Speaker Profiles

Aoibheann (MPhil Archaeology) has recently taken up the post of Tourist Officer for the Iveragh Gaeltacht. In 2023, and is the coordinator of the inaugural Skellig Coast Archaeology Festival. She worked on UCC's LIVE project from 2021 to early 2023 and is picture here (on the right) with LIVE project manager, Lucy Taylor. Aoibheann is chair of Heritage lveragh/Oidhreacht Uíbh Ráthaigh and, as a rock art specialist, runs a number of social media pages including Rock Art Kerry, Irish Rock Art and Irish Medieval Graffiti.

Tony Bartlett has over 20 years’ experience in the commercial archaeology sector throughout Ireland, Germany and Australia in all aspects of archaeological research, fieldwork and excavation, post-excavation analysis and dissemination, report writing and publication.

Talk - Bronze Age finds at the road works at Bracaragh

Michael Sheehan, our astronomy guide on Friday night, is a keen astrophotographer who was member of the core team responsible for Kerry's being awarded the status of a Gold Tier International Dark Sky Reserve by Dark Sky International in 2014.

He accompanies Aoibheann for Rock Art by Night! on Friday evening at 10pm in Caherdaniel.

Caolán, A UCD undergraduate studying Celtic Civilisation and Irish Folklore, is our Student Speaker for the 2023 Skellig Coast Archaeology Festival. He recently received the Patrick Semple Medal in Celtic Civilisation and Irish Folklore for his academic excellence. The medal is awarded to the student who has the highest subject GPA in Stage 1. He loves everything Ireland has to offer, from her old stories and ancient sites, to her romantic traditions and enigmatic tombs.

www.instagram.com/caolan.maher/ and www.thecelticirish.com

A little over 5000 years ago, the builders of Newgrange etched a beautiful triskelion or triple spiral motif onto the passage tomb's entrance and back recess. Was this symbol purely decorative to the Neolithic people, or may it have meant something much grander? Drawing from archaeological and historical research, this talk traces the symbol's appearance, significance, and possible meaning from the Neolithic period right up to the present day.

Dr Eoin O’Neill is a historian living in Valentia. His doctorate was on state formation and the Nine Years War (1594-1603) and he is currently writing an theoretical history of this war. In addition, he runs the YouTube channel Foras Feasa: Exploring Irish History and has recently set up A Sense of Place, to give historical walks in Valentia and the South Kerry region. Eoin will lead a walk to Eightercua Stone Row in Waterville.


Foras Feasa: Exploring Irish History https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0enp_C8IDnFtAh5zRF7nBg ttps://www.instagram.com/asenseofplace.ie/
A Sense of Place
Site: https://valentiaisland.ie/get_active/a-sense-of-place-walking-tours/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASenseofPlaceKerry
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asenseofplace.ie/

Holger C. Lönze D.Phil. MRBS is a full-time professional sculptor and maker working in metals. Since moving to Ireland in 1995, he has exhibited widely in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy and Spain and has worked on over twenty projects in the public domain. He trained as a furniture maker before studying architecture in Detmold where he became assistant to sculptor Axel Seyler. At the University of Ulster in Belfast he studied lithography and sculpture, completing doctoral research on visual perception and time in sculpture (D.Phil. thesis). As a researcher in environmental design for The Eden Project and Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall he further pursued his interests in craft materials and sustainability and the making of Irish curachs. Holger also participates in collaborative projects and is a professional member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, the Crafts Council of Ireland and Visual Artists Ireland. Click here to view full CV. More info: www.holgerlonze.com

Taking place in the grounds of Holger's home, this experimental archaeology workshop employs techniques which would have been feasible in the Bronze Age to smelt copper and tin to make Bronze. The molten metal is poured into clay moulds - Bronze Age axe heads will be made as part of this casting demonstration. The process, whereby ore is transformed into molten metal is amazing to witness.

Amandaa, explorer, researcher and author, is a former teacher, occasional associate researcher at Leicester University and sometime tutor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Amanda has an MA in Museum and Gallery Education. Since blowing into Ireland twenty one years ago, she has had time to develop her enthusiasm for walking, photography, folklore - and holy wells! She is the author of the recently published Holy Wells of County Cork.

Amanda will be looking at the distribution of Holy Wells on Iveragh, their cures, patterns and patrons, focusing on the associated folklore and rituals.

Useful links:
Blog - holywellscorkandkerry.com
Book: Wildways Press

Dr Paddy Bushe is a poet who writes in both English and Irish. He lives in Waterville. Paddy has published many poetry collections, among them Poems With Amergin (Beaver Row Press, 1989), Teanga (Coiscéim, 1990), Counsellor (Sceilg Press, 1991), Digging Towards The Light (Dedalus Press, 1994), In Ainneoin na gCloch (Coiscéim, 2001), Hopkins on Skellig Michael (Dedalus Press, 2001), The Nitpicking of Cranes (Dedalus, 2004) and To Ring in Deadalus (Dedalus Press, 2007).
A member of Aosdána, Paddy was a recipient of the Oireachtas prize for poetry in 2006 and also the recipient of the 2006 Michael Hartnett Poetry Award.

Calum is a plant biologist and a range in Killarney National Park. He has studied plants all over the world. He previously worked with the LIVE project as a researcher for University College Cork where he studied the plants of the Iveragh peninsula, focussing in particular on native woodlands, bogs, and meadow creation. He worked alongside Aoibheann Lambe and other archaeologists from UCC to investigate and document the fascinating ancient forest at Bunaneer, Castlecove.

Finola is an archaeologist, writer and researcher. She and her husband Robert Harris write the wonderful Roaringwater Journal - first class writing and research.

Finola's talk
'Rock Art - then and now' -
Finola will tell us about her Masters fieldwork on Iveragh 50 years ago as she made her way around the peninsula on her Honda 50.

links: https://roaringwaterjournal.com/

Seanchaí is the old Irish word for Storyteller. Seán tells stories while chatting to and about his goats, live on Facebook, around 8.20am every morning. He also has a more in-depth show, “yarn from the barn” live on YouTube on Saturday mornings at 11am.

links
https://www.facebook.com/SeanAnSeanchai

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5fW0tT09qzZvknn7ZWk3XxCaZgO4agZ6

Ardú (Peter and Rosaleen Mullarkey) will play a selection of traditional music and song from Iveragh and the wider Irish tradition. The concert will also include Celtic pieces from further afield.

link www.binneas.ie

CaoimhIn is a science educator who worked for many years at the Blackrock Observatory in Cork. A fluent Irish speaker and a keen linguist, he works in both English and Irish. He has recently started a business 'Caoimhín's Content' where he tells us about all things astronomical. Caoimhín gives workshops on astronomy at events and for schools.

https://caoimhinscontent.ie/
https://www.youtube.com/@CaoimhinsContent