When we visit medieval castles, we inevitably focus on the grandeur and romance of the ruins of the stone fortresses, but stories bloom in quiet corners. In this fascinating discussion with Dr Karen Dempsey, we discuss green heritage, relict plants, and women in medieval Ireland.

In this episode of the Amplify Archaeology Podcast, Neil had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Karen Dempsey, a researcher with the Department of Archaeology at NUIG. Karen has been carrying fascinating research with the project ‘Sowing Seeds of Interdisciplinary Work’. The project, funded by the Castle Studies Trust, was a multidisciplinary way of looking at life at medieval castles by studying ‘relict plants’. These plants are the descendants of those introduced by the people who built and lived in the castles. They provide insights into so many aspects of medieval life, including diet, medicine, fashion and belief.

Four geographically diverse but culturally similar medieval castles were selected for botanical surveys: Adare. Co. Limerick, Castleroche, Co. Louth, Carbury, Co. Kildare and Castlecarra, Co. Mayo. Together with detailed analysis of archaeological, historical and architectural details of these castles, the study of the botany has enriched our understanding of the ‘green’ lives of people in the past but also showcased the life of castles – as medieval residences but also as romantic ruins in later landscapes.

This is a fascinating discussion that digs into the results of the project and the chat ranges from castles and conquests, women and gender to gardening, colonialism, spirituality and nature. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Green Heritage, Relict Plants and Medieval Women – Key Discussion Points

• What drew Karen to study the medieval period? – 1 min 01 secs
• What are relict plants? – 3 min 06 secs
• Apart from food, what else were plants used for in medieval Ireland? – 4 min 35 secs
• Did the use of plants change after the arrival of the Normans? Can plants be colonial? – 6 min 49 secs
• The Relict Plants Projects – 8 min 25 secs
• Results at Castleroche – 12 min 50 secs
• Results at Adare Castle – 17 min 24 secs
• Results at Castle Carra – 20 min 07 secs
• Results at Carbury Castle – 22 min 43 secs
• The importance of hedgerows and ‘green heritage’ – 25 mins 29 secs
• Gardening, Meaning and Living Heritage – 26 min 12 secs
• Does the type of plant we choose to grow say something about society, today and in the past? – 30 min 26 secs
• Plants and spirituality – 34 mins 15 secs
• Women and medieval Ireland – 40 min 28 secs
• Medieval women in the historical record – 45 mins 20 secs
• Where can people learn more about the project – 46 min 57 secs

Show notes and links to further information

• You can discover more about the Sowing Seeds Project here.
• The fascinating results of the project are discussed here, and you can read the final reports here.
• You can find a brilliant talk by Karen for Heritage Week, along with all the site videos on YouTube.
• You can also see Karen addressing gender in archaeology in this video: Gendering the Narrative of Research Frameworks.
• The brilliant graphic novel that Karen mentioned on Gender and Archaeology can be found at Sidestone.
• Archaeology and Gender in Europe – a group within the community of the European Association of Archaeologists can be found here.

• Karen also has some brilliant articles if you’d like to dig deeper into some of these subjects. These include:
  Dempsey, K. 2021. Tending the ‘Contested’ Castle Garden: Sowing Seeds of Feminist Thought. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1–15.
  Dempsey, K. 2021. Herstory: exploring the material life of Gundrada de Warenne. In E. Bérat, R. Hardie and I. Dumitrescu (ed) Relations of Power: Women’s Networks in the Middle Ages. Studien zu Macht und Herrschaft. V&R unipress, University of Bonn Press. pp. 169-197
  Dempsey, K., Gilchrist, R., Ashbee, J., Stones, S. & Sagrott, S. 2020. Beyond the martial façade: gender, heritage and medieval castles, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 26:4, pp. 352-369
• You can hear more on the origins and architecture of Irish Castles in Episode 3 of Amplify Archaeology Podcast with Professor Tadhg O’Keeffe.
• I highly recommend Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, it’s one of my favourite books of recent years. If you’re in Ireland you’ll find it at a good price and free post at Kennys.ie.
• And if you’re interested in exploring more on the connections between our spiritual and natural world you might enjoy Emergence Magazine Podcast. Always worth a listen.
• Please do leave us a review if you can, or share the episode using the podcast #AmplifyArchaeology – it really does help us out so I’d be very grateful.
• If you’d like to dig deeper into the stories of Ireland you’ll love our new membership service Tuatha. Online courses, places to visit, itineraries for great days out and more! Sign up here.