Rory McNeary
Medieval Rural Settlement Project Archaeologist
Contact Details
Telephone: +353 1 639 3039
Email: rory@discoveryprogramme.ie
Biography
I majored in History BA (Hons.) from Trinity College Dublin in 1996. My undergraduate thesis was an archaeological study of burnt mounds in county Fermanagh, inspired by a summer excavating for the Environment Heritage Service (EHS) in 1994. I worked on a series of private sector archaeological excavations between 1997-1999, including the early medieval enclosed cemetery at Mount Offaly, Cabinteely, Co. Dublin and the diverse archaeological landscape discovered at Cherrywood, Co. Dublin. In 2000 I obtained a MSc. in Maritime Archaeology from the Centre for Maritime Archaeology (CMA), University of Ulster, Coleraine. My thesis was centred on the maritime cultural landscape of south-west Donegal with a particular focus on its past fisheries. I subsequently worked for the Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit (IAWU); Management for Archaeology Underwater (MAU) Ltd. and the Underwater Archaeological Unit (UAU) of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG). My time with the UAU was spent principally as a researcher on the National Shipwreck Inventory. In 2002 I received a government sponsored ‘dive bursary’ which allowed me to complete a professional-standard diving course the following year.
I joined the Discovery Programme in April 2003 as a research archaeologist with the Medieval Rural Settlement Project. During my time with the programme I worked on a variety of research tasks; including archival, cartographic, aerial photographic and GIS research as well as carrying out fieldwork (holding detection licenses for a number of key sites in north Roscommon) and supervising excavations (both at Tulsk and Carns, Co. Roscommon). I also took an active role in the dissemination of research results, including publication and contributed to seminars and conferences. I was also fortunate to be given the opportunity to represent the programme during the European COST Action A27: Understanding pre-industrial structures in rural and mining landscapes (LANDMARKS).
In December 2008 I left the Discovery Programme to take up a Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) funded research post in freshwater archaeology at the Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Ulster, Coleraine. My time with the Discovery Programme was incredibly rewarding and afforded me much opportunity, particularly in the fields of GIS, survey and excavation.
I continue to collaborate with the Medieval Rural Settlement Project as it nears its completion date in 2009/2010.
Publications
Book Chapters:
Shanahan, B. and McNeary, R., ‘Carns townland, Co. Roscommon: excavations by the Medieval Rural Settlement Project in 2006’ in C. Corlett and M. Potterton (eds.), Rural settlement in medieval Ireland, in light of recent archaeological excavations, forthcoming. |
Shanahan, B. and McNeary, R., 'Landscapes of memory in the heartland of Connacht, Ireland' in L. Lévêque and M. Ruiz del Árbol (eds.), Heritage, Images, Memory of European Landscapes, forthcoming. |
McNeary, R. and Shanahan, B., ‘The March in north Roscommon, 12th-14th centuries: culture contact, continuity and change’ in E. O'Byrne, C. Downham and J. Ní Ghrádaigh (eds.), The March in the Medieval West, (Brill Academic Press), forthcoming. |
Moore, F., Brady, K., Kelleher, C., Condit, T., McNeary, R., Murphy, M. and Devane, C., 2008, ‘Introduction to the coastal archaeology and history of counties Louth, Meath, Dublin and Wicklow’, in Brady, K. (comp.), Shipwreck Inventory of Ireland: Louth, Meath, Dublin and Wicklow, (Stationery Office, Dublin), 13-47. |
Corns, A., McNeary, R., Shanahan, B. and Shaw, R. 2006 Rathcroghan and Carnfree, Co. Roscommon (Ireland) In Journeys through European landscapes, Lévêque, L., M.R. del Árbol, L. Pop & C. Bartels (eds) |
Corns, A. and McNeary, R. 2008, ‘Ireland’ in Landscape as Heritage – The Management and Protection of Landscape in Europe, a summary by the Action COST A27 LANDMARKS, Bern (Geographica Bernensia G79) G 79, 157-175. |
McNeary, R. and Shanahan, B. 2008, ‘Settlement and Enclosure in a Medieval Gaelic Lordship: a case study from the territory of the O’Conors of North Roscommon’ in Landmarks and socio-economic Systems: constructing of pre-industrial Landscapes and their Perception by contemporary Societies, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 187-197. |
Brady, N., Corns, A., McNeary, R., Shanahan, B. and Shaw, R. 2005 A survey of the priory and graveyard at Tulsk, Co. Roscommon. In Discovery Programme Reports 7, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin |
McNeary, R. and Shanahan, B. 2005, 'Medieval settlement, society and land use in the Roscommon area: an introduction' in Discovery Programme Reports 7, 3-22. |
Peer Review Journals:
McNeary, R. ‘In pursuit of whale and ‘sunfish’ – eighteenth century shore-based whaling and basking shark fishing, Donegal Bay, Ireland’ in Historical Archaeology, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 115-124. |
Other Journals:
McNeary, R., 2008, ‘Eighteenth Century Whaling and Shark Fishery at Inver, Donegal Bay’, Donegal Annual, 60, 82-97. |
Brady, N., McNeary, R. and Shanahan, B. 2006, 'A new study of land enclosure and settlement in north Roscommon' in the Journal of the Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society, 10, 99-104. |
Professional
Member of the World Archaeology Congress (WAC) |
Member of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) |
Member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI) |
Member of the Irish Post-Medieval Archaeology Group (IPMAG) |
SA (DOL) Class IV & III (HSE approved) commercial diver |