DOCSLIB.ORG

UCC Library and UCC Researchers Have Made This Item Openly Available

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
UCC Library and UCC Researchers Have Made This Item Openly Available UCC Library and UCC researchers have made this item openly available. Please let us know how this has helped you. Thanks! Title Journeying to a journal Author(s) McCarthy, J. P. Publication date 1991 Original citation McCarthy, J. P. , 1991. Journeying to a journal. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 96, pp. 1-18 Type of publication Article (peer-reviewed) Link to publisher's http://www.corkhist.ie/wp-content/uploads/jfiles/1991/b1991-003.pdf version Access to the full text of the published version may require a subscription. Rights ©Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Item downloaded http://hdl.handle.net/10468/125 from Downloaded on 2021-10-08T15:33:11Z Journeying to a Journal: the Society's Predecessors By J.P. McCARTHY (Councli Member 1988) INTRODUCTION Cork. Influenced by the establishment of the At a Council meeting of the newly-formed Royal Society in England, Wm Molyneux and Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 17 Sir Wm Petty began a Philosophical Society in November 1891, the Chairman /President, Dublin in 1683. It attempted county surveys, Revd R.A. Canon Sheehan, 'informed the collecting data on antiquities and other topics. meeting that Mr. Robert Day had been gener­ Interest in ecclesiastical history and in the ous enough to place his valuable edition of 'ethnography of the wild Irish' found expres­ Smith's History, with notes by Dr. Caulfield sion in tour journals and in field notes. The and Crofton Croker, at the disposal of the rude monuments of antiquity were viewed Society for publication'. At a subsequent from the saddle and from the coach window. meeting W m Ringrose Atkins expressed the Diggings were accomplished and curios col­ Society's thanks to W.A. Copinger 'who has lected. Smith's wo rk in the southern cou nties kindly consented to edit Smith's Cork with of Ireland epitomized the accumulated WIS­ Mr. Robert Day'. Thus began the work of dom of efforts such at these . rounding out close to two and a half centuries of antiquarian endeavour in Cork and of using CHARLES SMITH irs synthesis as a foundation for a new medium Before progressing into Munstet Smith worked [Q record and communicate the soc ial and for a time with Walter Harris, who had a fam­ cultural heritage of Cork city and county. il y connexion with Sir James Ware as we ll as Ir was also in the month of November I in being the editor of his Ireland. They were both 1749, that the Physico-Historical Society in grad uates of Teo, and it is interesting to note Dublin ordered the publication of the original that the orientation of 'Common Science' manuscript of Smith's Cork. When published , drew to its ranks persons from the medical, re­ the two volumes contained four parts: 'The ligious and legal schools within this institu­ Antient Names of the Territories and In­ tion. In an annotation to his personal copy of habitants ... ', 'The Topography of the Coun­ Smith's Cork, Thomas Crofton Croker states ty and City of Cotk', 'The Civil History of the that Smith was an apothecary in Lismore , County', 'The Natural Histoty'. This attempt while acknowledging that the Waterford his­ at comprehensiveness illustrates the focus of torian, Ryland, said it was Dungarvan. Crone inquiry then fashionable, and underlying it is states that he was born in Waterford c. 1715. the philosophy of the Common Scientist. This may explain why Waterford was the fust Academic life in Trinity College Dublin had of his histories. Smith died in Bristol in 1762, been a haven for antiquarian studies for over a one year after the death of his colleague, century prior to the appearance of Smith's Walter Harris. 1 2 Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Harris's name appeared on the title page. Smith and Harris also worked on a volume for Co. Dublin, but it was Smith's solo perfor­ mance which created the stage on which Cork antiquarians would pl ay out their tole in the ensuing century. It is tempting to imagine Smith supporting himself as a Dungarvan apothecary and local doctor within the next twO years, and to see these circumstances as the reason why the next counties chosen for in vestigation were so far diS[anced from Down or Dublin. From the date of pubtication of his Waterford volume in 1746 he went on over a ten-year period to pro­ duce the Cork volumes published in 1750 and the Kerry volume in 1756. The printer was A. Reilly of Dublin and the principal distributor was Exshaw. For rhe Kerry volume the book­ sellers Ewing, Faulkner and Wilson are added and perhaps this is indicative of conce rn dec­ C. SMITH , M.D. ived from the demise of the Physico-Historical Sociery (1752). As see n in the preface, the The story behind his histories began in Society no longer exiSted, which obviously Dubtin