Friday 21 June 2024, 1pm (PRONI Lecture Theatre)
Speaker: Bronagh Murray

Ireland has an enigmatic and ancient tradition of representational stone sculpture which emerged at, or perhaps just before, the dawn of written history. These supposed pre-Christian sculptures mostly take the form of stone heads, and are found in many locations across Ireland, with several concentrations in Ulster. The main focus of this lecture is a group from Co. Armagh located in Saint Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral. These sculptures display a range of forms, with animals interpreted as dogs or bears, a figure of what has been interpreted as a solar deity, and the Tandragee Idol, which has been suggested as representing one of a number of characters from Early Irish mythology. This lecture will examine this tradition of sculpture in Ireland, its forms, iconography, dating, European comparanda and the rich folklore that surrounds them.