Ancient Monuments up to 1700 A.D

Dr. Peter Harbison

Dr. Peter Harbison spent much of his working life as archaeologist and magazine editor with Bord Fáilte and, in retirement that isn't, he is now Honorary Academic Editor with the Royal Irish Academy. His 'Guide to the National (and Historic) Monuments of Ireland' is now a classic that has remained in print for over 35 years. He is the author of over twenty books, mostly on the archaeology and art of Ireland, including 'Pre-Christian Ireland' (1988), 'Pilgrimage in Ireland' (1991), 'The High Crosses of Ireland' (3 vols.,1992), 'The Golden Age of Irish Art' (1999), and 'The Crucifixion in Irish Art' (2000). During the last decade and a half, he has produced five volumes on eighteenth-century topographical drawings of Ireland's ancient monuments by artists such as Gabriel Beranger and Austin Cooper. Dr. Harbison is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, an Honorary Member and Professor of Archaeology at the Royal Hibernian Academy and an Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, in addition to being a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Image courtesy of Robin Smith

Dr. Peter Harbison
Image courtesy of Robin Smith

Dr. Peter Harbison

Dr. Peter Harbison spent much of his working life as archaeologist and magazine editor with Bord Fáilte and, in retirement that isn't, he is now Honorary Academic Editor with the Royal Irish Academy. His 'Guide to the National (and Historic) Monuments of Ireland' is now a classic that has remained in print for over 35 years. He is the author of over twenty books, mostly on the archaeology and art of Ireland, including 'Pre-Christian Ireland' (1988), 'Pilgrimage in Ireland' (1991), 'The High Crosses of Ireland' (3 vols.,1992), 'The Golden Age of Irish Art' (1999), and 'The Crucifixion in Irish Art' (2000). During the last decade and a half, he has produced five volumes on eighteenth-century topographical drawings of Ireland's ancient monuments by artists such as Gabriel Beranger and Austin Cooper. Dr. Harbison is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, an Honorary Member and Professor of Archaeology at the Royal Hibernian Academy and an Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, in addition to being a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Image courtesy of Robin Smith

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In the many centuries before the building of the houses that we live in today, the Irish countryside was dotted with thousands of structures made of wood, earth and stone. Discover our ancient monuments in this feature by Dr. Peter Harbison.

In the many centuries before the building of the houses that we live in today, the Irish countryside was dotted with thousands of structures made of wood, earth and stone. The wood has largely disappeared when not encased in stone buildings, while earth has left many traces of its use in the rural landscape. But stone - being more permanent - is the most obvious material which makes its ubiquitous presence felt in the churches, houses, commercial premises, fortifications and public buildings constructed before our own generation went over to cement and concrete, which lacks the attractive patina that stone gets as it ages.

Middle Stone Age

Wood - perhaps in the shape of branches and twigs covered by sods - was probably the material used by Middle Stone Age folk to put a roof over their heads between, say, 8000 and 4000 B.C. These were people who were on the move all the time in search of food, and never sufficiently sedentary for long enough to have put down any permanent roots. It is not surprising, therefore, that, for the first four of the ten thousand years or so that mankind has populated Ireland, there is not a single trace of habitation surviving above ground. It is only through the serendipitous plunge of the archaeologist's spade that we can discover the whereabouts, and something of the nature, of the primitive habitations of these earliest settlers, which would probably have been round in shape, and have had a doorway as the only opening to let in light. Modern reconstructions can be found at the National Heritage Park at Ferrycarrig in Wexford, and its northern counterpart at Gortin, Co. Tyrone.