when a group of gentlemen of means burdened Smith financially and caused great came together in 1740 to found what they disappointment. called the Ph ys ico-Historical Society. Its objec­ Crofton Croker in 1832 said that Sir Wm tive was to collect materials for a book after the Betham told him there were interleaved copies manner of Camden's Brittanio to be published (belonging to Smith) of Cork , Kerry and under the title Hibernia or Ireland Antient Waterford in the library at TeD. A footnore to and Modern. As a means of collecting infor­ Crofton Croker's statement by Thomas mation, circulars were sent to 'many curious Hewitt, Cork distiller and collector of anti­ and learned gentlemen in their several co un~ quities, states that in 1854 the Kerry copy was ties' . Co. Down was re-inves tigated through in his possession. According to Crofton Croker the assistance of gentlemen in that county who these interleaved volumes for the three coun­ were aided by persons sent from Dublin. The ties contained 'very considerable MS additions, editors of the Co. Down volume which resul­ and corrections by Smith'. The W. Wilson of 6 ted were Charles Smith and Walter Harris. Dame St., who appeared as a bookseller for the Three surveyors were employed to reduce the first edition of the Kerry volume, emerged in Grand Jury map, add to it, and survey several 1774 with reprinrs of all three county histories. parts of the sea coast as well as the new canal. An adverrisement bound in with the Co rk vol­ The resulting map was claimed to be the most umes states that Wilson was inspired by the exact that had yet been published for an y same motives as had urged Smith to prepare a county in Ireland. The Antient and PreJenl second edition for Waterford. He had acquired Siale ofthe Counly ofDown was published in the late Charles Smith's notes from a friend . 1744. It is interesting that neither Smith's nor WiJ soo' s desire to encourage readers to Journeying to a Journal: the Society's Predecessors 3 contribute to future editions set a course for 100 of these also subscribed to Smi th 's Water­ local antiquarians to follow , ending in Cork in ford, indicating a market for the entire pro­ 1892 with the publication of the first issue of jected national set. The social positions of the Journal of the Cork Histoneal and Ar­ subsc ribers, where recorded , falls into nobility, chaeological Society. The inclusio n of Smirh's landed gentry, merchantS, booksellers, history as a supplement to the three volumes bishops, clergy, medical doctors, military. All which form the fuS[ series dovetailed both are represented within the Cork purchasing publications, leaving theJoumai in its second community. and they provide an indicator to series free to pursue a broader course of ex­ the existence of personal coll ections and ploration commemorated in this cemenary private libraries. Smith's work would have ISsue . made a valuable addition to their topograph­ ical sections, The effect of so many persons of ENCOURAGING MINDS TO TRAVEL position, ambition and influence reading the Smith's Cork was a canal city , a Venice 10 work should be considered, given that it pro­ Ireland to the imagination ofsome. Dutch and vided the fust opportunity to get to know the Span ish influ ences in its architecture inter­ county in depth without having to travel j[ or mingled with the Medieval in timber and in rely on the gossip of the wayside wanderer. stone. Rich hopes filled the ambitious pro­ The presence of maps was an important posals ofmen like Pauick Aher, the map maker enhancement as were the topographical views. at Broad Lane. Nathaniel Grogan 's sketches It was a reasonably objective source of informa­ and paimings captured its tall ships and small tion and must have had many spin-offs in the boats , its multi-stacked cityscape and way people used what it contained. One of stubborn-willed populace. At Castle St . local these undoubtedly was a desire to visit, discuss printing presses fust began imprinting title and understand the'reliques' of ancient Irish pages in the seve nteenth century. The Ex­ histOry. change building dominated Cas tle St. and Many of the Cork su bscribers were by the those of academic and polite literary tastes nature of the Physico-Historical Society's could purchase the larest novels, plays, news­ scheme also conuibutors, The strategy as papers, street ballads and sa tirical cartoons. outlined in the Co . Down volume was to rais e The closing in of the canals and waterways and funds through a netwo rk consisting of 60 the opening up of new thoroughfares caused a Dublin city members and 320 corresponding geographicaJ restructuring of commercial, in­ members, ten from eac h county.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • William O'reilly CV
