Take me to church. A look at two Early Medieval enclosed settlements in County Armagh
Channel: The Ulster Archaeological Society
Date: 2021-06-01

Lecture by Gavin Donaghy of Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd
Take me to church. A look at two Early Medieval enclosed settlements in County Armagh and their associations with early church sites.

In 2017 and 2018 two Early Medieval enclosures 11 miles apart were excavated in County Armagh by Gavin Donaghy of Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. The first was located on the outskirts of Armagh City at Killuney Park and the second site was located on the outskirts of Portadown at Drumcree Church.  These two sites had very different mitigation with Killuney being fully excavated to make way for a new housing development, and Drumcree to be preserved in situ beneath a new car park for the parish. This lecture will discuss the similarities in construction and artefactual remains recovered from both sites as well as possible connections to the early church in Ireland. 

Gavin Donaghy worked in the IT industry before moving into Archaeology in 2002. He worked his way up through the ranks in commercial archaeology to obtain his first archaeological licence in 2009. He has directed sites across Northern Ireland on from small single housing developments to large scale infrastructure projects and uses his background in computers and technology in surveying and aerial photography.