Professor Rachel Moss

Summary

Monastic Ireland: landscape and settlement is phase 2 of research initiated by Dr Rachel Moss, (TCD) Dr Edel Bhreathnach( the Discovery Programme) and Dr Malgorzata Krasnodebska-D'Aughton(UCC) in 2010. Phase 1, now nearing completion, has achieved the successful assembly of baseline data (historical synopses, image archives, transcriptions of relevant primary documents and tourism information) relating to monasteries across the island of Ireland. Phase 2 of the programme will seek to clarify the role of monasteries c. 1100-1700 in shaping the distribution and form of Irish urban and rural settlement. The role played by monastic communities in attracting adjacent settlements, and in the process of colonisation and social control of already established populations, will be analysed in the context of broader trends across Europe. The particularly rich survivals of relevant archaeological, architectural and documentary sources in Ireland means that it is ideally placed within the now vibrant arena of European monastic studies to answer key questions relevant to the Continent as a whole. The collaboration between TCD, UCC and the Discovery Programme will enable the project to combine more traditional desk-based study and field observation with cutting-edge technologies not usually harnessed in the disciplines of art history and history. Digital surveying techniques, including Lidar and geophysical survey, have the potential to reveal subtle changes in building fabric, and adjacent, now below ground, evidence of settlement not visible to the naked eye. This will provide new information, which will complement and clarify more traditional sources, research and teaching methods.

Funding Agency

IRC

Programme

Advanced Project grants

Summary

The project entails the treatment, technical examination, digitisation and art historical study of four of TCD Library's most important early medieval gospel books; Codex Usserianius Primus, The Garland of Howth, the Book of Dimma and the Book of Mulling.

Funding Agency

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Programme

Art Conservation Fund

Project Type

Conservation and research

Summary

Art and Architecture in Ireland is an ambitious project to be administered by the Royal Irish Academy. The aim of the Project is to produce a definitive five volume academic reference text that covers the history of Irish art and architecture from c. AD400 to c.2000. It is envisaged that the text will also be published in digital form. Involvement includes editing and over two thirds of the written contributions to volume 1, Medieval Art and Architecture, c.400-1600.

Funding Agency

Naughton Trust and Department of Arts Sports and Tourism

Summary

This project aims to transform the study of Gothic architecture in Ireland through the use of modern analytical methods and data resources. The study will focus on the introduction and spread of Gothic forms, especially in the thirteenth century, and it will lay particular emphasis on the perception and exploitation of these buildings in succeeding ages. The intention is to establish a small research team, based on an existing area of strength within the School of Histories and Humanities. It is important to stress that there has been no 'defining' work on Irish Gothic design since the 1950s, and virtually no examination of the ways in which Irish design relates to Gothic found elsewhere in Europe, nor any examination of its relationship with the social and political contexts of the time. A key (and unusual) element in the proposal is the intention to take a 'holistic' view of the Gothic monuments involved, examining building as part of a continuous historical process; in other words the aim is to analyse buildings not just as monuments of one particular period, but as historical 'documents' which have much to tell us about the attitudes and aspirations of subsequent eras. The project will thus examine how the use and treatment of Gothic buildings has been affected by social, economic, religious and cultural change in subsequent ages (including the modern era). With its emphasis on the process of colonisation and post colonisation, combined with the investigation of how the meaning and perception of Gothic monuments have changed and evolved over a period of five hundred years.

Funding Agency

IRCHSS

Programme

Thematic grants scheme

Summary

The Monastic Ireland project aims to construct a website, database and image sensitive application of Irish monasteries, nunneries, houses of canons and mendicant foundations dating from 1100-1700AD. The website and database will aim to provide easily navigable information about each site (archaeology, architecture, archives, history, source references, access). It will also include photographs and location maps. The database will allow local communities and interested groups to see how challenges facing sites in their own locality are similar to those faced elsewhere. For educational and tourism purposes it will provide an overview of sites in a holistic regional context as opposed to individual sites devoid of a national and international narrative. This project will form the basis of a powerful tool for cultural tourism in Ireland. Project Partner with: Dr Edel Bhreathnach, (Discovery Programme)and Dr Malgorzata Krasnodebska-D'Aughton(UCC)

Funding Agency

Dept. of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht; Fáilte Ireland (Applied Research Grant)