    1 William O’Reilly B.A., M.St. (Hist. Res.), D.Phil. (Oxon), FRHistS, FRSA Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TJ, U.K. [email protected] 1 Personal Details 1 October 2005- : University of Cambridge University Senior Lecturer in History, Faculty of History 2 Education/Qualifications 2002: D.Phil., History, University of Oxford 1995: M.St. in Historical Research, University of Oxford Awarded with Distinction 1994: B.A. (Inter.), First-class Honours (I*) in German and History, National University of Ireland, Galway. (1992-3 at Universität Hamburg) 3 Professional History 2005-: University of Cambridge, University Senior Lecturer in History Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Fellow and Tutor 2010-: Centre for Financial History, Cambridge, Senior Research Associate 2009-: Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, Associate Director 2006-9: Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, Director of Studies 2004-5: Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, Research Fellow 2004-5: Robinson College, Cambridge, Fellow 2003-4: Robinson College, Cambridge, Bye Fellow 2003: CRASSH, Cambridge, Visiting Fellow (Michaelmas) 1997-2005: National University of Ireland, Galway University Lecturer in European History, 1 2 Fulltime position, while DPhil student; Senior Lecturer from 2003, on leave 2004-5 1997: Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Mainz, Germany DAAD scholar (for six months) 1995-6: University of Pennsylvania, McNeil Center for Early American Studies Fulbright Scholar 4 Other Appointments and Affiliations 2014-15: Harvard University, Weatherhead
    [Show full text]
  • The Perambulations of Harvard MS Eng 662, Rerum Hibernicarum, Scripti Et Impressi, by Charles Vallancey
    Archive Fever, no. 13 (June 2020) Taking the long way home: the perambulations of Harvard MS Eng 662, Rerum Hibernicarum, Scripti et Impressi, by Charles Vallancey David Brown Archival Discoery Lead, Beyond 2022 Trinity College Dublin ‘Of General Vallancey I cannot speak with too much respect; his labours in Celtic investigation were, beyond any other, intense and unremitted.’ -Sir William Betham Rerum Hibernicarum, Scripti et Impressi is an alphabetical list of material relating to Irish history divided into two sections; a list of manuscripts held in multiple archives and a supplementary list of printed works. The volume is undated, but as the most recent printed work cited is from 1777 the compilation was probably made shortly after this time.1 The volume is bound in green vellum, with ‘Library of Dublin Castle’ embossed in gold on the front. The relevant material in 25 major collections is 1 Harvard MS Eng 662, p. 237. Beyond 2022 Archive Fever 13 (June, 2020) 1 | Page Archive Fever, no. 13 (June 2020) described, along with additional dispersed items that are mentioned throughout the text. Of the major collections, many are still extant. These include collections at Cambridge and Oxford universities and the College of Arms in the United Kingdom, and Trinity College Dublin, St Patrick’s Cathedral and Dr Steeven’s Hospital in Dublin. Some of the private collections mentioned are also relatively easy to trace. The Harris collection, for example, then in the library of the Royal Dublin Society, is now at the National Library of Ireland. Most private collections, however, were not preserved in their entirety or fully catalogued when originally assembled.
    [Show full text]
  • List of Manuscript and Printed Sources Current Marks and Abreviations
    1 1 LIST OF MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED SOURCES CURRENT MARKS AND ABREVIATIONS * * surrounds insertions by me * * variant forms of the lemmata for finding ** (trailing at end of article) wholly new article inserted by me + + surrounds insertion from the addenda ++ (trailing at end of article) wholly new article inserted from addenda † † marks what is (I believe) certainly wrong !? marks an unidentified source reference [ro] Hogan’s Ro [=reference omitted] {1} etc. different places but within a single entry are thus marked Identical lemmata are numbered. This is merely to separate the lemmata for reference and cross- reference. It does not imply that the lemmata always refer to separate names SOURCES Unidentified sources are listed here and marked in the text (!?). Most are not important but they are nuisance. Identifications please. 23 N 10 Dublin, RIA, 967 olim 23 N 10, antea Betham, 145; vellum and paper; s. xvi (AD 1575); see now R. I. Best (ed), MS. 23 N 10 (formerly Betham 145) in the Library of the RIA, Facsimiles in Collotype of Irish Manuscript, 6 (Dublin 1954) 23 P 3 Dublin, RIA, 1242 olim 23 P 3; s. xv [little excerption] AASS Acta Sanctorum … a Sociis Bollandianis (Antwerp, Paris, & Brussels, 1643—) [Onomasticon volume numbers belong uniquely to the binding of the Jesuits’ copy of AASS in their house in Leeson St, Dublin, and do not appear in the series]; see introduction Ac. unidentified source Acallam (ed. Stokes) Whitley Stokes (ed. & tr.), Acallam na senórach, in Whitley Stokes & Ernst Windisch (ed), Irische Texte, 4th ser., 1 (Leipzig, 1900) [index]; see also Standish H.
