The Built heritage surveys project is implemented through The Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership Scheme. The LPS is part of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s programme to conserve and enhance some of the region’s most treasured landscapes. The LPS runs from September 2015 until August 2018.
The total budget for this project is £34,125
The built heritage surveys will involve workshops on how to carry out remote sensing, field walking surveys, identify features in the landscape, aerial drones, and how to use video equipment to interpret the landscape and compare these with ground level sightings. These surveys will allow community groups to carry out investigations on existing monuments, or ones that have been newly identified. In year two of the project, geophysics mapping of potential dig site will be carried out, and at the end of year three, a community site investigation can begin.
To view the full project plan please download the Ring of Gullion Landscape Conservation Action Plan below.
Click here to view the gallery.
Cornahove Archaeology Report
Update published on: October 24, 2016
The Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork (CAF) carried out an investigation at a rath in Cornahove, Crossmaglen Co. Armagh, (NISMR 030:019) during May 2016 on behalf of the Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership Scheme, who commissioned the work. The investigation took the form of a geophysical survey of the rath and its environs, and a subsequent reconnaissance excavation in both the interior and exterior of the monument. The investigation involved public participation with 330 Primary and Secondary level children taking part, as well as 80 adult volunteers and visitors to the excavation.
Download the full report here – Cornahove Archaeology Report
An introduction to Medieval Gaelic Ulster, AD 1177 – 1603
Update published on: November 24, 2015
Dr Colm J Donnelly a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography Archaeology & Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast delivered a lecture in Tichulainn on An introduction to Medieval Gaelic Ulster, AD 1177 – 1603.
Spanning the period from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans to the Elizabethan conquest, the lecture focused on the social and economic organisation of Medieval Ulster’s great Gaelic lordships (Ó Neills, Ó Domhnaill and Mag Uidhir) and lesser lineages. The role of the Church was also considered, as was the lordship of the Ó Neills of the Fews. The lecture made use of information obtained from a series of archaeological, architectural and historical investigations that have been undertaken across Ulster by staff within Queen’s University Belfast over the past decade which – collectively – have helped increase our understanding of life in Medieval Gaelic Ulster.
This lecture was the foundation for the practical work that will be carried out in 2016 and 2017.
Getting in touch - Kane Graveyard
Update published on: November 30, 2015
Sharon Oddie Brown, writer of the Silver Bowl blog, got in touch today to let us know of her work in Kane Graveyard near Castle Roche. She got in touch after reading about our Graveyard Survey training. A key focus of Sharon’s blog is the history of Jacksons in Ireland. Sharon is specially curious about those who may be related to Sir Thomas Jackson (1841-1915). His life is key to understanding how a dozen or so young men, sons of Irish tenant farmers, shaped the future of international banking in the Far East in the late 1800s. Click here to read more about Sharon’s experience at Kane Graveyard.
Graveyard survey training
Update published on: November 6, 2015
Dr Eileen Murphy, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography Archaeology & Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast, delivered training on how to record grave memorials. This information, which includes a digital photograph, will be uploaded onto the Ring of Gullion website so that the data for the memorials is available more widely.
The trainees recorded all of the different aspects of the memorials – the epitaph, its form, size, symbolism, type of lettering, type of stone etc. This information will then form a comprehensive record for each memorial.
If you would like to get involved, get in touch for a training manual. Click here to see more pictures of the training.
Reading our past - Graveyard memorials Lecture
Update published on: October 19, 2015
Dr Eileen Murphy a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography Archaeology & Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast kicked off this project with a lecture in Tichulainn on Reading our past – Graveyard memorials in Ireland and North America. By studying their form, decorative symbols and the contents of epitaphs it is possible for us to ‘read’ these memorials, each of which is a unique record of named individuals of the past and their wider communities. By studying the monuments we can gain insights about their attitudes towards death and the afterlife, social strategies and ambitions, occupations and personal tragedies.
Eileen launched the graveyard training and the first one will happen on 6th Nov 2015
