The Archaeology of the Liberties

by aine archaigh - PRA Fri Sep 22, 2006 09:35

Several archaeologists, who have excavated sites in and around the Liberties over the past 10 years, have come together to give brief (25 minute), illustrated papers on their discoveries at an informal seminar to be held in St. Nicholas of Myra Hall, just off Francis Street, Dublin 8 on Saturday 23 September.

The seminar is being coordinated by PRA and the Liberties Association Heritage Group and is being held as a reaction to the increasing difficulties local people have accessing and visiting archaeological sites in their neighbourhood. This is partly due to health and safety restrictions, however, it is equally obvious that property developers do not particularly want their sites open to the general public during the initial stages of the development. Where developers are increasingly seeing archaeology as something that has to be done as a planning requirement, the last thing they want to see is the discovery of significant remains, slowing down the project and adding to the overall cost.

Some archaeologists have found that developers have effectively had them silenced, not permitting any contact with the media, let along the local population, effectively privatising something as nebulus but as important as local heritage, a community's psychological anchor to its past.

As archaeologists, we feel that we're losing contact with the urban communities we work within, missing out on stories and local traditions which often provide a valuable counterweight to the dry facts presented in the grey literature of archaeological research; from a community perspective, as redevelopment continues apace throughout the area, it is often the presence of an archaeological crew that provides the first indication that a site is about to be developed.

Most of the information recorded during these investigations is not accessible to the public who live around the site, or who may even perhaps have lived on the site. Saturday's seminar is an attempt to redress this and is primarily aimed at the people of the area.

Admission is free and the event begins at 10.00, with a break between 12.30 and 14.30. At 16.30 there'll be a general discussion about archaeology, heritage and development.

If you can't make it, maybe you'd consider going on the anti-war march instead!

Programme of talks

by Boomkat Fri Sep 22, 2006 09:44

Came across a poster for this in NCAD today, looks like a great session. Make sure you get the various contributers or yourself to post up some report back on Indymedia. A 10am start after a hectic Friday night can be too much for the best of us. ;-)