    [Show full text]
  • Richard Plunket (Fl. 1772–1791): 'A Neglected Genius of the County Of
    Richard Plunket (fl. 1772–1791): ‘A neglected genius of the county of Meath’ richard sharpe Edward O’Reilly’s Account of Nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers, published in 1820, not only attempts to record the extent of Irish literature from its origins until the middle of the eighteenth century but also, occasionally, provides a glimpse of a more recent period. For example, he writes about his friend, Fr Paul O’Brien (1763–1820), who taught Irish for ordinands at Maynooth from 1804 until his death and who was the first Irish-language poet to write occasional poems to be printed. Born at Breakey, ‘a town of inconsiderable note in the county of Meath’, O’Brien is not an entirely obscure figure.1 Edward O’Reilly described him as ‘a living magazine of the poetry and language of his country’, and O’Reilly’s grandfather was Eoghan Ó Raghallaigh, of Corstown (Co. Meath), who in 1739 copied the inscription from the base of the churchyard cross in Kells.2 It is this Edward O’Reilly (1765–1830) who refers to Richard Plunket as ‘a neglected genius of the county of Meath’. R i c h a r d P lunket (fl. 1772–1791) 1 9 1 The context is O’Reilly’s treatment of St Fiacc, disciple of St Patrick, to whom is ascribed a Life of St Patrick in Old Irish verse, Génair Pátraicc i nNemthur, preserved by the two manuscript copies of what is known as the Irish Liber hymnorum.3 O’Reilly had seen the ‘very ancient copy of this poem, finely written on vellum’, in Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1441 (saec.
    [Show full text]
  • Charter and By-Laws of the Royal Irish Academy
    Charter and By-Laws of the Royal Irish Academy As amended and approved at the Stated General Meeting of the Academy 30 November 2020 1 Contents Contents The Charter of the Royal Irish Academy 1786 ........................................................................................... 3 Chapter I .............................................................................................................................................................. 8 Constitution and Organisation ................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter II ............................................................................................................................................................. 9 The President, Vice-Presidents and Council ........................................................................................... 9 Chapter III.......................................................................................................................................................... 11 Meetings of the Academy ......................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter IV......................................................................................................................................................... 13 Election, Admission and Resignation of Members .............................................................................. 13 Chapter V .........................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Public Spirit and Public Order. Edmund Burke and the Role of the Critic in Mid- Eighteenth-Century Britain
    Public Spirit and Public Order. Edmund Burke and the Role of the Critic in Mid- Eighteenth-Century Britain Ian Crowe A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by: Advisor: Professor Jay M. Smith Reader: Professor Christopher Browning Reader: Professor Lloyd Kramer Reader: Professor Donald Reid Reader: Professor Thomas Reinert © 2008 Ian Crowe ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Ian Crowe: Public Spirit and Public Order. Edmund Burke and the Role of the Critic in Mid- Eighteenth-Century Britain (Under the direction of Dr. Jay M. Smith) This study centers upon Edmund Burke’s early literary career, and his move from Dublin to London in 1750, to explore the interplay of academic, professional, and commercial networks that comprised the mid-eighteenth-century Republic of Letters in Britain and Ireland. Burke’s experiences before his entry into politics, particularly his relationship with the bookseller Robert Dodsley, may be used both to illustrate the political and intellectual debates that infused those networks, and to deepen our understanding of the publisher-author relationship at that time. It is argued here that it was Burke’s involvement with Irish Patriot debates in his Dublin days, rather than any assumed Catholic or colonial resentment, that shaped his early publications, not least since Dodsley himself was engaged in a revision of Patriot literary discourse at his “Tully’s Head” business in the light of the legacy of his own patron Alexander Pope.
