Geophysics and the study of early church sites: a comparative approach within the kingdom of Fir Maige, Co. Cork

O'Donnell, Rory John

Geophysics and the study of early church sites: a comparative approach within the kingdom of Fir Maige, Co. Cork

dc.availability.bitstream	embargoed
dc.check.date	2024-05-30
dc.contributor.advisor	Ó Carragáin, Tomás	en
dc.contributor.author	O'Donnell, Rory John
dc.date.accessioned	2021-05-24T10:07:43Z
dc.date.available	2021-05-24T10:07:43Z
dc.date.issued	2020-10-09
dc.date.submitted	2020-10-09
dc.description.abstract	In recent years archaeological research on early ecclesiastical sites has often been focused on architecture and sculpture, with less attention paid to the diversity of origins, extent, layout and level of anthropogenic activity at these sites. To date, no project has taken a comparative approach to ecclesiastical sites within a well-defined territory using geophysics as the main method of investigation. This thesis demonstrates the benefits of this approach by providing new insights into all the issues listed above. It presents the results of geophysical surveys (comprehensive gradiometery surveys coupled with more targeted earth resistance) of four ecclesiastical sites in the kingdom of Fir Maige, Co. Cork, namely Kildrum, Killeenemer, Brigown and Labbamolaga. This study area was chosen, in part, because of detailed textual evidence suggesting that these four sites varied significantly in character. The project aimed to investigate whether this was borne out by the archaeological evidence. Labbamolaga is commonly cited as an example of an ecclesiastical site established at a place of non-Christian ritual, but the geophysical survey brings this into question. There was a positive correlation between the scale of the sites and their relative importance according to the textual sources. The geophysical anomalies were tentatively divided into indicators of agricultural, craft, domestic and ritual activity. Two of the four churches (Brigown and Labbamolaga) were important establishments of reputedly monastic character with extensive estates. There was more, albeit tentative, evidence for craft activity at these two sites, suggesting they were significant centres of production, whereas other churches without large estates were not. Thus, the project contributes to our understanding of the diversity of ecclesiastical sites in the Early Middle Ages.	en
dc.description.status	Not peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Accepted Version	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	O'Donnell, R. J. 2020. Geophysics and the study of early church sites: a comparative approach within the kingdom of Fir Maige, Co. Cork. MPhil Thesis, University College Cork.	en
dc.identifier.endpage	403	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/11368
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	University College Cork	en
dc.rights	© 2020, Rory John O'Donnell	en
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	en
dc.subject	Geophysics	en
dc.subject	Archaeology	en
dc.title	Geophysics and the study of early church sites: a comparative approach within the kingdom of Fir Maige, Co. Cork	en
dc.type	Masters thesis (Research)	en
dc.type.qualificationlevel	Masters	en
dc.type.qualificationname	MPhil - Master of Philosophy	en