Early and Later Medieval landscapes.

Massively increased development in Ireland has led to a huge upsurge in archaeological work carried out by commercial companies. This has led to tensions between the commercial sector, academia and the public in relation to the value and ethics of archaeological practice. This paper follows major excavations of an Early Medieval complex at Raystown, County Meath and attempts to widen the frame to look at how development led archaeology can play a part in creating exciting and challenging new research questions. It situates a series of major excavations in the Barony of Ratoath which is to a large extent coterminous with an early medieval kingdom in Southern Brega and views them alongside known settlements and church sites and routeways to look at the greatly changed Early Medieval landscape. In Early Medieval studies archaeology has sometimes been seen as the handmaiden to historical research rather than a partner. Examining these newly excavated sites can reveal the dynamic between data gathering and research questions; when archaeological data itself can help set the agenda.

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Learning from the Past – Twelve Years as an Environmental Archaeologist in Ireland

Eileen Reilly, Environmental Archaeologist

Environmental archaeologist with twelve years experience specializing in analysis of sub-fossil insect remains. Due to submit PhD (Oct 07), Dept of Botany, Trinity College, Dublin, entitled ‘Late Holocene woodland dynamics in southwestern and western Ireland through a study of sub-fossil insect remains’. BA(Hons) Archaeology and Geography, UCD 1992; MSc in Environmental Archaeology, University of Sheffield 1994; Diploma in Environmental Impact Assessment (Mgmt), UCD 1998.

Parallel to the dramatic rise in archaeological excavation in recent years, there has been a huge increase in bioarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis from and in association with these sites. A number of major interdisciplinary developer-funded projects have taken place in the past 12 years and a training requirement has been recognized by the universities and institutes with the introduction of new courses and staff to meet this growing need. Many environmental archaeologists working in Ireland have returned to education to better synthesis results from multiple archaeological projects or with research questions inspired by findings accumulated over many years. However, there are undoubtedly still problems in relation to sampling strategies, project planning, funding and publication. This hampers the consistency of the results of bioarchaeological/palaeoenvironmental analysis, thus reducing their value to the wider archaeological and palaeoenvironmental community. This paper outlines the author’s personal reflections on the points raised above, while suggesting approaches for maximizing the potential for high quality research in environmental archaeology in the developer-funded sphere.

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Research at the Cold Face

Linzi Simpson, Archaeologist

Linzi Simpson is a Senior Consultant with Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd and has been excavating in the field for over seventeen years. She directed the Viking excavations at Temple Bar West in Dublin and various other excavations around the city and elsewhere. She is author several volumes in the Temple Bar Archaeological Series published by Wordwell and has written various articles including contributions to the annual Medieval Dublin Series, published by Four Courts Press.

There is no doubt that it is the case that research opportunities in the field of archaeology have not kept pace with the rate of excavation and that this imbalance manifests itself most evidently in the oft-repeated criticism of lack of publication. The onus is therefore on our members to remind interested stake-holders that each and every excavation represents unique research particular to that site but that the onus of wider dissemination is a collective one. The difficulty that directors face is in trying to create a realistic ‘window of research’ amid what is becoming an increasingly unmanageable work-load for most practicing archaeologists. This is unhelpfully coupled with a lack of confidence in both their ability to publish or even to decide what constitutes a ‘publishable site’. These problems, however, can and have been over-come, by individual directors who have managed to establish a ‘research niche’ from within the structures in which they currently operate. This success of this strategy, however, depends on all members of the profession accepting responsibility for encouraging and, more importantly, mentoring those who come within their sphere of influence. 

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Edercloon, Co. Longford; Research Opportunity at the Peat Face

Caitríona Moore, Archaeologist

Caitríona Moore graduated from UCD in 1996 and has been working as a professional archaeologist since that time. Having worked on infrastructural projects all over the country she also spent five years as a full time member of the Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit in University College Dublin. She directed excavations on the N2 Finglas-Ashbourne Road Scheme and in 2006 directed the excavation of the Edercloon wetland complex in Co. Longford.