    [Show full text]
  • Irish Literature, 1750–1900
    Wright: Irish Literature 1750–1900 9781405145190_4_001 Page Proof page 131.7.2007 3:38pm Irish Literature, 1750–1900 Wright: Irish Literature 1750–1900 9781405145190_4_001 Page Proof page 231.7.2007 3:38pm Wright: Irish Literature 1750–1900 9781405145190_4_001 Page Proof page 331.7.2007 3:38pm Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) Thomas Sheridan, probably born in Dublin but Humble Appeal also included a proposal for a possibly in Co. Cavan, was the son of another national theater in Dublin that would be publicly Thomas Sheridan (clergyman and author) and administered and ensure fair treatment of theater the godson of Jonathan Swift (a close friend of workers. the family). He may have been a descendant of As a dramatist, Sheridan mostly adapted other Denis Sheridan (c.1610–83), a native Irish authors’ works, as was common in his day; he speaker who assisted in the translation of the adapted, for instance, Coriolanus (1755) from Old Testament into Irish as part of Bishop texts by English authors William Shakespeare Bedell’s efforts to make the Church of Ireland and James Thomson. His enduringly popular accessible to Irish speakers. The younger Thomas farce The Brave Irishman: Or, Captain O’Blunder Sheridan worked primarily in the theater, as was published and staged throughout the second actor, manager, playwright, and author of var- half of the eighteenth century and compactly ious tracts related to theater reform, but also abbreviated in three double-columned pages published on other subjects, including British for the Cabinet of Irish Literature a century Education: Or the Source of Disorders in Great later.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Cambridge University Lecturer in History, Faculty of History Director of Graduate Studies, Faculty of History
    William O’Reilly Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TJ [email protected] 1 Personal Details 1 October 2005: University of Cambridge University Lecturer in History, Faculty of History Director of Graduate Studies, Faculty of History 2 Education/Qualifications 2002: D.Phil., History, University of Oxford Thesis: “To the east or to the west? Agents and the recruitment of migrants for British North America and Habsburg Hungary, 1680-1780” Supervisors: Professor R.J.W. Evans and Dr Peter Thompson Examiners: Professor P.G.M. Dickson and Professor Simon Newman 1995: M.St. in Historical Research, University of Oxford Awarded with Distinction 1994: B.A. (Inter.), First-class Honours (I*) in German and History, National University of Ireland, Galway. (1992-3 at Universität Hamburg) 3 Professional History 2005: University of Cambridge, University Lecturer in History Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Fellow and Tutor Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, Associate Director Centre for Financial History, Cambridge, Senior Research Associate 2004: Robinson College, Cambridge, Fellow Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, Research Fellow CRASSH, Cambridge, Visiting Fellow (Michaelmas 2004) 1997-2005: National University of Ireland, Galway University Lecturer in European History, Fulltime position, while DPhil student; Senior Lecturer from 2003, on leave 2004-5 1997: Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Mainz, Germany DAAD scholar (for six months) 1995-6: University of Pennsylvania, McNeil Center for Early American Studies Fulbright Scholar
    [Show full text]
  • 191 English in Ireland
    In: D. Alan Cruse, Franz Hundsnurscher, Michael Job and Peter R. Lutzeier (eds) Lexikologie-Lexicology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 1256-60. 191 English in Ireland Raymond Hickey University of Essen Universitätsstr. 12 D-45117 Essen Tel: +49 201 183 3437 Email: [email protected] 1 Introduction 1.1 Northern and southern Irish English 1.2 Forth and Bargy 1.3 Archaic and/or regional words in Irish English 2 Irish loans in present-day Irish English 3 Irish loans in English outside of Ireland 3.1 Scottish Gaelic or Irish as source 3.2 Irish and international usage 3.3 Irish names in English 4 Studies of the Irish English lexicon 4.1 Folk linguistics and the Irish English lexicon 1 Introduction Any treatment of the lexicon of Irish English, however brief, must begin with a basic distinction between lexical items which are retentions from the varieties of English brought to Ireland and those which can credibly be regarded as borrowings from Irish, the Celtic language which was formerly the native one of the majority of the population. The settlement of the country started in the late 12th century and continued in particular in the period of more intensive plantation of both the north and the south which set in, for the north from the Scottish lowlands, at the beginning of the 17th century and quite intensively for the south from the west and north-west of England towards the middle of that century, particularly as a consequence of the Cromwellian campaigns. 1.1 Northern and southern Irish English The foundations for the linguistic distinction within Irish English on a north-south axis were laid with the large-scale settlement of the north-east corner of the country (more or less coterminous with the province of Ulster) at the beginning of the 16th century.
