Research

In order to carry out this project the Arts & Heritage Group formed a sub committee, The Lea Castle Working Group, which brought together a group of people from a wide range of backgrounds and with many different skills, bound by a common interest in securing the future of Lea Castle.

Throughout the completion of the Preliminary Report many experts visited the castle and provided excellent reports. Those who contributed to the report are as follows.

Dr. Karen Dempsey grew up just outside Monasterevin, Co. Kildare and has long been fascinated with the nearby Lea Castle which drew her towards her current research. She holds an International BA in Archaeology and Ancient Greek & Roman Society from University College Dublin where she also completed an MA in Historical and Contemporary Archaeology in 2008 focussing on Carbury Castle and its landscape. Dr. Dempsey recently finished her PhD — fully funded by the Irish Research Council — at the same institution. Entitled ‘Medieval halls and rectangular chamber-towers in thirteenth-century Ireland’, her thesis examined the architecture, and socio-political context of fully-detached thirteenth-century halls and chambers. Buildings of all periods fascinate her; from churches and nineteenth century coach-houses to Busárus and the Brutalist movement that emerged in the 1950s. However, her main interest is focused upon understanding medieval castles; the people who built and lived within them and the world view that they represent.

P.J. Goode is a local historian from the village of Cloneygowan in Offaly, now living in Dublin. He has published a history of that village, Cloneygowan and District…(1998 and 2002) also ‘The O’Dempsey Chronicles’ volume one, Lords and Chiefs of Clanmalier (2008) and is currently completing volume two of the ‘O’Dempsey Chronicles, Captains and Clerics’ due out in 2015. He is a regular contributor to the Laois Heritage Society Journal and also its Offaly equivalent.

Maria Nelligan is a photographer based in the Slieve Blooms. She took a full catalogue of photographs of Lea Castle, which proved invaluable in the interpretation and presentation of the site. Hopefully these “before” pictures will be a useful reference point after vegetation clearance near the castle and conservation works have been completed.

David Kelly, Senior Partner in the David Kelly Partnership, is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland. He has been actively involved in the conservation of historic buildings and monuments since the middle 1970s. He is joint author, with Conservation Architects Margaret Quinlan and Mary Hanna, of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s Advice Series Booklet ‘Ruins: The Conservation and Repair of Masonry Ruins’. He is also joint author, with Professor Tadhg O’Keeffe, of the Royal Irish Academy’s soon to be published ‘Youghal: Irish Historic Towns Atlas’. He has acted as Consultant to Cork County Council on conservation matters for over twenty years as well as, more recently, to a number of other Local Authorities and the Heritage Council as well as a significant number of private clients, who own and care for Historic Monuments. He has a wide range of experience in the organisation and execution of works of conservation, restoration, repair and stabilisation of listed Historic Monuments, historic buildings and Protected Structures.

Dr Fiona Mac Gowan (BSc Environmental Biology, PhD Plant Ecology), a Consulting Ecologist based in Ballyroan, Co. Laois, has been working both professionally and voluntarily in the area of scientific habitat and wildlife assessments and environmental impact surveys for over fifteen years. Fiona received an honours degree in Environmental Biology from the Botany and Zoology Departments of University College Dublin and defended her PhD at the Botany Department of UCD. Over the years Fiona has worked both in the public and private sector on projects such as: the evaluation conservation sites; preparing management plans for such sites; baseline ecological surveys and ecological assessments of various developments. Fiona particularly loves working with Community groups in the area of biodiversity enhancement and management and has recently worked with seven Laois communities to produce Biodiversity Action Plans for their local areas. In the voluntary sector she is currently acting as a scientific advisor to the communityrun Abbeyleix Bog Project and together with her ecologist husband Dr Mark McCorry is the Vice-County Recorder of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) for Co. Laois.

Franc Myles is one of the few archaeologists in Ireland that specialises in the late medieval and postmedieval period. He has been a professional archaeologist for over 25 years. His Dublin practice Archaeology and Built Heritage specialises in Historical Archaeology and architectural conservation, which Franc teaches in Trinity College Dublin. He has published, spoken and broadcast widely on subjects from Early Christian west coast settlement to the Archaeology of Disco. He is news editor of Archaeology Ireland and sits on the Board of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland as well as the committee of the Irish Post Medieval Archaeology Group. He has directed numerous major projects throughout the country, recently locating and recording all the Georgian cellars impacted on by a new tram project through Dublin. Another recent project has involved the identification and recording of holes broken through buildings on Moore Street by Volunteers retreating from the GPO in 1916.

Margaret Quinlan is a Grade I Conservation architect from Clonmel. Together with David Kelly and Mary Hanna, she is joint author of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s Advice Series Booklet ‘Ruins: The Conservation and Repair of Masonry Ruins’. She has worked on successful conservation plans for many sites including one for Lemanaghan Monastic Site in Co Offaly. Margaret has extensive experience in the preparation of Conservation Plans for historic sites and in the repair and conservation of medieval structures. In 2011 she was awarded the RIAI Conservation and Restoration Silver Medal for her work on the restoration of the Main Guard, Clonmel, Tipperary. She also won an RIAI Best Conservation / Restoration Project in 2004.

Paul Scott is a Director with Scott Cawley and holds a first class honours degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Liverpool and a Masters in Pollution and Environmental Control at the University of Manchester. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Full Member of the CIEEM. He is an experienced environmental scientist, specialising in impact assessment and ecology with 11 years’ experience in Ireland. Paul is a licenced bat worker and also sits on the Council of Bat Conservation Ireland. Paul has undertaken research into a range of contemporary environmental issues and has published in international journals and contributed to international guidelines and books. He has carried out research on EIA and SEA and has prepared guidance on SEA and EIA to UK and Irish central government and local authorities.