This lecture will outline the results of excavations at Edercloon Co.Longford which were carried out as part of the N4 Dromod-Roosky By-Pass. The excavation was directed by Caitríona Moore for Cultural Resource Development Services Ltd and was carried out over a five month period beginning in April 2006.

The archaeological site at Edercloon was identified in February 2006 during centreline testing which exposed deposits of worked wood in an area of reclaimed bog. Excavation commenced the following April revealing a dense complex of 25 wooden toghers, 5 platforms and 17 deposits of archaeological wood.

While large complexes of similar structures have been identified and excavated in the past, the density of sites at Edercloon was astonishing with many of the toghers seen to criss-cross and merge together. Buried within these sites were 51 artefacts including carved wooden vessels, wheel fragments, spear shafts, tool handles and several enigmatic highly finished wooden objects. Such a large artefact assemblage from a trackway complex is unparalleled and its discovery begs many questions as to the significance and purpose of this site. Radiocarbon dating has indicated that the structures at Edercloon date from the Neolithic to the Medieval period.

Wetland sites provide a rare opportunity for detailed research on well preserved palaeoenvironmental remains. To this end post-excavation on Edercloon will involve several disciplines including examination of peat morphology, analysis of pollen and tephra and the identification and study of coleoptera and insect remains. These analyses hope to reconstruct the environment in which the complex was built and understand its relationships to the sites. Analysis of over 4000 wood samples will identify the types of wood selected for use in the toghers and reconstruct the forests from which they were gathered.

In addition to research on the palaeoenvironment, a detailed study of worked wooden remains will seek to identify the tool types used, and through tool signature analysis trace individual tools across the site or sites.

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Sunday

Session 4: Collection – For Public Display and Research

Chair Peter C. Woodman, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University College Cork

Former curator of Prehistoric Antiquities at the Ulster Museum, Belfast and just recently retired from the post of Professor of Archaeology, UCC - the position he held for nearly 24 years. His major research interest has been the expansion of human settlement throughout western Europe at the end of the last Ice Age. While his main area of research has been Ireland he has also worked on the Isle of Man and on the early prehistory of Arctic Europe especially North Norway and the Kola peninsula of Russia. He has a continuing interest in the history of archaeological collections and has recently published a major review of the Knowles collections held in the National Museum Of Ireland.

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What’s in the Cupboard?: The Research Potential of Museum Collections

Raghnall Ó Floinn, Head of Collections, National Museum of Ireland

Raghnall Ó Floinn is currently Head of Collections at the National Museum of Ireland. A graduate of University College Dublin with an MA in Archaeology, he joined the staff of the National Museum of Ireland as an Assistant Keeper in the Irish Antiquities Division. His research interests lie primarily in the medieval period with a particular focus on reliquaries and the cult of relics; decorated metalwork; the archaeology of the early medieval Irish Church and the history of collectors and collections of antiquities. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

This paper will outline some of the issues surrounding the management of archaeological collections in museums; the ways in which they can be accessed and the opportunities they provide for research. It is argued that the resource is still very much underutilised by the profession and suggests ways of addressing this.

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Spreading the Word: Presenting Archaeology in Museums

Sinéad McCartan, Curator of Prehistoric Antiquities, Ulster Museum

Sinéad McCartan is the Curator of Prehistoric Antiquities at the Ulster Museum. Her expertise and research interests include lithic studies and the Mesolithic period in Ireland and the Isle of Man. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and an Associate of the Institute of Field Archaeologists, and currently sits on the Committee for Archaeology (Royal Irish Academy) and the Archaeology Standing Committee (The Heritage Council). Her two current main fieldwork projects include assessing the prehistoric settlement of Rathlin Island, and a survey of shell midden and lithic sites around Ardmillan Bay, Strangford Lough, County Down.

Presenting archaeology within a museum context poses many challenges and issues for a curator/museum archaeologist, and displays are just one way of 'spreading the word' about archaeology to the museum visitor. It is no longer sufficient to cram a case full of objects and hope that the visitor will be impressed. Displays should be based on sound visitor (and non-visitor) research, and the aims and objectives of the display carefully considered and defined at the outset. This talk explores some of the issues, challenges and pressures faced by the museum curator when presenting archaeology to the public.