    [Show full text]
  • NIOCLÁS MAC CATHMHAOIL the Irish Manuscripts in Box STO 1413
    NIOCLÁS MAC CATHMHAOIL The Irish manuscripts in Box STO 1413 in the Huntington Library* In this short essay, I will describe and discuss some of the Irish documents contained in Box STO 1413 in the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Most of these MSS and fragments likely come from the collection of Charles O’Conor of Belanagare (1710–91), and a short description of him will provide some context for the following study. O’Conor is largely remembered by historians as an apologist for the Catholic cause in Ireland, and in this role, he wrote over twenty pamphlets and booklets.1 He was the most authoritative native scholar of Irish history in the eighteenth century and championed the use of Gaelic manuscripts as historical sources. After what is popularly considered the downfall of Gaelic Ireland in the seventeenth century, the understanding of these same sources written in Classical, Middle and Old Irish had waned. It seems, however, that schooling in the older language was available to Charles O’Conor, for he received tutelage in Irish from at least one member of the Ó Coirnín family who were hereditary poets in Bréifne and Northern Connacht2 and from Doiminic Ó Duibhgeannáin, whose forefathers had been hereditary historians to the nearby Mac Diarmada family.3 This grounding in the Irish literary tradition qualified O’Conor as one of the pre-eminent Gaelic scholars of the eighteenth century, and the relative financial security brought about by his landholdings enabled him to pursue his interests in the Catholic cause and in Irish history and manuscripts.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Medieval Ireland: Archaeological Excavations, 1930-2009
    EARLY MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT (EMAP) Report 4.5 Early Medieval Ireland: Archaeological Excavations, 1930-2009 Aidan O'Sullivan, Finbar McCormick, Thomas Kerr and Lorcan Harney December 2010 Grant No. AR01055 UCD School of Archaeology Irish National Strategic Archaeological Research (INSTAR) Programme 2010 Early Medieval Ireland: Archaeological Excavations 1930-2009 Text for Royal Irish Academy By Aidan O’Sullivan, Finbar McCormick, Thomas Kerr and Lorcan Harney Early Medieval Archaeology Project (EMAP) Report 4.5 December 2010 Report submitted for Irish National Strategic Archaeological Research (INSTAR) programme 2010 Ref: AR01055 i Contents Chapter 1: The History and Legacy of Early Medieval Archaeological Excavation in Ireland .... 1 Antiquarian Origins and the Development of Irish Archaeology in the Nineteenth century 1 University and State‐Funded Archaeological Excavations in the Republic of Ireland (1930s‐ 1970s) .................................................................................................................................... 3 University and State‐Funded Archaeological Excavations in Northern Ireland (1930s‐1970s) ............................................................................................................................................... 4 European Union Membership and the Origins and Development of Commercial Archaeology in Ireland ........................................................................................................... 5 Theorising Early Medieval Irish Archaeology: ....................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • THE BRÚ NA BOINNE the Great Passage Cairns and Prehistoric Art of the Boyne Valley
    Jack Roberts THE BRÚ NA BOINNE The Great Passage Cairns and Prehistoric Art of the Boyne Valley Ireland is uniquely endowed with an incred- years ago, saw enormous developments, ibly rich inventory of archaeological and culturally and economically, a high point of historical monuments and especially those Ireland’s early cultural history. from the earlier prehistoric periods. Sites that date to the Neolithic and Early There is much in the archaeological Bronze Age periods are particularly well record to support this view but the main represented, most notably in the form of evidence for their being well organized megalithic structures of many kinds. There and developed societies inhabiting the are also areas in which the tapestry of land during this time is the great Neolithic their daily lives, their habitation sites and passage tomb complex that lies within the field systems survive, from which it can be area known as the Boyne Valley or Brú na seen that the later period of the Neolithic, Boinne, Ireland’s valley of the gods. For roughly between six and five thousand the ancient Irish, this was their most sacred ground. Pic 1. Newgrange, Ariel View of the Reconstructed Passage Cairn. Photo: Knowth.com 44 Adoranten 2015 Pic 2. Map of the Boyne Valley. Pic 3. Distribution of Passage Cairns in Ireland / Passage Cairns with Megalithic Art There are three principle monuments larly those found in the Sligo area 2. The in this valley, the great passage tombs or great cairns of the Boyne Valley therefore passage cairns of Newgrange, Knowth and represent the zenith of the megalith build- Dowth, and they sit within an landscape ing age, the culmination of many hundreds, that contains numerous ceremonial struc- perhaps thousands of years of this tradition.
    [Show full text]