Week 1 Part 2 Achill Island: 20-28 May 2016
Monday:
Starting the week off we had to be in the small lecture room at 9:30 am to make introductions and listen to a mini-lecture on the island. After finishing up around 11:30 we came back to the house for the oh so european "tea time" and went on an adventure up to the common grounds, land that is unclaimed, to visit the deserted village (deserted in 1835) of the 17th century Slievemore houses. I can not explain how pretty the views are here so for once in my life I am going to be diligent about taking and posting pictures.
We learned all about the lands natural peat and how it is still used as an inefficient heating source because of the drive to keep the islands natural history. Farmers still cut it by hand and lay it out to dry even though is does not burn as well or hot as the chemically treated and machine cut peat. We walked up to old ruins of the Slievemore houses and talked about how families of 12 or more would live in these small areas with their cows simply to provide heat. These houses are speckled all over the island and are relatively in tact.
Near this area is a strange modern creation called "Achill Henge" where a community member built an ugly concrete version of Stone Henge without a permit, was caught and unable to finish. Despite the government issuing a plea to tear it down, four years later it still stands as an attraction and place for graffiti artists to collect.
We came home and spent the rest of the day getting to know each other and relaxing in the house.
Tuesday:
Tuesday we met at 9:00 am to be taken up to the site for the first time, a Bronze age house. Jackie comes and picks us up everyday to do so. Once we got to the site we went up a very big hill to collect our shovels, buckets, and surveying material we were presented with an even bigger hill to go up to the site. I am going to have the strongest legs after these 6 weeks, because this is seriously the biggest hill I have ever gone up. I probably shouldn't call it a hill, just a mountain. *edit I stand corrected*
We began by going over to the previous site to look at the walls and a "cool round-y thing" that had Stuart and the supervisors pumped. After more surveying and digging, it is not clear as to what importance it holds and has upset Stuart greatly. Near this site is an old passage tomb that Stuart gave us a quick run down on that was very interesting.
We went over towards our site and began turf cutting. This took the entire day and part of the next but it was done easily due to lots of conversation and perfect weather.
Going back I spent time in the library with Maddie going through magazines to pick a topic for my paper I have to write for academic credit. I found a few interesting topics such as Bog bodies, ear spools and body ornamentation, and Holy Wells. I probably will end up doing my paper on Holy Wells since there is a vast amount of information about it. Luckily this paper is only around 4 pages, so I am not at all worried about fitting it into my busy and tiring schedule.
Wednesday:
Same as Tuesday we headed up to the site around 9:00 am to finish up turf cutting and to begin troweling. There are so many rocks in the way that it is a bit confusing as to what is going on. There is an interesting wall that seems to be running through and I found a slate of charcoal that seemed to spark Stuart's interest. Same as before we worked diligently and were tired out.
I am very appreciative of all of the breaks that Stuart gives us from digging. These consist of PB & Js, apples, oranges, conversation, and naps.
Thursday:
After heading up to the site, it was obvious that the midges were going to be bad today. I of course forgot bug spray but everyone is great about sharing. You can't feel them biting you and their bites don't itch until you scratch them. Mostly they are just annoying.
We just kept troweling and troweling all day Thursday and got a lot done. This was one of the first days Stuart brought a radio and was listening to cricket. I can confidently say that I have absolutely no interest in cricket.
We worked hard all day and went on home. It was pretty routine.
Friday:
Friday was a fun and hot day. It was a half day starting at 9:30 am when we watched a film on Irish artifacts at the National Museum. Jackie picked us up around 11:00 am where we went up to the site. The midges were bad but we got a lot done. Monday we will be able to start going down deeper and removing even more of the unnecessary rocks to try and figure out this shocking bronze age house.
Once we all got home and showered up a few of us went to the pub for dinner and drinks. I had delicious fish and chips (curry fries) before everybody showed up. Everybody was there that night having a good time, even Stuart came. We all stayed up entirely too late for the 8 am departure that was happening on Saturday but it was worth it.
Saturday:
Saturday it was a struggle to get up but we all managed. We got to sleep on the 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Co. Sligo. Once we got there we went and took a quick tour of a bunch of old "passage" tombs (not really passages, but whatever) in Carrowmore.
After that we went and toured the mostly medieval Sligo Abbey (also not really an Abbey, they just keep calling them the wrong names). This was my favorite by far. The architecture was really interesting and the tour guide was packed full of information. An interesting thing that I learned about medieval architecture was that it was a lot of random artistic renderings put together that had no pattern at all.
We went up to a larger tomb where there were "key hole" passage tombs that seemed to be added onto the structure but have been discovered that they were planned into the original structure. He also told us a story about a peagan wedding that happened where they were having a baby ceremony. There was also a rag tree that was at this site, though it isn't ancient it is a popular practice around holy wells starting in the 1950s.
We then went to the poet Yeate's grave which I didn't really care about but to the obligatory tourist picture.
We didn't get back until about 7:30 where we sent Courtney and David off back into the real world and came on home.
Starting the week off we had to be in the small lecture room at 9:30 am to make introductions and listen to a mini-lecture on the island. After finishing up around 11:30 we came back to the house for the oh so european "tea time" and went on an adventure up to the common grounds, land that is unclaimed, to visit the deserted village (deserted in 1835) of the 17th century Slievemore houses. I can not explain how pretty the views are here so for once in my life I am going to be diligent about taking and posting pictures.
We learned all about the lands natural peat and how it is still used as an inefficient heating source because of the drive to keep the islands natural history. Farmers still cut it by hand and lay it out to dry even though is does not burn as well or hot as the chemically treated and machine cut peat. We walked up to old ruins of the Slievemore houses and talked about how families of 12 or more would live in these small areas with their cows simply to provide heat. These houses are speckled all over the island and are relatively in tact.
Near this area is a strange modern creation called "Achill Henge" where a community member built an ugly concrete version of Stone Henge without a permit, was caught and unable to finish. Despite the government issuing a plea to tear it down, four years later it still stands as an attraction and place for graffiti artists to collect.
We came home and spent the rest of the day getting to know each other and relaxing in the house.
Tuesday:
Tuesday we met at 9:00 am to be taken up to the site for the first time, a Bronze age house. Jackie comes and picks us up everyday to do so. Once we got to the site we went up a very big hill to collect our shovels, buckets, and surveying material we were presented with an even bigger hill to go up to the site. I am going to have the strongest legs after these 6 weeks, because this is seriously the biggest hill I have ever gone up. I probably shouldn't call it a hill, just a mountain. *edit I stand corrected*
We began by going over to the previous site to look at the walls and a "cool round-y thing" that had Stuart and the supervisors pumped. After more surveying and digging, it is not clear as to what importance it holds and has upset Stuart greatly. Near this site is an old passage tomb that Stuart gave us a quick run down on that was very interesting.
We went over towards our site and began turf cutting. This took the entire day and part of the next but it was done easily due to lots of conversation and perfect weather.
Going back I spent time in the library with Maddie going through magazines to pick a topic for my paper I have to write for academic credit. I found a few interesting topics such as Bog bodies, ear spools and body ornamentation, and Holy Wells. I probably will end up doing my paper on Holy Wells since there is a vast amount of information about it. Luckily this paper is only around 4 pages, so I am not at all worried about fitting it into my busy and tiring schedule.
Wednesday:
Same as Tuesday we headed up to the site around 9:00 am to finish up turf cutting and to begin troweling. There are so many rocks in the way that it is a bit confusing as to what is going on. There is an interesting wall that seems to be running through and I found a slate of charcoal that seemed to spark Stuart's interest. Same as before we worked diligently and were tired out.
I am very appreciative of all of the breaks that Stuart gives us from digging. These consist of PB & Js, apples, oranges, conversation, and naps.
Thursday:
After heading up to the site, it was obvious that the midges were going to be bad today. I of course forgot bug spray but everyone is great about sharing. You can't feel them biting you and their bites don't itch until you scratch them. Mostly they are just annoying.
We just kept troweling and troweling all day Thursday and got a lot done. This was one of the first days Stuart brought a radio and was listening to cricket. I can confidently say that I have absolutely no interest in cricket.
We worked hard all day and went on home. It was pretty routine.
Friday:
Friday was a fun and hot day. It was a half day starting at 9:30 am when we watched a film on Irish artifacts at the National Museum. Jackie picked us up around 11:00 am where we went up to the site. The midges were bad but we got a lot done. Monday we will be able to start going down deeper and removing even more of the unnecessary rocks to try and figure out this shocking bronze age house.
Once we all got home and showered up a few of us went to the pub for dinner and drinks. I had delicious fish and chips (curry fries) before everybody showed up. Everybody was there that night having a good time, even Stuart came. We all stayed up entirely too late for the 8 am departure that was happening on Saturday but it was worth it.
Saturday:
Saturday it was a struggle to get up but we all managed. We got to sleep on the 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Co. Sligo. Once we got there we went and took a quick tour of a bunch of old "passage" tombs (not really passages, but whatever) in Carrowmore.
After that we went and toured the mostly medieval Sligo Abbey (also not really an Abbey, they just keep calling them the wrong names). This was my favorite by far. The architecture was really interesting and the tour guide was packed full of information. An interesting thing that I learned about medieval architecture was that it was a lot of random artistic renderings put together that had no pattern at all.
We went up to a larger tomb where there were "key hole" passage tombs that seemed to be added onto the structure but have been discovered that they were planned into the original structure. He also told us a story about a peagan wedding that happened where they were having a baby ceremony. There was also a rag tree that was at this site, though it isn't ancient it is a popular practice around holy wells starting in the 1950s.
We then went to the poet Yeate's grave which I didn't really care about but to the obligatory tourist picture.
We didn't get back until about 7:30 where we sent Courtney and David off back into the real world and came on home.
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