Excavations at the Rock of Cashel

We join Dr. Patrick Gleeson at the Rock of Cashel for a trench-side chat in Amplify Archaeology Podcast Episode 8

Excavations at the Rock of Cashel

We join Dr. Patrick Gleeson at the Rock of Cashel for a trench-side chat in Amplify Archaeology Podcast Episode 8

Join us for a trench-side chat with Dr. Patrick Gleeson and his team at their exciting excavations at the Rock of Cashel to uncover the story of the early origins of this iconic site.

The Rock of Cashel is undoubtedly one of the most iconic heritage sites in Ireland. When you visit the site today, you can encounter Cormac’s Chapel, the Round Tower, the Cathedral and the High Cross that allow you to experience the might and splendour of medieval Irish Christianity. But the Rock of Cashel did not begin as an ecclesiastical site, it was once a royal site, the seat of the Eóganachta, who were Kings of Munster. They dominated the region from around the 6th or 7th century AD, but from around the 10th century, the Eóganachta were eclipsed by the Dál Cais, a dynasty whose eventual leader, the famous Brian Boru, was the first king to gain effective control of all of Ireland. It was a great-grandson of Brian Boru, Muirchertach Ua Briain, who donated the Rock of Cashel to the Church in 1101 AD. This wasn’t only an act of religious piety on the part of Muirchertach, but it was a shrewd political move – in one stroke he had denied the Eóganachta their ancestral seat of power.

An exciting project seeks to discover the regal roots of the Rock of Cashel, along with a number of other sites in Ireland and Britain. Comparative Kingship: the early medieval Kingdoms of Northern Britain and Ireland, is a collaborative project between the University of Aberdeen, Queens University Belfast and the University of Glasgow. The project aims to undertake a detailed study of three major polities: Pictland, Scotland; Dál Riata, Northern Ireland; and Munster, Ireland. The project will synthesize and compare the results of these case studies to help us better understand Northern Europe during the first millennium AD, as well as contribute to broader debates regarding this transformative period of history.

Dr Patrick Gleeson of Queens University Belfast and his team have been carrying out geophysical surveys at Cashel that have revealed an extensive series of unrecorded archaeological features indicative of a vast complex in the immediate vicinity of the Rock of Cashel. The character of these new features suggests the location developed from a major fortified site during the 5th and 6th century AD, and was later transformed into a major ceremonial seat of kingship and of the early Church.

In this edition of the Amplify Archaeology Podcast Neil visited the Rock of Cashel where he chatted with Patrick to learn more about this important project, and how the results of the excavation help us to better understand this iconic site. This podcast was recorded quite literally in the field, so there will be a bit of background noise – a little wind and a lot of heckling sheep!

AMPLIFY ARCHAEOLOGY PODCAST

AMPLIFY ARCHAEOLOGY PODCAST

Title: Excavations at the Rock of Cashel

Duration: 30 mins.

Summary:
Join us for a trench-side chat with Dr. Patrick Gleeson and his team at their exciting excavations at the Rock of Cashel to uncover the story of the early origins of this iconic site.

Episode 8 Cashel of the Kings – Show Notes

  • The excavation is part of the collaborative project: Comparative Kingship: the early medieval Kingdoms of Northern Britain and Ireland.
  • If you’d like to visit the Rock of Cashel (and it is well worth the trip!) you can find information on opening times and entry fees here.
  • You can find more information on the Northern Picts Project here.
  • You can see a lovely video on the site at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire here.
  • There’s a short piece in the Irish Times on the Discovery Programme’s Late Iron Age Roman Ireland project from 2012, unfortunately I can’t seem to find a copy of the excellent publication for sale online. It appears it may be out of print, though I am reliably informed that there may be some copies available in the ever-dependable Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop in Galway City.

Amplify Archaeology Podcast

During this podcast series we will meet some of Ireland’s archaeologists to discuss the key periods, places and people that tell the story of Ireland, and we’ll gain new insights into the practice and techniques of modern Irish archaeology. This is the eighth instalment of Amplify Archaeology, previous episodes have featured discussions on mortuary practice at Carrowkeel, Beaker People, History of Food, Passage Tombs, Castles, Mesolithic Ireland and Glendalough.

I’d love some feedback, so please do leave a comment below – and if you have any questions about Irish archaeology please do let me know, we can try to answer them in forthcoming episodes. Finally if you enjoyed this podcast I’d be really grateful if you could leave us a review on iTunes, or please share it and tell your friends.

The podcast is an Abarta Heritage production. It was recorded at the excavation at the Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary, with Neil Jackman (the interviewer), and Dr. Patrick Gleeson. We are really grateful to Patrick, Cóilín and the excavation team for taking time out of a busy excavation to talk with us.

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