Archaeology

MAKING CHRISTIAN LANDSCAPES

Settlement, Society and Regionality in Early Medieval Ireland

An INSTAR Project funded by the Heritage Council

Welcome to the Making Christian Landscapes Project Page. Please scroll down for news items and to learn about the aims and scope of the project and some of the results of our research. The project was funded in 2008-2010 by the Heritage Council through the Irish National Strategic Archaeological Research (INSTAR) Programme. Research is ongoing and some of it is funded by IRCHSS scholarships.

INTRODUCTION

Recent pre-development excavations are going to transform our understanding of early medieval Ireland. This project is bringing together archaeologists working in the commercial sector, archaeologists in universities in Ireland and abroad and historians with the common aim of realising the added value of some of the most important ones, first by placing them in their landscape contexts and secondly by systematically comparing these landscapes.

The name of the project was chosen to reflect the fact that the physical and conceptual transformation of the landscape during this period was intimately bound up with the arrival and development of a new religion – Christianity – and its attendant power structures. Landscape studies which look in detail at where and how people chose, or were obliged, to live, worship and be buried and how this changed over time are the best way to develop better understandings this complex process. The importance of the process cannot be overstated . After all the basic pattern of ecclesiastical settlement and land-divisions was established by 1100 and persists in modified form to the present day.

CASE STUDIES

Three regional studies, each comprising a number of case studies, form the core of the project: Leinster, Southwest Munster and Co. Galway. In each case study area all relevant strands of evidence – topography, land use, secular settlements, cemeteries, ecclesiastical sites, boundaries, landholdings and estates, routeways and pre-Christian monuments – are integrated into a coherent whole using GIS. The sheer bulk of the evidence means that this is only feasible for small areas comprising three or four contiguous parishes ( 60-100 km²). In order to fully understand the patterns which emerge the surrounding area, usually comprising a cantred ( successor to the early medieval tríche cét) , is then subject to less intensive study. Within the core areas land use patterns are studied using Historic Landscape Characterisation. The documentary research which forms an essential part of the project is being co-ordinated by Dr Paul McCotter.

Systematic comparison of case studies within and between these regions is illuminating the extent to which the process of Making Christian Landscapes varied across Ireland.

In addition, a synthesis by Tomás Ó Carragáin and Sam Turner is placing the Irish evidence in its European context. The principal outputs of the project will be: a number of peer-reviewed monographs; new opportunities for exchange of ideas between the commercial and university sector; enhanced university teaching and professional skills; two PhD theses. Beyond this, the project will help members of the public to connect with their local landscape by engaging with new ideas about its history. Dissemination to the public is being achieved through public lectures, fieldtrips and popular publications.

PROJECT FINDINGS

A crucial aim of the project is to investigate whether the process of Making Christian Landscapes varied from region to region. To what extent does the apparent diversity within and between regions – especially between the east and west of the country – reflect early medieval regionality or simply differential visibility? The uniform methodology employed is allowing us to compare regions systematically for the first time. Initial results suggest that once differences in land quality and in the nature of the archaeological and documentary record are taken into account, there is quite a consistent density of early ecclesiastical settlements across all areas, one which is much higher than in pre-Viking England. We believe that this is partly due to a relatively diffuse social structure which meant that a higher proportion of the population was entitled to found churches.

In order to determine exactly what sections of society were founding churches, and who was living at cemetery settlements and burying their dead at other types of non-ecclesiastical cemeteries, it is essential to determine who owned the land on which these sites occur. Using a ground-breaking, interdisciplinary methodology developed by Dr Paul MacCotter, we are reconstructing early medieval ecclesiastical and secular estates for the first time. As a result we have been able to confirm that many churches were founded by minor secular proprietors. Initial results also suggest that the density of ecclesiastical sites is particularly high on ecclesiastical estates and that some of these estates are characterised by unusually large ringforts. It therefore appears that these different kinds of estate leave distinct signatures in the archaeological record.

