John Ó Néill
@jjconeill.bsky.social
Archaeology, heritage, history. Prehistory. Policy and practice.
I think UCD had a Chair of Archaeology created in 1854 as well (although in Ireland, obviously). But Liverpool had a rich history of public museums, including one for Egyptology going back to mid-19th century (a lot of it funded by Joseph Mayer). Museums clearly had non-classical collections too.
September 10, 2025 at 6:20 AM
I think UCD had a Chair of Archaeology created in 1854 as well (although in Ireland, obviously). But Liverpool had a rich history of public museums, including one for Egyptology going back to mid-19th century (a lot of it funded by Joseph Mayer). Museums clearly had non-classical collections too.
Only saw it this weekend. Yep (stone is in SW quadrant of cairn as shown, just to SW of the hole in top of mound that is filled with stones). Looks like just one stone was rolled out of the group filling the hole. Other stone with marks in the hole.
March 18, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Only saw it this weekend. Yep (stone is in SW quadrant of cairn as shown, just to SW of the hole in top of mound that is filled with stones). Looks like just one stone was rolled out of the group filling the hole. Other stone with marks in the hole.
Someone appears to have moved a couple of stones on an overgrown mound just behind McArts Fort on Cavehill (above Belfast) exposing a couple of possible cup-marked stones.
#rockart #megalith #archaeology
#rockart #megalith #archaeology
March 17, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Someone appears to have moved a couple of stones on an overgrown mound just behind McArts Fort on Cavehill (above Belfast) exposing a couple of possible cup-marked stones.
#rockart #megalith #archaeology
#rockart #megalith #archaeology
What if Stonehenge just turned out to be a microcosm of other Stonehenges?
December 21, 2024 at 12:30 PM
What if Stonehenge just turned out to be a microcosm of other Stonehenges?
This is a lesser known find from #Newgrange (since it’s the #Solstice) - a gold Roman bracelet terminal inscribed with SCBONS:MB, one of the 4th century AD votive offerings at the site. The MB is 'manibus', 'to the spirits' while 'SCBONS' could be an abbreviated name.
December 21, 2024 at 8:57 AM
This is a lesser known find from #Newgrange (since it’s the #Solstice) - a gold Roman bracelet terminal inscribed with SCBONS:MB, one of the 4th century AD votive offerings at the site. The MB is 'manibus', 'to the spirits' while 'SCBONS' could be an abbreviated name.
'Torc' Hotel is a bit of sublime convergence: the name comes from Torc Waterfall ('Easach Toirc' in Irish, which means 'falls of the wild boar'). The waterfall drains a corrie lake on Mangerton Mt close to where a lunula - in BM - was found (that is the hotel logo).
December 5, 2024 at 7:50 AM
'Torc' Hotel is a bit of sublime convergence: the name comes from Torc Waterfall ('Easach Toirc' in Irish, which means 'falls of the wild boar'). The waterfall drains a corrie lake on Mangerton Mt close to where a lunula - in BM - was found (that is the hotel logo).
And another group of three lunulae. One from Cavan (Lissanover), Tyrone (Tullanafoile) and a lunulae that survives as a drawing only but is likely from Co. Antrim. Only variation in layout and motifs is in the number of certain motifs.
November 24, 2024 at 2:36 PM
And another group of three lunulae. One from Cavan (Lissanover), Tyrone (Tullanafoile) and a lunulae that survives as a drawing only but is likely from Co. Antrim. Only variation in layout and motifs is in the number of certain motifs.
Early Bronze Age lunulae. These three are so similar they have been repeatedly mistaken for each other. The top one is a roller press image of a lunula owned by Richard Pococke, current whereabouts unknown. Likely provenance is in 'Ossory' (Laois/Kilkenny) where he was bishop 1756-65. The second...
November 24, 2024 at 11:46 AM
Early Bronze Age lunulae. These three are so similar they have been repeatedly mistaken for each other. The top one is a roller press image of a lunula owned by Richard Pococke, current whereabouts unknown. Likely provenance is in 'Ossory' (Laois/Kilkenny) where he was bishop 1756-65. The second...
...offending their sensibilities.
As the Bathing Place was beside a major shipping lane, fatalities were frequent, with victims as young as six.
It, like the Intercepting Hospital, was also beside the main sewage plant outflows.
This is the hospital (in the photo).
As the Bathing Place was beside a major shipping lane, fatalities were frequent, with victims as young as six.
It, like the Intercepting Hospital, was also beside the main sewage plant outflows.
This is the hospital (in the photo).
November 14, 2024 at 6:49 PM
...offending their sensibilities.
As the Bathing Place was beside a major shipping lane, fatalities were frequent, with victims as young as six.
It, like the Intercepting Hospital, was also beside the main sewage plant outflows.
This is the hospital (in the photo).
