This fantastic value multi-pack of five local publications contains a vast array of the history and archaeology of the local Roscommon landscape.
The pack contains Rathcroghan – The Guidebook 2nd Edition, Rathra – A Royal stronghold of Early Medieval Connacht as well as the Rindoon, Roscommon Castle and Roscommon Abbey Visitor’s Guides.
The Uí Chellaig lords of Uí Maine and Tír Maine – An archaeological and landscape exploration of a later medieval inland Gaelic lordship.
Daniel Patrick Curley
The Ó Cellaig (O’Kelly) lordship of Uí Maine and Tír Maine was a substantial political territory and influential cultural power in later medieval Connacht. This book identifies and reconstructs the physical appearance of the major Ó Cellaig lordly centres from their emergence as one of the principal offshoots of the Uí Maine in c.1100, to the demise of the lordship around the year 1600. It begins with an historical background, which helps to identify the lordly centres (cenn áiteanna), and define the shifting physical boundaries of this territory through the period. The later medieval physical environment is then reconstructed, with an exploration of the resources and economic conditions which underpinned this inland Gaelic lordship. Thereafter, the focus moves to inspect these cenn áiteanna, their siting, forms and surrounding cultural landscapes. In doing so, the writer investigates a broad range of settlement forms, including the continued use of crannóga and promontory forts, before turning to the tower house castle. This book tackles important themes in later medieval Gaelic society and its physical expression, through the lens of these eastern Connacht lords.
Daniel Patrick Curley is a graduate of the NUIG, with a PhD in Archaeology. He manages the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in Co. Roscommon, and his research interests lie primarily in the archaeology and cultural heritage of Roscommon and east Galway.
Co. Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society Journal, Vol 15 (2024)
The Co. Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society Journal is a fascinating collection of articles devoted to the study of Roscommon’s past, both modern and ancient.
With topics ranging from archaeology to history, folklore to heritage, there is something for everybody.
Volume 15 (2024) is a bumper edition at nearly 200 pages and containing 36 articles with an extensive colour section.
‘Rathra – A Royal Stronghold of Early Medieval Connacht’ by Joe Fenwick explores the date, role and significance of this spectacular multivallate earthwork, a little-known archaeological site concealed among the hidden heartlands of rural Co. Roscommon.
This beautifully illustrated full colour publication, the latest in a series published by Roscommon Co. Council is a must for anyone with an interest in the archaeology and history of the wider Roscommon landscape.
The town and castle of Rindoon were founded in 1227 as a royal Anglo-Norman borough and fortress on the sometimes turbulent frontier between the Anglo- Norman colony in Ireland and a region controlled by the Irish O’Conor kings of Connacht.
The well preserved remains at Rindoon are regarded as being one of the most important medieval complexes still standing in Britain and Ireland. It is, also, without doubt one of the finest examples in Europe of a deserted medieval town.
The deserted town and castle of Rindoon are situated on the peninsula of St. John’s Point, which runs out south eastwards from the western, Connacht shore of Lough Ree.
It is hoped that this guidebook will provide not only information, but enjoyment for those who visit Rindoon and St. John’s Point. Its detailed nature will hopefully also make it a contribution to the ongoing academic research currently being carried out on Ireland’s medieval towns, castles, abbeys and priories.
“In Roscommon Castle a Visitor’s Guide Margaret Murphy and Kieran O’Conor chart the history and architectural development of Roscommon Castle from the mid-thirteenth century onwards. The full colour illustrated guidebook has chapters called: The History of the Castle, The Siting of the Castle, A tour of the Late Thirteeneth-Century Castle, The Late Medieval O’Conor Occupation and A Tour of the Late Sixteenth-Century Castle. The guidebook also includes two detailed historical reconstruction drawings by Daniel Tietzsch Tyler.
This guidebook is intended to be a comprehensive guide for visitors to Roscommon castle, as well as a point of reference for academics and local historians. Historic Reconstruction Drawings used in the guidebook intended to give the visitor an impression of what the castle may have been like in the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.”
“Authors: Dr Kieran O’Conor is a lecturer in archaeology in NUI, Galway. Margaret Murphy MA graduated from NUIG in 2002, after writing her Masters Dissertation on the subject of Roscommon Castle. She wrote the guidebook based on the findings of her Masters. She works as a freelance archaeologist and lives in Galway.”
“In ‘Roscommon Abbey: A Visitor’s Guide’ Dr. Kieran O’Conor and Brian Shanahan chart the history and architectural development of Roscommon Abbey from the mid-thirteenth century onwards.
The full colour illustrated guidebook has chapters called: Ecclesiastical activity at Roscommon before the Dominicans; Who were the Dominicans? The foundation of the priory in 1253; the subsequent history of the priory; the siting of the priory; the physical remains at Roscommon priory today; a tour of the thirteenth-century priory and a tour of the fifteenth century priory.
