Archaeology and History journal makes 2020 return

IT was a bit later than usual reaching this stage due to COVID-19, but the sale and distribution of the Kerry Archaeological Society’s Journal is now underway for 2020.

The journal is into its 49th volume overall – this is the 19th volume of its second series – and can trace its origins back more than half a century.

This year’s publication once again features five sections covering a broad spectrum of historical and archaeological content, and editor Tony Bergin explained that, as usual, it’s a rich source of well-researched and well-written material.

“Over the years, since it started out in 1968, it’s been a very good repository of archaeological and historical material,” he told The Kerryman.

“Many of our members would be 60-plus and the COVID-19 lock-down would have hit us badly, so it’s good to be getting out and about again and reconnecting with those members.

“It’s a bit later than usual getting out this year – it would normally be out in January following our AGM – but as I say, we’ve started getting out and about and distributing it in recent days, and it is available in print by post and from local shops in Tralee and Dingle, and it is also available in digital form.”

Distribution has also been carried out to readers overseas – you’ll find Kerry folk everywhere, you know – as well as throughout the country. Prestigious academic institutions at home and abroad – including Notre Dame and Princeton, to name just two – are also among the recipients.

This year’s journal, Tony explained, opens with a Bryan McMahon contribution, on the early years of Tralee Workhouse, covering the period from 1840 to 1845. The second section, written by Bruce Sutton, moves matters further west and concerns archaeological excavations near Lios Póil and Camp during the N86 road scheme of recent years – excavations which offered a glimpse of 4,000 years of settlement on the Dingle Peninsula.

Brian Ó Conchúir provided a chapter on Kerry’s Jewish population, while Lorcan Harney submitted work on Early Medieval Irish Cemeteries in this county.

Martin Moore provides the final section, concerning the 1923 Limerick Jail escape, and Tony explained that north Kerry involvement in the said jailbreak is also examined within this contribution.

While the journal will be available in shops in Dingle and Tralee, www.kerryhistory.ie will also serve as a point-of-sale, Tony explained, while enquiries can also be directed to Tony himself at (087) 287 0608.

“We’re always on the lookout also for potential contributions, so people are welcome to get in contact with me in relation to that, too,” he added.

An overhead shot of the former Tralee workhouse, one of the subjects covered in this year’s journal.

Tony Bergin