We are finding little evidence to support the theory that a high proportion of Irish ecclesiastical sites are sited on boundaries. However this does seem to be true of the majority of non-ecclesiastical burials including ogham stones and barrows, though not cemetery settlements. In some of the case study areas, cemetery settlements and other non-ecclesiastical burials, including some of Viking Age date, are turning out to be on ecclesiastical estates. This undermines the common assumption that ‘non-ecclesiastical’ burials occur only in areas outside of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and has prompted us to reconsider the relationship between burial and belief in this period.

This project is identifying significant new patterns in the archaeological and documentary records that are illuminating various aspects of the process of Making Christian Landscapes in Ireland. This is a vindication of our decision to focus on making comparisons between small areas as none of these patterns would have become apparent if we had chosen to look at larger areas is less detail. In addition to refining our general model for the impact of Christianity on the landscape, we are also looking at the process from the perspective of the people whose lives it effected so profoundly. In particular, we are attempting to distinguish the varying experiences of people of different social status ranging from royal aristocracies, to local elites to ordinary people. We are particularly excited to have gathered a wealth of information to illuminate the experiences of this last relatively neglected group.

NEWS

10 December 2010 – Submission of the third Making Christian Landscapes INSTAR report to the Heritage Council.

28 November 2010 – Lecture by Tomás Ó Carragáin on ‘Settlement Patterns on Ecclesiastical Estates: the Making Christian Landscapes Project’ at an EMAP Conference, UCD.

27 November 2010 – Lecture by Paul MacCotter on ‘Ecclesiastical and secular estates in Fir Maige’ at a Mapping Death Seminar, Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute, UCD.

10 September 2010 – Lecture entitled ‘Scale, power and church foundation: comparing early medieval Britain and Ireland’ by Sam Turner at an Institute of Archaeology, University of London conference on Local Churches and Lordship in the European Middle Ages.

July 2010 – INSTAR funding is renewed until December 2010. Apart from ongoing work by UCC staff and postgraduates, one of the main priorities for this period is archaeological and documentary research on a final case study: Fir Maige, Co. Cork. A number of highly significant early medieval sites have recently been excavated there in advance of roadway and housing schemes, especially by Eachtra Archaeological Projects Ltd. In addition, the area has by far the richest documentary sources relating to early boundaries, topography and ecclesiastical organisation in the whole country (Crichad an Chaolli etc.). Further HLC work will also be carried out by Aidan Harte, especially on Corcu Duibne. Anne Connon will also complete her analysis of Mag Réta and drawings will be prepared for forthcoming Making Christian Landscapes publications.

28 November 2009 – Joint presentation by Tomás Ó Carragáin and Paul MacCotter on the Making Christian Landscapes project at the Mapping Death INSTAR Conference, Míchael Ó Cléirigh Institute, UCD.

04 November 2009 – Dr Betty O’Brien of the Míchael Ó Cléirigh Institute, UCD, delivers an excellent paper on early medieval burial to the UCC Insular Studies group. Her visit to UCC is partly funded by the Making Christian Landscapes INSTAR grant.

16 October 2009 – Lecture by Dr Paul MacCotter on reconstructing early medieval estates at the Míchael Ó Cléirigh Institute, UCD.

June 2009 – The Making Christian Landscapes project is re-established after a hiatus of some months due to INSTAR 2009 funding delays which were beyond the control of the Heritage Council. Work recommences on the Corcu Duibne regional study (UCC staff, Dr Paul MacCotter, Aidan Harte and Tony Cummins) and research begins on a new case study: Na Clanna, Co. Laois. This study is a collaboration between Tara O’Neill of ACS Ltd, Dr Anne Connon (historian) and UCC staff. The 2009 Making Christian Landscapes report is due for submission to the Heritage Council on 04 December 2009.

25 April 2009 – Lecture by Dr Tomás Ó Carragáin entitled ‘The Making Christian Landscapes Project: Preliminary Patterns’ at the Archaeology of early Medieval Wales in context conference organised by the Early Medieval Wales Archaeology Research Group 25th Anniversary Colloquium, 25-26 April 2009.

