Professor Terry Barry
Associate Professor in the Department of Medieval History, and Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, where he specializes in teaching medieval archaeology. His research interests centre on the settlement archaeology of Ireland, Britain and Western Europe in the Middle Ages, particularly its castles and defensive earthworks. He is the author of many articles and books, including The Archaeology of Medieval Ireland (Digitally Reprinted in 2004 for Routledge), and in 2000 he edited A History of Settlement in Ireland, also for Routledge. He is a director of the Discovery Programme, the archaeological research company funded through the Heritage Council, and a Council member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an Honorary Vice-President of the Royal Archaeological Institute.
Dr. Conor Brady
Conor Brady is employed as a lecturer in archaeology in the Department of Humanities, Dundalk Institute of Technology. He holds a doctorate in archaeology from University College Dublin and his thesis was A Landscape Survey of the Newgrange Environs: Earlier Prehistoric Settlement at Brú na Bóinne, Co. Meath. Conor was PRTLI-funded Foras Feasa Research Fellow for Semester 2 of 2008. Current research includes a project investigating the geophysical properties of lithic scatter sites in Brú na Bóinne funded by the Heritage Council and Conor is also a member of the research team on the INSTAR-funded project, An integrated, comprehensive GIS model of landscape evolution and landuse history in the River Boyne Valley. He was chair of the Earlier Prehistory Working Group on the Heritage Council Research Framework Committee for the Brú na Bóinne WHS and currently serves as a vice president of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society.
Tracy Collins MA MIAI
Is a graduate of UCC, archaeologist and company director of Aegis Archaeology Ltd. Having a wide interest in all things archaeological, she has recently led a team which produced the Limerick City walls Conservation and Management Plan (2008) and is at present part of a team implementing that plan and conserving several stretches of Limerick’s medieval defences. She is undertaking doctoral research on female monasticism and medieval nunneries in Ireland.
Professor Gabriel Cooney, MRIA
Professor Gabriel Cooney is on the staff of the UCD School of Archaeology. His main research interests include the Neolithic period and landscape approaches in archaeology. He is the author of Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland (Routledge 2000). He is currently interim director of the Graduate School, UCD College of Arts and Celtic Studies. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal World Archaeology. Appointed a member of the Heritage Council in November 2005.
Ms Claire Foley
Claire Foley has been practising as an archaeologist in Northern Ireland since 1975 having previously spent four years with the National Monuments Branch of the Office of Public works, Dublin. Since 1986 she has developed the scheduling programme for Northern Ireland, converting it to new legislation in 1995, and was instrumental in the establishment in 1992 of the very effective Field Monument Warden monitoring system. She is also responsible for the comprehensive protection policies for field monuments, in place since 1987. She has served on the Directorate of the Discovery Programme for two terms and also on its Council and as a trustee on the Council for British Archaeology for three years. She was the UK expert in the drafting of the council of Europe FARO Framework Convention (2005). She is currently working on the publication of the archaeological survey of Co Fermanagh.
Dr. Carleton Jones
Is a lecturer in prehistoric archaeology at NUI Galway. His area of expertise is Irish prehistory, particularly the Neolithic and Bronze Age and his fieldwork has focused on the remarkably preserved prehistoric landscapes of the Burren. He is the author of Temples of Stone - Exploring the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland (2007) and The Burren and the Aran Islands - Exploring the Archaeology (2004).
