Archaeology Ireland Magazine

Looking forward to the IPMAG conference in Waterford this weekend!

'Death & Superstition in Post-Medieval Ireland.'

Organised by IPMAG with Waterford Treasures and supported by the National Monuments Service. .

Full conference programme available here:
www.ipmag.org/ipmagconfere...

New animal species that survived mass extinction event half a billion years ago found in a quarry in China The fossils offer a rare glimpse into a cataclysmic event that brought a sudden end to the greatest explosion of life in our planet's history.

Almost a hundred new animal species that survived a mass extinction event half a billion years ago have been discovered in a small quarry in China! (via CBS news).

www.cbsnews.com/news/ancient...

In the current issue of Archaeology Ireland (Winter 2025):

Roisin O’Droma and Niamh Millward explore early modern Dublin through cesspit evidence from Capel Street—using plant and insect remains to reconstruct diet and daily life.

A remarkable display of the Aurora Borealis over Brú na Bóinne last night.

While prehistoric monuments were not built to anticipate aurorae, the skies above them were deeply meaningful places. These ideas are explored in Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide No. 82: Solar Alignments.

The Swinford Torc, as featured in the current issue of Archaeology Ireland. Image courtesy of The British Museum.

The Swinford Torc — a provenance ‘cold case’

In the current issue of Archaeology Ireland (Vol. 39, No. 4), Michael Brabazon re-examines the Swinford Torc, exploring questions of origin, discovery and context — and how provenance research can reshape our understanding of iconic Irish artefacts.

Cover image of An Irish Civil War Dugout: Tormore Cave, County Sligo, published by Archaeopress.

In the current issue of Archaeology Ireland, Maedbh McEvoy reviews 'An Irish Civil War Dugout: Tormore Cave, County Sligo' by Marion Dowd, Robert Mulraney & James Bonsall—a multidisciplinary study revealing how dugouts shaped Civil War tactics and memory.

www.archaeologyireland.ie

A reconstruction of the Ballybunion knitted cap, together with an image of the author, Ryan Daniel Koenig, sporting the hat itself.

A knitted cap doesn’t look extraordinary—until you try to make one!
In this current issue of Archaeology Ireland Ryan Daniel Koenig reconstructs the sixteenth-century Ballybunion knitted cap, revealing the immense skill, time and embodied knowledge behind what was once everyday clothing.

YouTube video by Rubicon Archaeology Limited Inside the Landscapes with Lineage Book Launch | Irish Heritage & Archaeology Event

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxE_...

Landscapes with Lineage (TII Heritage Series, vol. 16) presents the results of archaeological investigations along the Kildare section of the M9, revealing 97 previously unknown sites and almost 9,000 years of human activity. Congratulations to all involved!

@archiremag.bsky.social thank you for including the Knock Iveagh book in your reviews.
Honoured !

The cover of the Heritage Guide, a supplement to Archaeology Ireland, in the Winter 2025 issue. This Heritage Guide is on 'Kilmallock: A Walled Town in Limerick.'

The Heritage Guide that accompanies the Winter 2025 issue of Archaeology Ireland is on 'Kilmallock: A Walled Town in Limerick'.
The Heritage Guides are a brilliant series which are free to subscribers and also available to purchase separately from wordwellbooks.com.

A beautiful new limited edition book on the Spanish Armada in Ireland is available now at wordwellbooks.com. This stunning book is a collaboration between @nationalmons.bsky.social, the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Real Academia de la Historia.

Hi Steve, sorry to hear that! If you like, we can see if we can find out how you might see more? If you'd like to drop us an email, we can certainly ask some of our archaeologist colleagues who might have some thoughts?

Just out- the Winter 2025 edition of @archiremag.bsky.social with lots of interesting articles and my ‘Reading the urns’ on the idea of solar-powered pots and urns in need of understanding. Just in time for #wintersolstice2025

Research Project of the Year 2026 – Nominees - Current Archaeology This has been another exceptional year for archaeological research. The following are some of the most exciting projects to have featured in CA over the last 12 months – the nominees for Research Proj...

The amazing 'Words on the Wave' project from the National Museum of Ireland has been shortlisted for the Current Archaeology research project of the year.

To read more about it and cast your vote, all the details are here!
archaeology.co.uk/awards/resea...

Thanks Steve!!

cover image of Baltinglass and the Prehistoric Hillforts of Ireland, published by Wordwell, featuring an aerial photo of a hillfort in Baltinglass, Wicklow.

We were delighted to hear that 'Baltinglass and the Prehistoric Hillforts of Ireland' has been shortlisted in the Book of the Year category in the Current Archaeology Awards!

Voting for the awards is live now at www.archaeology.co.uk/vote and voting is open to everyone!

