VIKING SYMPOSIUM

Via the Dublin City Archaeologist…

The Midlands Viking Symposium will take place in Dublin this year!

Viking Age Ireland has become one of the most fertile and interesting areas of research in Viking Studies in the past decades. The newly discovered site at Annagassan (Co. Louth), as well as recent excavations, such as Woodstown (Co. Waterford) and the wealth of evidence from Dublin, have shown that the Viking impact on Ireland has been long-lasting and extensive. Artefacts, such as a necklace found in a cave in Co. Clare and silver hoards, like that recovered at Dunmore (Co. Kilkenny), as well as genetic research, tell us much about the relations between Viking and Irish people, as well as links across the Irish Sea. Continuing a recent research collaboration between British and Irish scholars, which was funded by the Irish Research Council forHumanities and Social Science and the British Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Midlands Viking Symposium 2011 will explore the impact of the Vikings on both sides of the Irish Sea. This is an opportunity to share recent research with a wider community interested in the Vikings. The organisers are proud to offer papers by some of Ireland’s leading scholars in Viking Studies, as well as some renowned Britishcolleagues. This year’s Symposium offers the traditional day of papers presented by scholars, but has also some exciting additional activities.

The Midlands Viking Symposium will be opened by the Director ofthe National Museum of Ireland, Dr Patrick Wallace, followed by an opening address by Dr Christina Lee and a reception at the National Museum of Ireland Archaeology, Kildare Street for delegates in the evening of 29th April, 2011 with the opportunity of seeing the Viking Gallery. This reception is kindly sponsored by the National Museum of Ireland. The Viking Symposium is hosted by Dublin City Council and coorganisedby the Dublin City Archaeologist, Dr Ruth Johnson, andwill be held at the Wood Quay Venue (Dublin, Christchurch) which includes parts of the original Viking fortifications of Dublin. It will be formally launched on 30th April 2011 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Confirmed speakers include: Dr Stephen Harrison (UCD), Dr Cathy Swift (Mary Immaculate College, Limerick); Dr Linzi Simpson;Professor Judith Jesch (University of Nottingham), Dr Howard Clarke (UCD), Dr Patrick Wallace (National Museum Ireland), Dr GarethWilliams (British Museum), Dr Eamonn Kelly (National Museum ofIreland), Dr Turi King (University of Leicester). The Conference continues with an optional Sunday guided walking tour of Viking Dublin and visit to Dublinia, organised by the Friends of Medieval Dublin.

To register interest , please contact Mr John Quanrud ( aexjq@nottingham.ac.uk ).

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 at 1:21 pm. It is filed under News and tagged with conference, dublin, Viking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.