Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

There’s something of an inevitability about it … if I start talking about Killogilleen [ here ], you can be sure that I’ll soon get around to blathering on about Killora. So, as I was pottering about east Galway with my 3D 360 Vuze camera, it was no surprise that I’d follow up my visit to Killogilleen with one to Killora. What I say about one I repeat about the other … there’s noting ostensibly special about these sites – to a greater or lesser degree they’re pretty much typical of rural west of Ireland church sites. Both Killora & Killogilleen have standing church ruins dating from around the late 15 th century, with tantalizing hints of earlier activity, possibly going back to the 13 th century. What sets them apart from others is that fact that they’ve been the focus of (sporadic) research for nearly 30 years. I’m reminded of an episode of the TV show QI that asked the question ‘Where Is the Best Place to Discover A New Species?’ [ here ]. In amongst answers both comedic and ...

There’s probably nothing to really recommend a visit to Killogilleen church and graveyard, near Craughwell, Co. Galway. It’s rather typical of traditional burial sites in rural west of Ireland … there’s a ruined 15 th century church, there’s dated memorials going back to the 1600s, and continuing as late as the 1980s. You seen one you seen ‘em all! Right? … not this time! Back in 1996 I was employed on a F Á S Scheme to oversee the cutting back of the ivy and a general cleanup of the site. I was also tasked with compiling a book of the gravestone inscriptions on the site [ available here ]. One day in July I got called over to see ‘something interesting’ that had just been found … I’d have a few of these calls and for a variety of reasons. Some were cool architectural fragments that were reused as grave markers, some were just rocks (used as grave markers) … in a graveyard? Who'd believe it? I think it’s fair to say that I wasn’t filled with tingling anticipation at this latest di...

< Back to Table of Contents In recent posts, I’ve concentrated on some of the treasures on display at the Musee de l'Ancien Eveche, but now I want to turn my attention to the wonderful Grenoble Archaeological Museum. If one were to be pedantic, I’m sure the case could be made that the museum is slightly miss-titled – it’s not so much a museum dedicated to the archaeology of Grenoble, but to the historic church site of Saint-Laurent. However, it’s just as true to say that the archaeology of Saint-Laurent is in no small part, the archaeology of Grenoble too. The church as it survives today is a intricate set of building phases and burial activity. However, the core upstanding structure is Romanesque (12th century) and the burials stretch back to the Gallo-Roman period (4th century). So far, so good! But what really sets Saint-Laurent apart from … well, pretty much anything else … is that fact that it has a surviving Merovingian crypt from the 6th century. Coming from I...

 [** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the Amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] < 3D images | O’Cahan Tomb > During the spring of last year (April 2014) I was coming home from a work engagement in West Ulster. The early evening was bright, the skies were blue, the weather was just lovely – hardly a breath of wind in the air. I was contemplating that the next town on my drive would be Dungiven. It then struck me that in all my time as a professional archaeologist, I’d never stopped to see Dungiven Priory. At one time my work would frequently take me out this direction, but I was always in too much of a rush to get there in the morning, or get home at night, to stop. Confirming in my head that ...

< Back to main post | 3D images > As I mention in the main post, these rather excellent photos of the O’Cahan tomb (and other items within the chancel area) were taken by Ed Feeny and used with permission. < Back to main post | 3D images >

< Back to main post | O’Cahan Tomb > Once again, I’ve been out combining my love of archaeology with 3D (anaglyph) photography – and these are the, somewhat variable, experimental results. Information on glasses and other 3D images in this blog may be found here . Click for larger images. < Back to main post | O’Cahan Tomb >

[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] 3D images > In a recent discussion of ‘where will we go today?’ with my family, l gamely suggested a trip to Holywood, Co. Down, to see the old Priory and graveyard. When this failed to elicit the desired response from the Chapples Minor, the plans were revised to include a visit to one of the local playgrounds. To cut a long story short, the eventual compromise we reached was that they’d go to the ‘ Johnny the Jig ’ playground in Holywood and I’d proceed alone to the graveyard! All things considered, I reckon I got the better of the deal … if only because the other parents give me nasty looks when I go on the swings and s...