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Archaeology: An Expression of Our Identity

Eamon McEneaney, Director, Waterford Museum of Treasures

Eamonn McEneaney a graduate of TCD he is Director of Waterford Museum of Treasures which has one several national and international awards and has written a number of books on the history of Waterford and is involved with the conservation of the Town Walls including Reginald’s Tower. He is a founder member of the Irish Walled Towns Network and its first Chair, former member of the Heritage Council and represents Waterford City Council on the working Group established by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to advise on the future of the Viking site at Woodstown. He is now Waterford City Council’s project director for the regeneration of the city’s historic core. He is also advisor to the Rooms Museum in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada on a new permanent exhibition that will celebrate the Irish contribution to the development of the great cod fishery in Newfoundland.

Eamonn McEneaney will examine Waterford City Council’s use of archaeology as a means of expressing the identity of the city and creating an awareness of the importance of archaeology to the end users, the general public.

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Session 5: Creating the Foundations – Teaching Archaeology

Chair: Paul Gosling, Department of Archaeology, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

Paul Gosling is a professional archaeologist, lecturer and author who hails from Dundalk, in Co. Louth.  He lectures in the Department of Humanities on the Galway Campus of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, in Galway City and is co-ordinator of the BA in Heritage Studies programme.  He is also a member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (MIAI). He qualified with an Honours BA from University College Dublin in 1976 and subsequently held a Junior Fellowship at the Institute of Irish Studies, at Queens University Belfast in 1979-80.  From 1980 to 1982 he was the Archaeological Officer with Dundalk Urban District Council during which time he carried out two archaeological excavations on Early Medieval Period souterrains and completed a major report on the medieval archaeology of Dundalk town. In November 1982, he moved to Galway to work on the OPW/UCG Preliminary Archaeological Survey of County Galway. In 1984 he was appointed as Director of the survey, a post he held until its completion in 1993.  The fruits of this work have appeared in the form of a Sites & Monuments Record, County Galway (1987) and an Archaeological Inventory of County Galway. Volume I of the latter, covering West Galway and the Aran Islands, appeared in 1993 while Volume II covering north Galway was published in 1999.  A final volume (Volume III), covering south Galway, is forthcoming. Paul’s research interests are wide ranging.  The central theme in his research work has been archaeological survey, both urban and rural.  Apart from his work on county Galway, he has published a number of research papers and two books on the towns of Dundalk, Carlingford and Tuam.  Since 1991, he has also been involved in the archaeological section of the Royal Irish Academy’s multi-disciplinary New Survey of Clare Island, Co. Mayo and is joint editor and a major contribution to volumes 4 (2004) and 5 (forthcoming, 2007) in the publication series. He has also been involved as a consultant in a number of museum and heritage centre projects.  Most notably, he has researched and prepared texts and illustrations for the archaeological exhibitions and AV presentations at the Heritage Centre, Carlingford. Co. Louth (1992) and Caherconnell Fort, Carron, Co. Clare (2002).  He also lectures annually to farmers as part of the REPS induction courses run by Teagasc.  His research interests also include the topography of the epic tale Táin Bó Cualigne, the route of which he has re-traced on many field trips and through lectures.  More recently, he has developed an interest in the history of archaeology in Ireland.  This has led to the re-publication of a limited calf-bound edition of Thomas Wright’s Louthiana of 1748 (Dundalgan Press, 2000) and an assessment of the archaeological career of Dr Adolf Mahr, Director of the National Museum of Ireland from 1934-1939 (with Annika Stephan).

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A time to ring some changes or a time to reassert old values?

Michael Monk, Department of Archaeology, University College Cork

I have been teaching and researching Irish Archaeology as a member of the lecturing staff of the department of Archaeology University College Cork since 1978. My technical speciality is archaeobotany but I teach Environmental Archaeology in the broadest sense of that phrase. The focus of my research has been the interaction between people and environment in Ireland and particularly via agriculture. While I have a broad period interest in this respect the periods I have particularly focused on are the Neolithic and the Medieval. In the later case I have research concern in secular settlement and the evidence for agricultural practices from such sites. In the past I have been interested in the developments in excavation methodologies, particularly in the recovery of environmental remains but also excavation recording.

