J Roy Soc Antiq Ir 129

The paper examines the associations of Amlaíb Cuarán, king of Dublin, with the kingdoms of Brega and Leinster during the tenth century, and also traces the development of a number of Columban churches -- Skreen, Moone and Swords -- and their relations with the Norse and Anglo-Normans.

A previously unpublished mid-seventeenth-century survey of a large proportion of the Ormond lands in County Kilkenny is presented with an introduction, discussion and index of placenames. Includes

Conservation work was initiated on the Romanesque portal sculpture in St Flannan's Cathedral, Killaloe, with the primary aim of arresting stone decay. Part of the work programme required the removal of areas of twentieth-century cement repairs, and the dismantling of the infill wall and window. Informed by a combination of historical, archaeological and architectural expertise, conservation work revealed a succession of previous restoration campaigns, which had obscured the more recent history of the sculpture. It is suggested that the choir screen, demolished in the nineteenth century, was part of an earlier structure that originally incorporated the Romanesque portal. The article also argues that the portal was probably reconstructed in its current position only in the early eighteenth century in order to provide a focus for the purported tomb of Muirchertach Ó Briain. Includes

A small mound was excavated in Cooldrinagh in 1995. The mound was located on the bank of the river Liffey, near Leixlip. Excavation revealed the mound to be of modern construction surrounded by an enclosing ditch, also of modern date. A number of cut features ranging in date from the late-seventh to early-thirteenth century were discovered beneath the mound, and the association of these features with the mound seemed entirely coincidental. The mound and the features beneath it produced a large assemblage of Mesolithic flints. Another collection of similar flints was recovered from an area 300m away, also on the bank of the Liffey.

Description and discussion of the southernmost of the group of buildings in the graveyard at St Mullin's, believed to be a church. The author questions the view that it is medieval, and suggests that it is a rare example of a Catholic church dating from the early-eighteenth century.