by Therese Hicks

As some of the group have heard me speak on the Kennedys previously. This talk will consist of an overview of the history of the family as well as an in depth look at some of the more noteworthy details of Sir Robert Kennedy, baronet, and the first of this line.

If you would like to read my description of what it was like researching this family, you can find it at https://cryssabazos.com/2022/12/05/the-kennedys-of-mount-kennedy-research-for-a-17th-century-irish-family-guest-post-by-therese-hicks/

by Finola Finlay

Finola Finlay trained as an archaeologist and historian, excavating at Newgrange with Prof O’Kelly, and researching prehistoric Irish rock art. She excavated fur trade forts in Northern Canada and researched the history of the land-based fur trade. She spent most of her working life in Canada, however, in Higher Education administration. Now back in Ireland, she writes, with her husband Robert Harris, the arts and culture blog Roaringwater Journal (https://roaringwaterjournal.com/). She studies, photographs and writes about stained glass for her own blog and for other publications, including the Irish Arts Review and Glass Ireland. She is a contributor to the Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass.

by Paul Gosling

River-fords are a common but half-forgotten feature of the Irish countryside, their positions recalled (if at all) only by ‘áth’ placenames, historic maps and local memory. Being gifts of nature, they are distinctly un-monumental and liminal locations. As a result, they have featured only intermittently in academic research: their existence often overlooked by archaeologists; their presence a mere backdrop for historians; their orthography, a trifling interest for philologists. Yet fords offer great potential for historic geography and landscape archaeology. As places where topography and geology intersect, river-fords offer key insights into travel, community interaction, and settlement patterns. This lecture will explore the characteristics of historic fords and offer a methodology for their identification.

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on 4th January followed by a talk by Cathy Scuffil on “Weaving in the Liberties”.

This talk suggests reasons why weaving should be brought back to The Liberties in the same way distilling and brewing have returned with the area’s regeneration. And, as a teaser, there may be a big reveal at the end.