The Mayo Historical and Archaeological Society will commence a new series of lectures on Wednesday October 21st at 8 pm. The venue will be the Castlebar Campus of the Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology. The guest speaker for the evening is Dr. Peter Harbison, and the title of his illustrated talk is “Irish Art and Architecture 600 - 1200 A.D."
The period from 600 to 1200 A.D. covered in Dr. Harbison’s presentation is undoubtedly the Golden Age of Irish Art (the title of one of his many books). It was then that the old Irish monasteries produced marvellous metalwork such as the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch, which find no match anywhere in Europe at the time. Also unrivalled are the great stone High Crosses, which he has also written about, and which bear sculptured panels illustrating the Old and the New Testaments - a neat way of explaining the scriptures to those who may not have been able to read. The Books of Durrow and Kells demonstrate the mastery of monastic scriptoria in producing manuscripts which amaze with their brilliance of colour and design, and show originality and fantasy which forms a major part of the heritage of ancient Ireland, of which we can all be proud.
Dr Peter Harbison worked for many years with the Irish Tourist Board, first as archaeologist and later as Editor of Ireland of the Welcome magazine. Very active in retirement, he is now Honorary Academic Editor of the Royal Irish Academy, and has the distinction of being an Honorary fellow of Trinity College, Dublin and an Honorary Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. He has written widely on Irish Art and archaeology, including Guide to Historical Monuments of Ireland (1970), The Archaeology of Ireland (1976), The High Crosses of Ireland (1992), The Golden Age of Irish Art (1997), Treasures of Ireland (2003) and a number of books on eighteenth century drawings of ancient Irish Monuments. He has also lectured widely on both sides of the Atlantic.
The lecture is open to the public and all are welcome.