YouTube video by National Monuments Service Dr. Melanie Hayes - Within Without – The Archaeology of Partitions

📹WATCH BACK from the 8th Annual @NationalMons Conference
#WithinWithout2025 The Archaeology of Partitions
'Behind the façade: materiality, craft and display at the Provost’s House'
Dr Melanie Hayes @tcddublin.bsky.social
youtu.be/X2CdgFT9vek
#HeritageIreland2030
@archiremag.bsky.social

Wildcat bones found in Co Clare dated to 5,500 years ago The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago.

Lovely piece on the bones of the European wildcat found in Glencurran Cave, Co. Clare, dated to +5,500 years ago, covered by RTE today.

The research on this is by Dr Marion Dowd (ATU), and published in the latest edition of the Journal of Irish Archaeology.

www.rte.ie/news/munster...

Cover image of 'Ceramics for the Home during the Celtic Revival', a new book by Aisling Molloy, featuring a series of ceramic vases from the National Museum collection in striking colours against a white background.

A new book coming this week from the National Museum of Ireland and Wordwell, this really beautiful work on Irish Ceramics by Aisling Molloy.

Cover design of the Winter 2025 edition of Archaeology Ireland

Very excited to see the cover of the latest edition of Archaeology Ireland, Winter 2025! Featuring wonderful pieces, from the Ballybunion knitted cap to the Swinford Torc, and many more. In the shops or, for subscribers, in your letterboxes next week.

An Incipit (opening letter) with two birds from the St. Gallen manuscript Priscian Institutiones Grammaticae, Cod. Sang 904, p. 25. © Stiftsbibliothek St Gallen.

Families Join us for an Open Day: Words on the Wave – Ireland & St. Gallen exhibition
🗓️ Sat 4 Oct | 11.00–16.00
📍 NMI, Kildare St
Talks: Maeve Sikora (11:30), Dr Ó Riain (12:30), Prof Ó Cróinín (14:30)
Take part in free Workshops & handle replica artefacts
🎟️ Free admission
museum.ie/en-IE/Museum...

YouTube video by National Monuments Service Dr. Margaret Murphy - Within Without – The Archaeology of Partitions

📹WATCH BACK from the recent 8th Annual @NationalMons Conference
#WithinWithout2025 The Archaeology of Partitions
'Inside, outside and through town walls: urban–rural relationships in late medieval Ireland'
by Dr Margaret Murphy
youtu.be/ulvetVJT62k
#HeritageIreland2030
@archiremag.bsky.social

JOHN BRADLEY MEMORIAL WEEKEND
October 31 @ 5:00 pm – November 1 @ 5:00 pm GMT
Join the Kilkenny Archaeological Society for the Annual John Bradley Memorial Weekend. This year’s theme is William Robertson, (1770-1850) Kilkenny’s First Architect.

Make Your Thursdays Count!
Looking for something different after work?
🕔 The National Museum of Ireland – Kildare Street is open late on Thurs 11 & 18 Sept until 8 PM.
✨ Discover the stunning Words on the Wave exhibition
📍 Free entry, no booking needed.
www.museum.ie/en-IE/News/L...

Professor Aidan O’Sullivan
📍 Talk Title: Do fence me in: boundaries, liminality and transgressions in early medieval Ireland, AD 400–1100

Professor Aidan O’Sullivan is Head of School and Professor of Archaeology at University College Dublin.

🎟️ Booking now open:
👉 bit.ly/Within-Without

Textiles of Ireland - Cork University Press Spanning the life’s work of archaeologist Elizabeth Wincott Heckett, Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, craft, art is the first wide-ranging book on the arc...

Cork University Press recently published an interesting book titled Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art by Elizabeth Wincott Heckett.

www.corkuniversitypress.com/978178205571...

Our second speaker is Professor Howard Williams
📍 Dykes as deeds? Re-evaluating linear earthworks from early medieval Britain

Within|Without: The Archaeology of Partitions
Saturday 18 October 2025 | 🕘 9:15–17:30
Edmund Burke Theatre, Trinity College Dublin

Register now: bit.ly/Within-Without

8th National Monuments Service annual archaeology conference Within|Without: the archaeology of partitions

🎟️ Concession places now available
📍 Trinity College Dublin or online
🗓 Sat 18 Oct 2025 | 9:15–17:30

Within|Without: The Archaeology of Partitions — the 8th Annual @nationalmonumentsservice Conference.

🔗 Register: bit.ly/Within-Without

📚 Archives of Archaeology Ireland
Fixing Boundaries
📰 Archaeology Ireland, Summer 1997 (Vol. 11:2)

In the lead-up to Within|Without: The Archaeology of Partitions, we’re sharing articles that examine boundaries past and present.

📖 Read the article here:
🔗 reader.exacteditions.com/issues/81489...