Archaeology

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Jones, Carleton
Temples of Stone Exploring the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland

Dolmens and burial chambers dot the Irish countryside and fascinate all. Once dismissed as ‘rude monuments’ shrouded in mystery, fresh archaeological interpretations provide new ways of understanding these ancient structures.

2007

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Powell, Elinor D.U.
The High Crosses of Ireland Inspirations in Stone

“Those great stone crosses standing out in Ireland’s countryside are the country’s greatest contribution to world sculpture, and contain the largest amount of religious carving preserved anywhere in Europe from the last quarter of the first Christian millennium. They are found in what are now churchyards, but were once monasteries of piety and peace which spread Ireland’s zeal for learning and scholarship across the European continent. These crosses stand as elegant monuments to a high civilisation, and their shape with the characteristic ring around the head became such a potent nationalistic symbol in the mid-nineteenth century that it was used for grave memorials on both sides of the Atlantic for those who wanted to identify themselves as Irish. . . .

Liffey Press 2007