The archaeology of later medieval Gaeilc lordship: insights from Ó Cellaig Country in eastern Connacht.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to scheduling conflicts, this lecture will take place on Tuesday, October 14th, as opposed to our usual Monday evenings.
The Gaelic-Irish Ó Cellaig (O’Kelly) lordship of Uí Maine and Tír Maine is both a subject and territorial unit that many Irish archaeologists, historians and historical geographers have hazily encountered at times during the course of their research, possibly without ever obtaining a familiarity. A later medieval lordship which straddled the River Suck in the modern counties of Roscommon and Galway, it has, up until recently, received very little historical or archaeological research.
This talk will first set about placing the Ó Cellaig in their territory. Thereafter, utilising a multidisciplinary approach with archaeological inspection at its core, a select number of case study Uí Chellaig lordly centres (cenn áiteanna) and associated cultural landscapes will be interrogated. We will examine questions about the form of elite settlement espoused by the Gaelic Irish through the period, and consider how and where in their lordship they derived, and demonstrated, their wealth and authority. The talk will conclude by highlighting the recurrent themes which have emerged over the course of the research, and their potential implications for our understanding of later medieval Gaelic Ireland more generally.
Daniel Patrick Curley is a native of Taughmaconnell, Co. Roscommon. He is a graduate of the University of Galway, most recently with a PhD in Archaeology. The subject of this doctoral research, and recent monograph, is an identification and exploration of the archaeology of the later medieval lordly centres of the Gaelic Irish Uí Chellaig (O’Kelly) lords of Uí Maine and Tír Maine, modern south Roscommon and east Galway. Daniel is the manager of Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, the interpretive resource for the vast Rathcroghan Archaeological Landscape, the prehistoric and early historic ceremonial capital of Connacht.
Date: Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Time: 20:00/8pm
Venue: Harbour Hotel, Galway