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Evidence of Iron Age temple complex uncovered at Navan Fort

The research will be published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology.

Figure 2_Navan Fort Aerial Photograph(1) Navan Fort is located in Co Armagh Queen's University Belfast Queen's University Belfast

EVIDENCE FOR A series of monumental temple complexes of the Iron Age has been uncovered by researchers at Navan Fort, Co Armagh. 

The academics from Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Aberdeen also uncovered evidence for residences of early kinds of Ulster from the medieval period at Navan Fort. 

The research was carried out in the form of a survey, which will be published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology. 

The sighting evidences a vast temple complex of continued medieval activity during the period when Navan Fort was associated with the kingship of Ulster. 

It is one of Ireland’s so-called royal sites, a group of five ceremonial centres of prehistoric origin, documented in the medieval period as the capitals of the five fifths that divided the country. 

“Excavation in the 1960s uncovered one of the most spectacular series of buildings of any region of prehistoric Europe, including a series of figure-of-eight buildings in the early Iron Age and a 40m timber-ringed structured constructed c 95 BC,” Dr Patrick Gleeson, research lead, said. 

“Upon the latter’s construction, it was immediately filled with stones and burnt to the ground in order to create a massive mound that now dominates the site,” he said. 

Dr Gleeson added that the researchers’ discoveries “add significant additional data, hinting that the buildings uncovered in the 1960s were not domestic structures lived in by kings, but a series of massive temples, some of the largest and most complex ritual arena of any region of later prehistoric and pre-Roman Northern Europe”. 

Dr John O’Keeffe, principal inspector of historic monuments in the NI Department of Communities said: “The work has shone new light on the monument, and will inform further research as we explore what Navan Fort meant to our forebears and how they used the site for years to come. 

“It provides additional insights that inform visits to this enigmatic monument and landscape today.”

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    Mute Éanna o Sca
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    Jan 13th 2025, 1:22 PM

    Good riddens! Her attitude and complete disregard to her manager Vera Pauw in that media interview with McCabe was disgusting and disgraceful. No loss

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    Mute Franno
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    Jan 13th 2025, 1:33 PM

    @Chutes Idiot: chutes id… here is one of the far right racist troll pseudonyms used by Trump24 / tired Jim / various Does / many others

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    Mute Jack Hayes
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    Jan 13th 2025, 1:39 PM

    @Éanna o Sca: ‘riddens’ haha

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    Mute Brian Hunt
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    Jan 13th 2025, 2:13 PM

    @Frantic: Take a day off!

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    Mute Stiles
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    Jan 13th 2025, 2:58 PM

    @Éanna o Sca: you know nothing about the irish girls football team if you think their attitude towards Vera pauw wasn’t justified…

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    Mute Éanna o Sca
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    Jan 13th 2025, 3:02 PM

    @Stiles: enlighten me so…curious to know what you know..

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    Mute Sun Rise
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    Jan 13th 2025, 4:51 PM

    @Franno: In all fairness, the manner in which they conducted themselves after the World Cup was highly unprofessional.

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    Mute Patrick MC Dermott
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    Jan 13th 2025, 6:53 PM

    @Éanna o Sca: As long as we still have McCabe, we’re going to win every single game. She will score five or six goals at every match. No need for the other ten players or a manager, for that matter !

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    Mute Louis Jacob
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    Jan 13th 2025, 7:00 PM

    @Stiles: Exactly. It was Pauw who spilled to the press about McCabe wanting Farrelly to be taken off. Perfectly normal (and private) conversation between captain and manager. She knew what she was doing and it blew up in her face. Cute hoor and it seems she conned quite a few of the low information commenters on here.

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    Mute Brian M
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    Jan 14th 2025, 10:54 AM

    @Louis Jacob: All other issues aside, don’t pretend it’s normal for a player to demand of the manager to take off a certain player. That’s totally overstepping the mark. I remember doing it once many moons ago and being pulled aside by a very experienced teammate (ex pro) who pulled me aside after game and told me in no uncertain terms never to do it again.

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    Mute Éanna o Sca
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    Jan 14th 2025, 3:08 PM

    @Brian M: fair play, at least you learned from that. This group of Irish girls will win absolutely zero with McCabe/Caldwell at the helm calling the shots. At least the first part is gone. No place for egos when the quality available is shockingly poor. Vera did an unbelievable job with those players.

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    Mute qffaffaf affrafrfraf
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:16 PM

    She looks rough for 36

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