in the news
UCD hosting international hunter-gatherer research conference
UCD School of Archaeology are hosting CHAGS13, the 13th international Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies, from 27 June to 1 July 2022 (www.ucd.ie/chags13). CHAGS is the biggest conference on huntergatherers in the world, and brings together those who work with and/or research hunter-gatherer communities past and present. The organisers hope to have 500 delegates attending. The theme of CHAGS13 is ‘Living Well Together’ and the aim is to help build links between disciplines, researchers and communities. CHAGS13 will also provide a platform for highlighting the remarkable archaeology of huntergatherer Ireland to an international audience. CHAGS13 is convened by Professor Graeme Warren and supported by the UCD Hunter-Gatherer Research Group. A call for papers will be issued in the coming weeks. For further information, email: CHAGS13@ucd.ie, graeme.warren@ucd.ie. Follow updates on Twitter: @CHAGS131, @ISHGR5.
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Winter 2021
Professor Gabriel Cooney honoured
All at Archaeology Ireland were delighted to hear the news that Professor Gabriel Cooney, our founding editor (1987–96), was recently awarded an Honorary OBE in recognition of his services to heritage as chairman of the Historic Monuments Council for Northern Ireland.
The Historic Monuments Council is a Statutory Advisory Council to the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. Its purpose is to advise the Department on the exercise of its powers under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Object (NI) Order 1995.
An OBE is an Order of the British Empire award, honorary awards being those granted to foreign nationals. The recipients are people who have made a great impact in their line of work. This is something that Professor Gabriel Cooney has certainly done, and continues to do.
His teaching career in UCD, where he became Professor of Celtic Archaeology in 2008, means that he is a familiar face who has influenced many Irish archaeologists. He has a
strong, internationally recognised research reputation and publication record, dealing primarily with the subject of the Irish Neolithic, but has also been involved in the formation of many research and policy frameworks over the years. Gabriel is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, the International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) (serving on their World Heritage Panel in 2018–19) and the Heritage Council (2005–15). He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and was chairman of the Discovery Programme in 2019.
This award demonstrates a recognition of the importance of the Historic Monuments Council in Northern Ireland, as well as highlighting the close cross-border relationships in the Irish archaeological profession. This allisland approach, reflecting the nature of our archaeological record as an island, is something that has always been important to us here at Archaeology Ireland.
Congratulations, Gabriel!
New Heritage Council publication on ogham
A new Heritage Council publication on ogham has been sent out to Archaeology Ireland subscribers. The publication, by Dr Nora White, is part of the Heritage Council’s ‘Our Ancient Landscapes’ series and follows on from the 2020 publication on prehistoric rock art. This latest publication features high-quality colour illustrations from Ken Williams, the National Monuments Service, the National Museum of Ireland, the Discovery Programme and Dr Nora White.
Before people in Ireland started writing on manuscripts made of vellum they wrote on other materials, primarily stone, in a
writing system called ogham. Our earliest ogham inscriptions on stone are approximately dated on linguistic grounds to between the fourth and seventh centuries AD. Over 400 known examples of ogham stones and fragments of various shapes and sizes have survived, each with its own unique biography or story.
Dr Nora White was Principal Investigator on the Ogham in 3D project (https://ogham.celt.dias.ie). She is currently a post-doctoral researcher on the OG(H)AM project, funded by the Irish Research Council/UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, in the Department of Early Irish at Maynooth University.
