All in the Family: Using Archeology and Genealogy to Construct a Historical Narrative

Summary

Excavations during 2017 for Ballintober Castle in Roscommon, Ireland have uncovered the base of a wall structure and curtain wall for the early fourteenth century castle. As excavations continue to deepen, the structure of the castle reveals a complicated occupational history with cobbled floor occupation levels along with what may be a wall structure appearing underneath this area. The castle excavations can show the Anglo-Norman and Irish ownership of the castle with each owner using different building techniques with different purposes for the castle. As the excavations continue to reveal the early construction of the castle, it is important to look at the historical record of the de Burgh and O’Conor families, the two ancestral owners of the land and castle. The Annuals of Connacht reveal not only the conflict surrounding the ownership of the castle, but that the families were related through marriage. Looking at the historical narrative surrounding the early construction of the castle highlights the overlooked importance of women in showing not only the conflict over ownership, but that just as the Anglo Norman and Irish walls of the castles are built on top of one another, the competing families are interwoven together.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22314