The guidebook also includes two detailed historical reconstruction drawings by Daniel Tietzsch Tyler and a box text by Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB outlining a typical day in the life of a Dominican Friar in medieval Ireland.”
‘Authors: Dr Kieran O’Conor is a lecturer in archaeology in NUI, Galway. Brian Shanahan worked in the Medieval Rural Settlement project with the Discovery Programme.’
Boyle Abbey, Co. Roscommon – Conservation, Architecture and Archaeological Excavations 1982–2018
Archaeological Monograph Series: No.13
Edited by Fionnbarr Moore and Geraldine Stout
Boyle Abbey is a National Monument in State Care in the town of Boyle, Co. Roscommon. It was the principal Cistercian house in the kingdom of Connacht in the medieval period and its ruins today are among the best preserved of the order to be found in the country. Since 1892 it has been in the guardianship of the Commissioners of Public Works who have maintained the site. In the 1980s the Office of Public Works (OPW) undertook conservation works which involved archaeological excavation. Subsequently, in 2006 the OPW commenced a major programme of conservation works on the abbey, which involved dismantling and restoring the north aisle wall of the church, which had bowed. This was one of the largest stone conservation projects undertaken by the state and involved a multi-disciplinary team of experts, including engineers, architects and archaeologists who worked closely together to oversee the entire project through to completion. These works have produced a vast body of new information on the history, architecture and archaeology of Boyle Abbey, which is presented in this volume.
The style of this book is that of the Ballintober Old Graveyard and The Grave Memorials of Co. Roscommon. Like the Ballintober book, there is a catalogue of the Kilmeane memorials, including inscriptions, photos and references to those listed in the census of Elphin 1749. The Kilmeane memorials are compared to those of the nearby graveyards of Killinvoy, Athleague, Rahara and St. Coman’s and then extending out to other Roscommon graveyards. References are also made to memorials in other Irish graveyards.
Contributors include Dr. David McGuinness, Dr Daniel Curley, Seamus Lough, Martin A. Timoney, P. David Sweetman, John Macklin, Albert Siggins, Eilish Feeley, Jaqueline née Craven d. Towey.
Mary B. Timoney, originally from Waterford and living in south Sligo, has been researching graveyard memorials since 1984. She received an M. A. from UCC in 2001 for her study of ‘The Decorated Box Tombs of the Skreen School, Co. Sligo, c. 1780 – 1850’. In 2005 she published ‘Had Me Made, A Study of the Grave Memorials of Co. Sligo from c. 1650 to the Present’ and ‘Ballintober Old Graveyard’ in 2018. She has lectured and published on grave memorials in Co.s Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon and Sligo as well as on the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead, Ireland, and on the care of graveyards.
Moygara Castle, with its four towers, gatehouse and high curtain walls, is one of the most impressive masonry-built monuments in north Connacht. Constructed in the late fourteenth/early fifteenth century by the O’Garas, the castle functioned as a centre of their lordship of Coolavin.
This study of Moygara Castle marshals various fields of expertise – history, archaeology, architecture, geography, genealogy, geophysical survey and DNA analysis – to provide much-needed information about life in later-medieval Gaelic Ireland.
Contributors include Kevin Barton, Jason Bolton, Anne Connon, Phyl Foley, Paul M. Kerrigan, Máire Ní Chearbhaill, Kieran O’Conor, Maura O’Gara-O’Riordan, Christopher Read and Rory Sherlock.
Kieran O’Conor is senior lecturer in the School of Geography and Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway.
The Cave of the Cats
by AnnMarie Murray
Dive into the ancient mysteries of Halloween and wander into Oweynagat, where three fearsome cats, the Morrígan, and otherworldly creatures bring chaos to the world we know!
Follow Nera, a brave warrior, as he risks everything on Samhain night, drawn by the promise of a golden sword! Join him as he descends into the depths of the Cave of the Cats, where spine-chilling creatures and magic waits beyond the veil.
Learn about the origins of Halloween (Samhain), from the legends of the Jack-o’-Iantern to the pumpkins glowing on windowsills today, and of the tradition dressing-up in scary attire-because you never know…
Visit the royal capital of Cruachain under the rule of Queen Medb, and get swept up in the chaos of Bricriu’s Feast. From Ireland’s Iegendary heroes to its most terrifying creatures, this book brings these ancient tales to life in a thrilling adventure you’ll never forget!
The Burning of Knockcroghery
Written and Illustrated by AnnMarie Murray
This colourful children’s book brings to life the story of the burning of Knockcroghery in 1921 by the Black and Tans and the resilience of the local community as they deal with the aftermath of their destroyed village. Told through the eyes of young Sally Finnegan, it is vividly illustrated and contains interesting facts on the Crofton estate at Mote Park, the Clay Pipe industry and the backdrop of revolutionary Ireland.