As the Bathing Place was beside a major shipping lane, fatalities were frequent, with victims as young as six.
It, like the Intercepting Hospital, was also beside the main sewage plant outflows.
This is the hospital (in the photo).
To continue my current fad for the archaeology of (Belfast) dystopias.
This is Belfast Lough around 1900.
The West and East Twin Islands were created by dredging to make it safer for shipping to navigate the channel into Belfast port. Not dystopian, obviously.
An Intercepting Hospital was added...
This is Belfast Lough around 1900.
The West and East Twin Islands were created by dredging to make it safer for shipping to navigate the channel into Belfast port. Not dystopian, obviously.
An Intercepting Hospital was added...
November 14, 2024 at 6:39 PM
To continue my current fad for the archaeology of (Belfast) dystopias.
This is Belfast Lough around 1900.
The West and East Twin Islands were created by dredging to make it safer for shipping to navigate the channel into Belfast port. Not dystopian, obviously.
An Intercepting Hospital was added...
This is Belfast Lough around 1900.
The West and East Twin Islands were created by dredging to make it safer for shipping to navigate the channel into Belfast port. Not dystopian, obviously.
An Intercepting Hospital was added...
A bit of dystopian heritage for all the X fugitives.
Meet HMS Gibraltar. A first-rate 101-gun ship of the line. From 1872-99 it lay in Belfast Lough as a 'training ship'. It was a reformatory for boys 10-14 (some younger), with the presence to 'training' exposed by the lack of a sea-going tender...
Meet HMS Gibraltar. A first-rate 101-gun ship of the line. From 1872-99 it lay in Belfast Lough as a 'training ship'. It was a reformatory for boys 10-14 (some younger), with the presence to 'training' exposed by the lack of a sea-going tender...
November 13, 2024 at 11:13 PM
A bit of dystopian heritage for all the X fugitives.
Meet HMS Gibraltar. A first-rate 101-gun ship of the line. From 1872-99 it lay in Belfast Lough as a 'training ship'. It was a reformatory for boys 10-14 (some younger), with the presence to 'training' exposed by the lack of a sea-going tender...
Meet HMS Gibraltar. A first-rate 101-gun ship of the line. From 1872-99 it lay in Belfast Lough as a 'training ship'. It was a reformatory for boys 10-14 (some younger), with the presence to 'training' exposed by the lack of a sea-going tender...
Slightly different shapes, but two intact Bowl Food Vessels (the less obviously bowl-shaped one just about falls within the definition).
Dates 2150-1950 cal BC. From a site in County Meath.
#archaeology
Dates 2150-1950 cal BC. From a site in County Meath.
#archaeology
August 8, 2024 at 11:42 AM
Slightly different shapes, but two intact Bowl Food Vessels (the less obviously bowl-shaped one just about falls within the definition).
Dates 2150-1950 cal BC. From a site in County Meath.
#archaeology
Dates 2150-1950 cal BC. From a site in County Meath.
#archaeology
Northern lights, Wexford, Ireland
May 10, 2024 at 10:34 PM
Northern lights, Wexford, Ireland
This is an 1815 watercolour of a (now destroyed) #neolithic tomb (in Ireland). Unusual pottery vessel found in second chamber shown in the foreground, clearly not Neolithic (and presumably intrusive and much later). Is it #Etruscan #Greek #IronAge or something else?
#archaeology
February 11, 2024 at 11:34 AM
This is an 1815 watercolour of a (now destroyed) #neolithic tomb (in Ireland). Unusual pottery vessel found in second chamber shown in the foreground, clearly not Neolithic (and presumably intrusive and much later). Is it #Etruscan #Greek #IronAge or something else?
#archaeology
...French captured (and after a few days abandoned) Carrickfergus. So the fort may date to then.
Today the medieval bridge and later fort lie hidden and long forgotten somewhere beneath the junction of the Mountycoller Ave and North Queen Street in #Belfast (as shown in the picture).
Today the medieval bridge and later fort lie hidden and long forgotten somewhere beneath the junction of the Mountycoller Ave and North Queen Street in #Belfast (as shown in the picture).
December 2, 2023 at 1:36 PM
...French captured (and after a few days abandoned) Carrickfergus. So the fort may date to then.
Today the medieval bridge and later fort lie hidden and long forgotten somewhere beneath the junction of the Mountycoller Ave and North Queen Street in #Belfast (as shown in the picture).
Today the medieval bridge and later fort lie hidden and long forgotten somewhere beneath the junction of the Mountycoller Ave and North Queen Street in #Belfast (as shown in the picture).
...the Milewater being the northern boundaries of the liberties around Belfast. The 19th century sketch map shows the fort beside the bridge, which was described by John Thomson as "The arch of the bridge was so damaged that its original form could not be determined, but was probably...
