Field Trip and Lecture on the Upland Archaeology of Dhúiche Sheoigheach/Gleann Glaoise (Glenlosh) Valley

Lecture detailing the latest archaeological discoveries from the mountains of Joyce Country, the Wild Nephin National Park, Sheeffry Hills and the 12 Bens Mountains and Field Trip to Gleann Glaoise (Glanlosh), Maam Valley. Led by Archaeologist Michael Gibbons and Poet Seán Ó’Coistealbha. Meeting at Keane’s Bar, Maam at 10 am.
Glanlosh is a rarely visited and archaeologically rich valley in the heart of Joyce Country, to the northwest of the village of Maam. The 7km long valley was an important routeway for millennia, leading from the Corrib Catchment through the mountains to the Connemara coast. In medieval times, travellers, pilgrims and clergy from the Royal Monastery of Cong (Cunga Fechín), journeyed through here enroute to Omey and High Island, stopping for a break after a long climb to Tobar Fechín at the top of pass of Mám Toirc, before a descent to the valley floor and westward to the island monastery of Iomaidh Fechín on Connemara’s western seaboard. The valley was first described in 1698 by John Dunton when it was still in the hands of the local Irish Lords. The field trip will allow us to explore many of the finest upland monuments in the region, including Bronze Age alignments, fulachta fiadha, Early-Christian stone forts, a cillín, a relict medieval trackway etched into the hillside and an array of 18th and 20th century vernacular buildings. During the War of Independence (1921-22), it functioned as a key mountain retreat for the local Flying Column, led by Padraic O Máille.

Lecture on 19th at Kylemore Abbey
Field Trip on 20th, meeting at Keane's Bar, Maam - boots and raingear essential - distance 4k on rough ground.