The Place of the Late Medieval Church in Ulster
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of Natural and Built Environment
Abstract
This PhD seeks to ask how local parish churches were used as a means of displaying power and identity
across both the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic-Irish cultures of late medieval Ireland. Adopting a landscape
methodology and taking the archdiocese of Armagh as a case study, it will undertake buildings survey of
surviving parish churches and carry out spatial analyses through Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to assess how communities and lords invested in church building and related to it within the landscape, comparing the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic-Irish territories to analyse the similarities and differences of approach to display power and cultural identity.
across both the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic-Irish cultures of late medieval Ireland. Adopting a landscape
methodology and taking the archdiocese of Armagh as a case study, it will undertake buildings survey of
surviving parish churches and carry out spatial analyses through Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to assess how communities and lords invested in church building and related to it within the landscape, comparing the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic-Irish territories to analyse the similarities and differences of approach to display power and cultural identity.
Organisations
| Description | Conference Paper at Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented a paper about some of the findings of my research at the Society for Medieval Archaeology's Student Colloquium, which was attended by postgraduates from the UK and elsewhere in Europe. It highlighted archaeological research in Ireland to them (as most were based in England), and demonstrated the value of interdisciplinary research. There was discussion with some afterwards about my work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Conference Paper at Ulster Archaeological Society's Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented a paper on my research at the Ulster Archaeological Society's annual Discovery Conference, which was attented by academics, professional archaeologists (working for fieldwork units), and the general public. The paper was followed by a number of questions from both the public and academics, and many expressed an interest to hear more about the research, and encouraged me to present again at another conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Seminar in Theological College |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented a seminar to staff and postgraduate students (both UK-based and international) at Union Theological College about my research, which raised interest in the history of churches before the Reformation, and sparked good questions and discussion afterwards about different aspects of this. Some staff have since been in contact with further questions, so it has ignited an interest in the older history of the Church. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |