Re-discovering Nunneries in Medieval Ireland - Tracy Collins
Channel: The Ulster Archaeological Society
Date: 2022-10-25

Medieval religious houses are almost ubiquitous antiquities of both the countryside and towns of Ireland. The popular perception is that the majority of these ruins were monasteries for monks, but in reality they represent a much more diverse group. This group includes religious houses for monks, such as the Benedictines and Cistercians; canons, such as the Augustinians; friars, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, and houses of female religious or nuns, which were affiliated to all these religious orders. This paper introduces these female religious communities, discusses their archaeology and architecture, and attempts to place them in their wider context of medieval monastic Ireland and Europe.

Dr Tracy Collins is a professional archaeologist and was a founding director of an archaeological services company, Aegis Archaeology Limited, in 1997. She has recently begun a new role as an archaeologist with the National Monuments Service, in the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage. Her PhD research was undertaken in the Department of Archaeology, University College Cork and completed in 2016. A monograph based on this research Female Monasticism in Medieval Ireland: An Archaeology has just been published by Cork University Press. For a publication list please see: https://ucc-ie.academia.edu/TracyCollins.