Laois County Council

Tag: Rock of Dunamase

  • Major New Book on the Rock of Dunamase Launched

    Major New Book on the Rock of Dunamase Launched

    A major new publication on the Rock of Dunamase “The High Fortress” edited by Peigin Doyle and published by Wordwell Books was published in Portlaoise last night (23rd November 2022).

    Catherine Casey, Laois Heritage Officer; Michael Parsons, Laois Heritage; Cllr Thomasina Connell, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council and Virginia Teehan, Chief Executive, the Heritage Council at the launch of The High Fortress: A Guide to the Rock of Dunamase.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    Launching the book, Cllr Thomasina Connell, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council said “A special site like this, deserves a very special publication, and I am absolutely delighted to say that this book published by Wordwell, with Laois County Council and the Heritage Council, fills that need very well. As Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council I am proud to be associated with this wonderful book. It will be a must-read for anyone exploring this amazing site or learning about the history of Laois.”

     

    The book is the result of a collaborative process between the Laois Heritage Forum and authors working with Editor Peigín Doyle. Peigin is an author and journalist whose specialist areas are history, heritage, and archaeology. The contributing authors are:

    Dr John Feehan, author of “Laois, an Environmental History” and “The Geology of Laois and Offaly”;

    Dr Sharon Greene, research archaeologist and the editor of “Archaeology Ireland” magazine;

    Dr Matthew Stout, author of “Early Medieval Ireland 431–1169” and

    Brian Hodkinson an archaeologist who has directed key Irish excavations such as the Rock of Cashel, Nenagh Castle and on Dunamase itself.

    Nick Maxwell and Una MacConville from Wordwell (publishers); Catherine Casey, Laois Heritage Officer; John Mulholland, Chief Executive Laois County Council; Peigín Doyle, Editor; Angela McEvoy, Director of Services Laois County Council and Hugh MacConville at the launch of The High Fortress: A Guide to the Rock of Dunamase.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    The ruins of an Anglo-Norman fortress built over an Early Christian Irish dún, Dunamase was fought over, occupied, fortified, reinforced, seized, abandoned, and blown up. Today, silhouetted against the Laois skyline, it has the power still to stir imaginations. Plundered by Viking raiders in 843AD, it became the dowry of Aoife, the bartered daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada, when she married Richard De Clare, Strongbow, as the price for the Anglo-Norman invader restoring Diarmait as king of Leinster.

     

    Fortified by a murder hole, arrow slits, portcullis, drawbridge and high protecting walls, the struggles between Gaelic Irish versus invading forces played out around the fortress of Dunamase for centuries. Weapons and armour, buckles and spurs, gaming pieces and arrowheads, Gaelic metalwork and medieval coins, all unearthed in excavations, bear witness to its role as a focal point for critical events in Irish history.

     

    Chief Executive of Laois County Council John Mulholland thanked each of the authors for their insight, and dedication into getting all aspects of the human and natural history of this site right. He particularly mentioned the photographers, illustrators and image owners who allowed images to be used in this publication – saying that the imagery really lifts the whole publication beyond the ordinary. Archaeological illustrator Dan Tietzsch Tyler  contributed the wonderful reconstruction drawings of what the castle might have looked like in the 13th century, which help to bring the site to life for readers and visitors.

     

    Speaking at the launch, Michael Parsons of Laois Heritage Society thanked the members of Laois Heritage Forum who have been working on the book for several years, and also commended the support of the Heritage Council in supporting and developing all aspects of the heritage of Laois over the last number of years.

    Contributor Dr Sharon Greene; Cllr Thomasina Connell, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council; Bernie Foran, Laois County Librarian and Caroline Hofman, Chief Executive Laois Chamber at the launch of The High Fortress: A Guide to the Rock of Dunamase.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    Virginia Teehan Chief Executive of the Heritage Council also welcomed the publication, saying the Heritage Council was delighted to work in partnership with local authorities and to support Heritage Officers in local authorities across the country in conserving, recording and raising awareness of their local heritage.

    The attendance at the launch of The High Fortress: A Guide to the Rock of Dunamase.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    The book is available from local bookshops and can be ordered online from wordwellbooks.com

    The High Fortress ISBN: 978-1-913934-74-

    Author(s): Peigin Doyle. A Guide to the Rock of Dunamase.

  • Successful Know your Locality Course Finishes with Field trip to Rock

    Successful Know your Locality Course Finishes with Field trip to Rock

    The successful “Know your Locality” course has finished its second booked out run in Laois with a field trip to discover the hidden secrets of the Rock of Dunamase. The free online course introduced participants to the heritage of Ireland, and introduced them to the wide range of online sources that would allow them to paint for themselves a picture of the geological, archaeological, and historical events that happened in their own local area.

    Archaeologist Stephen Mandal from the Irish Heritage School leading a field trip at the Rock of Dunamase looking at the geology, landscape, archaeology and history as part of Know Your Locality. Supported by Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creative Ireland Programme (2017-2022) in partnership with Laois County Council. Picture: Alf Harvey.

    Catherine Casey, Heritage Officer with Laois County Council said: “We were delighted to be working again with the Irish Heritage School to bring this course to everyone with interest in the built, natural and cultural Heritage of Laois. During recent lockdowns we have all become more aware of the beauty and value of our own local place, and this course taps into that. We hope it will equip people with the tools they need to research their locality and look at their own patch with new eyes. We are really grateful for the support of Creative Ireland in Laois, which allows us to bring this course to the public for free.”

    Archaeologist Stephen Mandal from the Irish Heritage School leading a field trip at the Rock of Dunamase looking at the geology, landscape, archaeology and history as part of Know Your Locality. Supported by Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creative Ireland Programme (2017-2022) in partnership with Laois County Council. Picture: Alf Harvey.

    The course was delivered through five online tutorials, starting by looking at the very bedrock under our feet, examining the geological processes and glacial events that shaped the landscape and formed the soils. The course then examined the impacts of humans on that landscape over time, from pre-history to the last century. Workshops focussed on a different aspect of geology, the landscape and archaeology of Laois each week, from the formation of Ireland to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, with a focus on each workshop on teaching online research skills.

     

    Participants learned how to use these skills to make their own submission to the ‘Know Your 5k ’ initiative of the Heritage Council and National Museum of Ireland. Through this and other citizen scientist programmes, course participants can make a real contribution to the conservation of our heritage by recording what is in their local area, what the local community values and raising awareness of its importance.

    Studying an archaeological artefact on a field trip at the Rock of Dunamase looking at the geology, landscape, archaeology and history as part of Know Your Locality. Supported by Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creative Ireland Programme (2017-2022) in partnership with Laois County Council.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    The course ended with a field trip to the Rock of Dunamase, with the participants learning how to analyse a site in a holistic way, starting with the landscape and the rocks, to look for clues to how the area was formed and what might have led people to settle there. They learned about the arrival of the Anglo Normans to Ireland and the influence that William Marshall has had across all of Ireland, including Laois. All agreed it was a fitting end to an excellent course.

    Archaeologist Stephen Mandal from the Irish Heritage School leading a field trip at the Rock of Dunamase looking at the geology, landscape, archaeology and history as part of Know Your Locality. Supported by Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creative Ireland Programme (2017-2022) in partnership with Laois County Council.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    The course was organised by the Heritage Office of Laois County Council with support from Creative Ireland as part of the Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022 and was delivered by Dr Stephen Mandal, of the Irish Heritage School.