Education and archaeology within Irish Universities is changing. These changes are not unique to the teaching of archaeology in third level institutions in Ireland or Britain. There are many factors responsible for this change in the Republic but principle among them is government policy in terms of funding, management and performance outcomes. Of equal importance are other changes facing the sector - the increasing outside influence of the commercial interests via specific training demands and commercially funded research, the implementation of Europe wide equivalences in terms of years of training (Bologna) and a transferable credit system (ECTS) as well as the ever developing area of IT and its influence in the delivery of courses and assessments. These challenges need to be met - not shied away from. The primary focus of a university education has to be reasserted. The nature of archaeology means that it is and will continue to be located between the Arts and Sciences, though most often departments of archaeology are within Arts.  This link will be explored in relation to my experience.  Similarly the essential characteristics of the links between theory and practice, research and teaching will be highlighted. I will outline how, while maintaining these key elements, the broader changes within the sector are being met within UCC in general and archaeology in particular. 

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Pathways to Horizons: Teaching Archaeology at UCD

Graeme Warren, School of Archaeology, University College Dublin

I am currently a College Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, having been appointed in 2002 to expand the School's practical teaching skills, both in terms of fieldwork and stone tool analysis, and provide a specialism in early prehistory – in particular the mesolithic and mesolithic-neolithic transition. I was the School’s Teaching and Learning Officer, and a UCD President’s Teaching Fellow. I am currently a UCD President’s Research Fellow. This award has allowed me to step back from the day-to-day business of teaching this year and manage a project focusing on identifying national research priorities in the study of the adoption of agriculture.

UCD has gone through a period of significant transformation, including the restructuring of Departments into Schools and the introduction of a modular curriculum at all levels. The implication of these changes has been hugely significant. This paper reviews these changes and, given this context, outlines the current pedagogical approaches used by the UCD School of Archaeology. I will discuss some of the key opportunities and challenges involved in teaching archaeology at Third and Fourth Level at UCD. This in turn provides a platform for highlighting the relationships between University education and the wider discipline. In particular, the significance of teaching research skills, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, is stressed.

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Archaeology and Science: Teaching Archaeology in the Institutes of Technology

Christopher Read, Sligo Institute of Technology

Christopher is Canadian by birth and education, receiving his BA from McGill in 1993 and MA from McMaster in 1996, where he produced for his thesis a multi-period landscape analysis of the Barrow River Valley. Chris has been working as a professional archaeologist in Ireland since 1996, starting off on the Temple Bar Viking excavations and subsequently directing his own excavations from 1998. From 2000 until 2007 he was co-director of North West Archaeological Services, managing dozens of development and community based projects, large and small, all over the Northwest. From 2002 he was associated with the formation of the BSc. in Applied Archaeology at I.T. Sligo and became their first archaeology lecturer in 2003. Chris is now fulltime in I.T. Sligo and has recently begun a landscape based PhD at N.U.I. Galway. Chris is also co-director of the international and interdisciplinary Kilteasheen Archaeological Project.

Archaeology has traditionally been taught in the Republic as part of a broad based Arts degree at undergraduate level. However, the tools and techniques employed by the archaeologist have become more complex and technical over the last two decades, including among others topographical and geophysical surveying, GIS and computer modelling, materials analysis and artefact conservation. These developments, coupled with the growth of the commercial sector to become by far the largest employer of archaeology graduates, have placed increasing pressure on third level institutions to produce archaeologists with the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the demands of an ever changing workplace. While archaeology has been taught in the Institutes of Technology for several years as part of other courses, the Republic’s first BSc in Archaeology was set up at I.T. Sligo in 2003. This four year Honours BSc. attempts to combine traditional archaeological instruction with a range of scientific and technical skills and an emphasis on practical experience. Is there a place for such a course within third level education in Ireland.

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Teaching and Research in Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queens University Belfast

Dr Finbar McCormick, Queens University Belfast

Finbar McCormick is a senior lecturer in Queens University Belfast with a special intrest in early settlement and livestock history. Much of his work is concerned with the study of faunal assemblages from early sites in Scotland and Ireland. He is a former  member of the Archaeology Advisory Panel of the Learning And Teaching Network (LSTN) for British Universities.