December 2, 2023 at 1:31 PM
...the Milewater being the northern boundaries of the liberties around Belfast. The 19th century sketch map shows the fort beside the bridge, which was described by John Thomson as "The arch of the bridge was so damaged that its original form could not be determined, but was probably...
Interested in any obvious parallels to this brick-built fort or block-house. Recorded in the 19th century, it purports to date to 1640 (reputedly built by Catholic Confederate forces). There is recorded expenditure of £2 10s from 1640 at the Milewater Bridge where it was located...
#archaeology
#archaeology
December 2, 2023 at 1:26 PM
Interested in any obvious parallels to this brick-built fort or block-house. Recorded in the 19th century, it purports to date to 1640 (reputedly built by Catholic Confederate forces). There is recorded expenditure of £2 10s from 1640 at the Milewater Bridge where it was located...
#archaeology
#archaeology
...features in various myths recorded in medieval manuscripts, in the latest Journal of Irish Archaeology (see wordwellbooks.com/index.php?ro...).
This also looks at how similar gold objects developed over much of Atlantic Europe in 2300-2000 BC.
#archaeology
This also looks at how similar gold objects developed over much of Atlantic Europe in 2300-2000 BC.
#archaeology
November 18, 2023 at 11:25 AM
...features in various myths recorded in medieval manuscripts, in the latest Journal of Irish Archaeology (see wordwellbooks.com/index.php?ro...).
This also looks at how similar gold objects developed over much of Atlantic Europe in 2300-2000 BC.
#archaeology
This also looks at how similar gold objects developed over much of Atlantic Europe in 2300-2000 BC.
#archaeology
...promoted the idea that ancient antiquities and monuments had to imports and the work of immigrants, and disputed the value of research on Irish history or archaeology.
You can read Goulburn's correspondence contesting the significance of a gold lunula found in Sligo, at Moytirra, a site that...
You can read Goulburn's correspondence contesting the significance of a gold lunula found in Sligo, at Moytirra, a site that...
November 18, 2023 at 11:20 AM
...promoted the idea that ancient antiquities and monuments had to imports and the work of immigrants, and disputed the value of research on Irish history or archaeology.
You can read Goulburn's correspondence contesting the significance of a gold lunula found in Sligo, at Moytirra, a site that...
You can read Goulburn's correspondence contesting the significance of a gold lunula found in Sligo, at Moytirra, a site that...
This is Henry Goulburn, former Chief Secretary in Ireland, absentee slave and plantation owner, opponent of Catholic Emancipation, MP for Armagh and Chancellor of the Exchequer under Wellington and Peel. And sometime correspondent (as 'Hibernicus') on Irish antiquities and history.
Goulburn...
Goulburn...
November 18, 2023 at 11:11 AM
This is Henry Goulburn, former Chief Secretary in Ireland, absentee slave and plantation owner, opponent of Catholic Emancipation, MP for Armagh and Chancellor of the Exchequer under Wellington and Peel. And sometime correspondent (as 'Hibernicus') on Irish antiquities and history.
Goulburn...
Goulburn...
And these are other figures, which echo the same imagery, seated female figures holding objects (exvotos, offerings as expiation for divine intervention) at Torreparadones. One has a lions mane, echoing the two headed Cloghfin figure.
November 11, 2023 at 11:36 AM
And these are other figures, which echo the same imagery, seated female figures holding objects (exvotos, offerings as expiation for divine intervention) at Torreparadones. One has a lions mane, echoing the two headed Cloghfin figure.
The Mediterranean influence may even be evident on the Tandragee figure as Kingsley Porter saw a resemblance in the profile of its headdress and the comb and veil on figures like this imported figurine found at Aust in Cornwall.
November 11, 2023 at 10:07 AM
The Mediterranean influence may even be evident on the Tandragee figure as Kingsley Porter saw a resemblance in the profile of its headdress and the comb and veil on figures like this imported figurine found at Aust in Cornwall.
Here are some similar figures, from Torreparadones and the 'Priest of Cadiz', suggesting that the cult practices here may reflect a longer and more complex history of cultural contacts.
November 11, 2023 at 10:01 AM
Here are some similar figures, from Torreparadones and the 'Priest of Cadiz', suggesting that the cult practices here may reflect a longer and more complex history of cultural contacts.
The Cloghfin and Lurgan figure both hold similar objects, while the Lurgan figure has another object in its right hand. This object looks like a libation, familiar from a range of carved figures from Iron Age cult sites around Europe (some associated with Celtic-speaking people).
November 11, 2023 at 9:56 AM
The Cloghfin and Lurgan figure both hold similar objects, while the Lurgan figure has another object in its right hand. This object looks like a libation, familiar from a range of carved figures from Iron Age cult sites around Europe (some associated with Celtic-speaking people).