Irish Cultural Center
1106 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-258-0109 www.azirish.org

Dr. Niall Brady About The Medieval Rural Settlement Project

Sun, May 6, 2007

2:00 PM
$5

Dr. Niall Brady, lead archaeologist and Project Director for the Medieval Rural Settlement Project, one of eight ongoing archaeological investigations carried out by The Discovery Programme. The Discovery Programme (www.discoveryprogramme.ie ) is a non-profit research institute funded by the government of the Irish Republic. Dr. Brady's visit is made possible by the Office of International Education and the Study Abroad in Ireland Program at Mesa Community College. Students in that program will have the opportunity to work with Dr. Brady this summer in Ireland.

The Discovery Programme is an archaeological research institution dedicated to investigating Ireland's past from earliest times and presenting the results to as wide an audience as possible. Examples include:

Tara Project

Tara is one of the best-known and important ancient sites in Ireland. Archaeologically, there are a number of monuments visible on the hilltop itself and limited excavations during the 1950s have demonstrated that important activity took place on the site from the Neolithic onwards. In addition, because of the historical importance of Tara, there exists a substantial body of early literary references to, and descriptions of, the site. Despite this, until the Discovery Programme began its work at Tara in 1992, very little was actually known about the monuments there, their function and relationship to each other and the way the site was actually used. The purpose of the Tara Project was to change that through a twin-strand approach, involving an archaeological survey of the monuments on the Hill of Tara itself and a literary survey, based around early Irish texts and references to Tara.

The Ballyhoura Hills Research Project

The principal aim of the Ballyhoura Hills Project was to draw on the results of previous air reconnaissance and archaeological surveys, in an attempt to identify sites which might belong to the core period. Potential sites within the area include hillforts, linear earthworks, barrows, large crop-mark enclosures, and rectangular enclosures of a type that did not readily fit into any recognisable classification. The work has been carried out over an extensive area and as a result a number of new sites were recorded. Extensive topographic and geophysical surveys took place at a number of these, while excavation was carried out at three monuments and monument complexes - Chancellorsland, The Claidh Dubh and Conva.

The Western Stone Forts Project

The Western Stone Forts Project was initiated to study a distinctive group of large stone forts located along the western seaboard of Ireland. The majority of these forts are concentrated on the Aran Islands County Galway, in the Burren Co. Clare and on the Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas Co. Kerry. Excavations associated with the project were carried out over four seasons in the period 1992 - 1995 and focussed mainly on the stone fort of Dún Aonghasa, Inis Mór, Aran Islands.

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