Dr Eamonn P. Kelly
The Keeper of Irish Antiquities has responsibility for the following collections at the National Museum of Ireland: the Irish and Foreign Archaeological Collections, Classical and Egyptian Collections and Ethnographical collections. The National Museum of Ireland has a statutory role and is a regulatory body in Irish archeology. The role of the keeper of the Antiquities includes collections management, archives management, exhibitions, fieldwork, excavation and outreach work of various types, including lecturing and publication for general and specialist audiences. Mr Kelly has written extensively on diverse aspects of Irish archeology. His most recent research has been into Irish Iron Age Bog Bodies and Viking rural settlement in the west of Ireland
Dr Ann Lynch
Senior archaeologist in the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Particular involvement with the conservation and presentation of national monuments in state care. Directed excavations at sites such as Newgrange, Skellig Michael, Tintern Abbey and Poulnabrone Portal Tomb. Other responsibilities include the archaeological survey of peatlands and management of the Carved Stone Inventory. Research interests lie in the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
Ms Sinead McCartan
Ms Sinead McCartan is Head of Collections Research and Interpretation, National Museums Northern Ireland
Sinead is a graduate of the London Institute of Archaeology, where she developed a particular interest in prehistoric archaeology. Following graduation she took up employment as a Post-excavation Assistant in the Artefact Research Unit attached to the National Museums of Scotland and embarked on postgraduate study at University College Cork, focusing on the Mesolithic on the Isle of Man, an interest she continues to pursue. She was appointed to the post of Curator of Prehistoric Antiquities at the Ulster Museum in 1990 since which time she has been consistently active in publishing and lecturing in her subject area, developing exhibitions and displays in same (including 'Early Ireland' a major permanent exhibition covering the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age), and promoting the subject through membership, often at Committee level, of relevant professional organisations. Sinead was appointed to her current post in 2008 and has responsibility for developing and delivering research and interpretation programmes across all National Museums Northern Ireland sites and collections.
EurGeol Dr Stephen Mandal MIAI PGeo
Dr Stephen Mandal is co-founder (in 1997) and managing director of CRDS Ltd, Archaeological and Historical Consultants. Stephen holds an honours science degree in Geology (1991) and a PhD in Geoarchaeology (1995) from Trinity College Dublin. He also holds Certificates in Safety and Health (1999) and Occupational First Aid (2000) from UCD. On completion of his PhD, Stephen spent two years as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Archaeology Department, UCD, during which time he also undertook a three-month research fellowship in Bologna, Italy. Since 1991 Stephen has been petrologist for the Irish Stone Axe Project and a Member of the Implement Petrology Group (formerly the Council for British Archaeology Implement Petrology Committee). He is a professional member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, the World Archaeological Congress, the Institute of Geologists of Ireland, and the European Federation of Professional Geologists.
Dr Eileen Murphy
Is a Senior Lecturer in Osteoarchaeology in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast. Her osteological research focuses on Irish populations of all periods and prehistoric populations in Russia, while her archaeological work has focused on sites in both Ireland and Scotland. She has published two monographs, six edited volumes and is the editor of the international journal Childhood in the Past. She has over 50 papers in academic journals and books and has undertaken over 50 reports on collections of human remains. She has received funding from a variety of organizations, including the Royal Society, NERC, the NIEA and the National Roads Authority (NRA). She is the principal investigator of the QUB component of the Ballyhanna Research Project, which is funded by the NRA and has involved collaboration with the Institute of Technology in Sligo. The project has focused on a detailed biocultural analysis of a collection of over 1000 human skeletons. She is also leading a new INSTAR project entitled The People of Prehistoric Ireland, which is funded by the Heritage Council.
Mr Christopher Read
Christopher Read, educated in Canada, has been working as a professional archaeologist in Ireland since 1996. He cut his teeth on the Temple Bar Viking excavations and went on to form North West Archaeological Services Ltd. in 2000. He successfully co-directed this company until 2007. In 2002, Christopher was part of the team that designed and implemented IT Sligo’s BSc. in Applied Archaeology and became the first archaeological lecturer on the course in 2003. Since 2003 he has worked tirelessly to develop and direct this new course. Since 2005, he has co-directed the Kilteasheen Archaeological Project. Funded by the Royal Irish Academy and the Heritage Council, the KAP is run jointly between IT Sligo and St. Louis University’s Medieval History Department. In 2007, Christopher also initiated another archaeological research project focused on Fenagh, Country Leitrim. Work here was funded by the Heritage Council in 2007 and in 2009. Christopher has been working on an interdisciplinary PhD for the last 2 years, focused on the role of social memory in landscape perception and monument placement in North Connacht from 7000 to AD 2000.
Dr Elizabeth Twohig
Dr Elizabeth Twohig's principal research interests are Irish megalithic tombs, especially their art, and rock art of Ireland and the wider context of this material. Her doctoral research was published as The Megalithic Art of Western Europe. Currently she is involved with a project on the archaeological landscape of around Loughcrew, Co Meath, and with investigating the later use of megalithic tombs.