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.

At Swim Two Birds

In response to ICOMOS Palestine's February 2025 appeal, archaeologists of conscience everywhere are mobilising. We are calling on our representative bodies to boycott Israel now!
forms.gle/m8De7pW2oG4K... #archaeology #🏺 #eaa2025

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.

This is a significant humiliation for the Irish govt as it got bumped from a White House event today.

A search of newspaper archives finds the names McMurphy, O'Banion, McGraw and even the odd O'Day. The various registration acts (alongside anglicisation) seems to have standardized form/spelling of Irish surnames and squeezed out some eclectic variants.

This is also compressing centuries of human endeavour into a single narrative episode. For 2300-2000 BC, distribution of lunulae/sun discs/neck rings etc suggests one scope of analysis needs to be Europe-wide. And it's by no means Wessex-centric, either.

On the 'planes of Ballynahatne', near Dundalk. Presumably close to Ballynahattin townland, but now gone. Was already being destroyed ('stones broken up and removed') in 1748.

What if Stonehenge just turned out to be a microcosm of other Stonehenges?

'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).

But is that congruency in ethics illusory if policy/practice/legislation are so different?

An obvious example of divergence is metal-detecting (RoI & NI v GB).

Is state policy/practice largely a nod to scope/sources of collections in national institutions (eg comparing NMI and BM). Potential contradiction in arguing for and legislating for compulsory state ownership of archaeological objects etc but *just in this state* (not yours).

The object itself needs more work (maybe XRF, micro-analysis of object surface where ogham was added, etc). Post 100 AD material culture is generally understudied - by archaeologists anyway - as it's mistaken as 'just Roman imports' (when that IS the material culture).

Michael J O'Kelly published on ogham inscriptions, their transcription and translation (eg corkhist.ie/wp-content/u...). So the lack of fanfare hints that he doubted its antiquity. The Dunraven lunula had ogham added around 1850, so it wouldn't be the only such object with a more recent ogham added.

O'Kelly is disproportionately tight-lipped about the bronze plaque (E56.1715), eg in Carson & O'Kelly (JRSAI 1977) given its obvious/potential significance. Not clear how secure the context is, either. May even have arrived later as a (scholastic) curiosity rather than 4th-5th century.

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.

is also lost but was found near Aughnacloy. The third is in
NMI and from Athlone. It is hard to see any of the three as being made without sight of the others. So the minor variations shown in the motif numbers looks intentional.