Astronomy Ireland Public Lecture Report
"Ancient Irish Astronomy:
Fact or Fiction?"
By Frank Prendergast, DIT & UCD
Monday, 14th February 2011 at 8:00p.m.
Trinity College, Dublin
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On Monday evening, 14th, members and Friends of Astronomy Ireland gathered together in Trinity College Dublin to hear Frank Prendergast speak about the amazing and fascinating topic of archaeoastronomy in Ireland.
Having introduced his audience to the important figures in Irish archaeoastronomy, Prendergast then surprised everyone with the sheer numbers of archaeological sites around Ireland, from standing stones to ring forts, from dolmens to passage tombs. He explained how the ancient people of Ireland were aware of the cyclical nature of the seasons, and how the stars and Sun appeared to move around the sky. Armed with this knowledge, the ancient astronomers, built various monuments that would point to a certain star - or position of the Sun - on a particular date. Such a date may be a solstice or equinox, and the newly built astronomical tool would allow the people to plan out their day-to-day lives.
While most of us are familiar with Newgrange pointing at the rising Sun on the morning of the Winter Solstice, the audience on Monday were quite surprised to learn of other kinds of alignments: pairs of standing stones can not only be used to mark a position on the horizon, but can also be used to mark an altitude in the sky; some stones and monuments point to other archaeological features; some even point to mountains!
Prendergast did a lot of work on the Iron Age enclosure that was discovered during excavations for the construction of the M3 motorway. During his work, Prendergast discovered that not only is the monument astronomically aligned, but it is an example of the knowledge of mathematics: the radius of the outer circle is a multiple of the inner circle, which in turn is a multiple of the width of the entrance path!
While most of this stunning site as Lismullin no longer exists due to the construction of the motorway, one can't help but be thankful that so much information and data was recovered, allowing us to learn so much about the ancient Irish astronomers.
Following this excellent lecture, guests gathered for a social reception in the Lombard Inn, with some food and drinks.
Be sure to order your DVD copy of this amazing lecture now!
DVD
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This lecture is also available to members nationwide on DVD.
To order a copy of the DVD simply: Order by credit/ debit card online HERE Call (01) 847 0777 Alternatively post a Cheque or postal order to: February 2011 DVD, Astronomy Ireland, PO. Box 2888, Dublin 5. Cost: DVD’s cost €7 each (add €5 for P&P for any number of DVDs) |
Acknowledgment: Astronomy Ireland would like to thank the TCD Astrophysics Research Group for hosting AI public lectures in Trinity College Dublin.