April 2009 – INSTAR researcher, Gill Boazman, publishes a substantial paper comparing early medieval settlement patterns in Cork and Cornwall in Vol. 17 of the Journal of Irish Archaeology.

12 February 2009 – Lecture by Dr Paul MacCotter to the Kerry Historical and Archaeological Society on the Corcu Duibne case study.

01 February 2009 – Lecture by Dr Tomás Ó Carragáin on the landscape context of Skellig Michael at the Éigse na Brídeoige festival, Finian’s Bay, Co. Kerry. Fieldtrip led by John Sheehan to early medieval sites around Finian’s Bay as part of the Éigse na Brídeoige festival.

05 December 2008 – Submission of the 2008 Making Christian Landscapes report to the Heritage Council. The report comprises 615 pages and includes chapters on database design, HLC, Corcu Duibne, Corbally, the Faughart, Co. Louth Case Study, as well as a preliminary inter-regional analysis and a research plan for 2009. The report is assessed by an international panel of experts which concludes that funding for the project should be renewed in 2009.

04 November 2008 – Public Lecture by Dr Sam Turner entitled ‘Making Christian landscapes: the Atlantic 'microkingdoms' of the early middle ages’ University of Edinburgh.

October 2008 – Proofs of six popular papers aimed at disseminating the initial results of the Corcu Duibne regional study to the public are corrected by the authors and submitted to the publishers (Cork University Press). They were written by John Sheehan, Tomás Ó Carragáin, Donnchadh Ó Corráin and Breandáin Ó Ciobháin and will appear in The Iveragh Peninsula: A Cultural Atlas of the Ring of Kerry edited by J. Crowley and J. Sheehan.

August/September 2008 – Four academic papers arising from the Making Christian Landscapes Project and written by Tomás Ó Carragáin, Frank Coyne and Gill Boazman are submitted to the publishers (British Academy, Wordwell and Four Courts) for publication in 2009.

August 2008 – Publication of Dr Paul MacCotter’s book Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions (Four Courts). In the foreword Prof. Donnchadh Ó Corráin describes it as ‘a major contribution to Irish history and one that marks a new departure in Irish regional studies.’ The methodology outlined in the book is now being refined for the Making Christian Landscapes Project.

14 August – Completion of historical research for Corbally Case Study by Dr Paul MacCotter. For the rest of 2008 Paul will continue to direct the documentary research for the Galway and Leinster regional studies and will work directly on the Corcu Duibne regional study.

July/August 2008 – RTÉ Documentary. In order to disseminate the initial results of the project to the public, Tomás Ó Carragáin and John Sheehan participated in an RTÉ Documentary – ‘Ancient Vision: The Christianisation of Ireland.’ The documentary summarises new evidence for the conversion process in Ireland and incorporates a case study of the early Church in Corcu Duibne, which draws extensively on Making Christian Landscapes research. It will be broadcast on Easter Sunday 2009 and INSTAR will be acknowledged in the credits. 

30 July – Completion by Aegis Archaeology of the last season of excavation of the important early medieval cemetery and related settlement at Corbally, Co. Kildare. Post-ex analysis will now proceed at pace so that it can inform the analysis of this Making Christian Landscapes case study.

04 July – Completion of design of the Access Database which will be used for all of the regional studies. In addition to a basic record of all visible prehistoric sites, every significant characteristic – whether it is known from documentary or archaeological evidence – of all early medieval sites is systematically recorded so that patterns of association between ecclesiastical sites, non-ecclesiastical cemeteries and secular settlements can be recognized.

17 June – Initiation of a weekly 2-3 hour workshop/seminar series at UCC to facilitate training of, and exchange of ideas between, team members. The first seminar, led by Dr Sam Turner, was entitled Theory and Practice in Historic Landscape Characterisation. Subsequent seminars will focus on database design, GIS, HLC, documentary research, particular case studies and inter-regional comparisons.

May 2008 – Funding received from the Heritage Council through the INSTAR Programme allowing the Making Christian Landscapes Project to be established.

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