Taighde

In late 2003, an archaeological excavation near Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland, uncovered a significant medieval cemetery with over 1,000 burials and the remnants of Ballyhanna Church. This discovery, made during road construction work, led to the establishment of the Ballyhanna Research Project in 2006, a collaboration between Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and the Institute of Technology, Sligo (ITS), funded by the National Roads Authority.

The research focuses on osteological, palaeopathological, and paleodietary analysis of the skeletal remains to study the health, lifestyle, and diets of the medieval population. Key figures include Dr. Eileen Murphy and Catriona McKenzie from QUB, who analyzed adult and child skeletons, and researchers like Tasneem Bashir and Sheila Tierney from ITS, who examined the paleodiet and attempted to extract ancient DNA, respectively.

The findings were summarized in the 2015 publication The Science of a Lost Medieval Gaelic Graveyard, offering a comprehensive view of life during this period based on the Ballyhanna burials. Additional papers from seminars provide further insights into the project’s results.

Legacy NRA Fellowship: In 2008 bhronn an tÚdarás maoiniú óna Chlár Comhaltachtaí ar thionscadal taighde PhD dar teideal Understanding environmental and landscape change in the midlands of Ireland through the cultural use of woodland. Rinne Ellen O’Carroll, speisialaí adhmaid agus seandálaí ón Roinn Bitheolaíochta i gColáiste na Tríonóide Baile Átha Cliath, an taighde seo agus thug le chéile teicnící pailé-éiceolaíocha agus sonraí seandálaíochta (lena n-áirítear faisnéis a fuarthas ó thochailtí a rinneadh ar scéimeanna bóithre náisiúnta) chun úsáid coillearnaigh agus an tionchar a d’imir sé ar lár tíre ón tréimhse Mhéisiliteach a thomhas (c. 8000–4000 RCh).

Cuireadh páipéar i láthair ag Seimineár Náisiúnta Seandálaíochta an Údaráis 2009 ina bhfuil cur síos ar aidhmeanna agus ar mhodhanna an tionscadail, agus ina dtugtar torthaí tosaigh an taighde agus foilsíodh an páipéar sin in imeachtaí an tseimineáir i bhfómhar 2010. Bronnadh PhD ar Ellen i samhradh 2012 agus chuir sí cuid dá torthaí i láthair ag Seimineár 2012. Foilsíodh an páipéar seo, comhscríofa ag an Ollamh Fraser Mithchell in imeachtaí an tseimineáir i bhfómhar 2013. Tiocfaidh a thuilleadh páipéar ó thaighde Ellen agus póstálfar scéala maidir leosan anseo de réir mar a chuirtear i gcló nó ar líne iad.

Chomh maith leis na foilseacháin seo, ba chuid iad na torthaí taighde freisin de na Palaeoenvironmental Sampling Guidelines  lena n-úsáid ar scéimanna bóithre náisiúnta. (first published in 2015 and now in its fifth edition) .

Legacy NRA Fellowship: The use of archaeogeophysics on road schemes between 2001 and 2010 has been reviewed as part of a second archaeological research project funded through the Fellowship Programme. Archaeogeophysical Survey consists of a range of methods for exploring below the ground surface by means of remote sensing. This study, awarded funding in 2010, was carried out by James Bonsall, Dr Chris Gaffney and Professor Ian Armit from the University of Bradford in the UK. Irish company Earthsound Archaeological Geophysics acted as the university’s industrial partner in the research.

Archaeological geophysicist James Bonsall was selected as a finalist to present his research at the prestigious Transport Research Arena 2012 conference and was awarded the silver medal in the environmental pillar for his presentation. James gave a preliminary review of progress in Issue 6 of Seanda magazine (published in December 2011) and presented a paper at the 2012 NRA National Archaeology Seminar. This paper, co-authored with Dr Chris Gaffney and Professor Ian Armit, was published in the subsequent seminar proceedings in autumn 2013. One of the key deliverables of the research project was an online database from which NRA-commissioned geophysical reports could be viewed. The NRA Archaeological Geophysical Survey Database was launched in April 2013 and an article about this important online resource was published in Issue 8 of Seanda. The research also delivered a set of guidelines (published in May 2014) entitled Preparing for the Future: a re-appraisal of archae-geophysical surveying on Irish National Road Schemes 2001-2010.

The INSTAR Programme is an archaeological research fund administered by the Heritage Council that supports thematic research and facilitates collaboration between archaeological consultancies, academic institutions, international academic and research bodies and State bodies. TII is currently an industry partner in the Settlement and Landscape in Later Prehistoric Ireland—Seeing Beyond the Site INSTAR project and, as the NRA, was also a partner in the Cultivating societies: assessing the evidence for agriculture in Neolithic Ireland and The People of Prehistoric Ireland projects.

The NRA contributed to a number of other INSTAR projects by facilitating access to excavation reports and other unpublished data derived from archaeological investigations on national road schemes. These projects included:

• An integrated, comprehensive GIS model of landscape evolution & land use history in the River Boyne Valley
• Early Medieval Archaeology Project
• Making Christian Landscapes
• Mapping Death: boundaries and territories in Ireland, 1st to 8th centuries AD