The paper will discuss the various factors that underlie teaching and research at QUB. It will demonstrate that UK government higher education policy in both these areas underlie the form of undergraduate courses provided and the research directions of the school. UK government policy insists that university teaching must be informed by research. This, rather than the need of outside employers, especially private sector development archaeology, has tended to influence the structure and content of our courses.

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Session 6: Placing Archaeology in Modern Ireland

Chair: Professor Gabriel Cooney, School of Archaeology, University College Dublin

Gabriel Cooney is a Professor in the School of Archaeology, UCD. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Heritage Council and is currently chair of the Standing Committee on Archaeology of the Heritage Council. He was one of the authors of Archaeology 2020: Repositioning Irish Archaeology in the Knowledge Society (2006), chaired the organising committee for the Royal Irish Academy's Forum on Archaeology in Ireland: A Vision for the Future in September 2006 and was involved in the preparation of the Heritage Council's report to the Minister of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on A review of Research Needs in Irish Archaeology (2007). He is the academic secretary for the World Archaeological Congress (WAC-6) to be held in Ireland in 2008.

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Open Forum Panel

Dr Brian Williams, Assistant Director in Built Heritage Directorate, EHS

Dr Brian Williams is an Assistant Director in the Built Heritage Directorate, Environment and Heritage Service and Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster. He has been involved in the Archaeology 2020 process and was a member of the Royal Irish Academy Committee which organised the archaeological profession's response to that initiative. He has been closely involved in the creation of the recently launched Northern Ireland Archaeology Forum.

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Professor Sue Christie, Director Northern Ireland Environment Link

Sue is an ecologist, originally from California and resident in Northern Ireland for the last 25 years. She has worked within the voluntary environmental sector for 18 years, as Director of the Ulster Wildlife Trust and Project Manager for NI2000 prior to joining Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) as Director in 1992. NIEL is the network and forum body for voluntary organisations involved in the environment. It facilitates the work of its 49 Full Members through information, publications, representation and policy work and provides the secretariat for the Environmental Education Forum. Sue sits on various bodies in Northern Ireland, including the Forest of Belfast (Treasurer), Sustainable Northern Ireland Programme (Treasurer), Action Renewables and Tidy NI. She is involved in scientific and sustainable development work on Soqotra (an island off the coast of the Yemen) and helped found a group set up to promote and help the island’s people and nature. In April 2002 she was appointed Visiting Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Ulster Coleraine. For the past year she has been working with others to develop the Northern Ireland Archaeology Forum.

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Pat Cooke, Director in MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management, UCD

Pat Cooke is the former curator of Kilmainham Gaol and the Pearse Museum. He was Chair of the Irish Museums Association from 2002-06, and is currently director of the MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management at UCD. In 2002-03 he was research fellow the TCD’s Policy Institute, which resulted in the policy paper The Containment of Heritage: Setting Limits to the Growth of Heritage in Ireland.

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Dr Elizabeth FitzPatrick, Department of Archaeology, NUI Galway

Dr Elizabeth FitzPatrick is senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology NUI, Galway. Her specific research interests lies in late medieval and early modern Ireland, with a focus on Gaelic society, settlement and material culture from c.1350 to c.1650. She was awarded a Government of Ireland IRCHSS Research Fellowship 2006-7 and a Royal Irish Academy Excavation Grant 2007 for her current research on the archaeology of the Estates of Gaelic Hereditary Legal Families. Her publications include The Parish in Medieval and Early Modern Ireland: Community, Territory and Building (2006 with R. Gillespie); Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c.1100–1600: A Cultural Landscape Study (2004); Archaeological Investigations in Galway City 1987-1998 (2004 with M. O’Brien and P. Walsh); and Gaelic Ireland c.1250 – c.1650: land, lordship and settlement (2001 with P. J. Duffy and D. Edwards). She serves society and the archaeological community as a member of the Archaeology Committee of the Heritage Council, as Archaeological Editor of Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Section C, and as a committee member of the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement.