Beltany - rediscovering an ancient landscape
Held on: October 7th, 8th & 9th 2005
Location
Survey
Contact
Conference speakers:
Michael Starrett, Chief Executive, Heritage Council Ireland
Sir Gerry Robinson
Mary Harte
Mary is a politics and history graduate of U.C.D. studying archaeology in first year under Prof. Rurai De Valera. She followed a career in journalism working in Brussels and Dublin before joining B.B.C. Northern Ireland in 1986 working primarily in Derry with assignments in Belfast and London and for a spell in Tokyo. She took a career break in 2001 to study archaeology at N.U.I. Galway graduating with a Diploma in Archaeology in 2003. She is a native of Raphoe and lives close to the Beltany Stone Circle which she says is a constant source of inspiration . A Director of Raphoe Community In Action, Mary is Convenor of the Beltany Conference.
Kevin Barton
Kevin Barton’s professional background and interests range from electronics and computing at college in England, to geology and geophysics whilst working for the Geological Survey in England and abroad, to applied geophysics and archaeology at NUI, Galway and latterly to archaeological geophysics as principal of Landscape & Geophysical surveys in Claremorris, Co Mayo. Kevin has been involved in archaeological geophysics in Ireland for over 15 years and is also a part time lecturer on the Applied Archaeology course at Institute of Technology, Sligo.
Helen Lannigan Wood, Curator Fermanagh County Museum
Belinda Mahaffey, Local Historian
B.A. from T.C.D. in English, History of Art and History and also a Diploma in Education from St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
Mark Keane, Field Monument Advisor, Sligo
Has worked as Field Monument Advisor with Sligo Co Co on a part-time basis since November 2002. Also works as a Guide / Information Officer at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. Previously worked for 20 years in the Financial Services industry particularly in Risk Management & Customer Services. Diploma in Archaeology from N.U.I. Galway and currently doing a Diploma in Community Development & Rural Enterprise.
Stuart Dunlop, Local Naturalist
Stuart is the owner of Donegal Hedgerow - an on-line photographic diary of wildlife in Co. Donegal. He has made a number of appearances on television and radio and is a regular contributor to various newspaper's nature columns. He gives lectures on wildlife and wildlife photography, and is currently researching wildlife in the Neolithic and Bronze-age periods.
Dr. Joseph Gallagher, Heritage Officer, Co. Donegal
Joseph Gallagher holds a B.A. in Human and Physical Geography and the Higher Diploma in Education from University College Galway. He completed an M.A. in Cultural/Historical Geography at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A. and his Ph.D. in Geography at University College London, England. He was Senior Lecturer in Geography at University College Chichester, England from 1993 to 2003. In July 2003, he became County Donegal’s first Heritage Officer.
Dr. Stephan Bergh, NUI Galway
PhD. Lecturer in Archaeology, NUI Galway
Specialising in Landscape Archaeology with focus on the interaction of people and places in the Neolithic.
Main research projects concerns various aspects of passage tombs and their landscape in north west Connacht.
Brian Lacey, Chief Executive Discovery Programme
Brian Lacey was born in Dublin in 1949. He studied Celtic Archaeology and Early including Medieval Irish History at University College Dublin (BA 1st class, 1974), and obtained a D Phil from the University of Ulster in 2000 for interdisciplinary work relating to St Colum Cille. From 1974 to 1986 he was a lecturer in Local Studies (archaeology and history) at Magee University College in Derry, and from 1986 until 1998 was Programme Organiser of Derry City Council's Heritage and Museum Service. During that time he set up, among other things, four museums and a municipal archive service. In the mid 1970's he directed a series of salvage excavations at sites in the centre of bomb-damaged Derry and from 1980 to 1983 directed the archaeological survey of County Donegal. He has lectured and taught widely - both at home and abroad, and has written extensively, both at serious and popular levels, mainly on the history and archaeology of the northwest of Ireland.
Since May 1998 he has been Chief Executive at The Discovery Programme, an archaeological research organisation set up by the Irish government in 1991. He is also a member of various organisations and committees dealing with aspects of Irish heritage.