The editors would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to this, the inaugural volume of the Internet Journal of Archaeology in Ireland. The web-site you see today ultimately owes its origins to the first meeting between the editors in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, in November 1997. During the course of the conversation both editors discussed the technological advances provided by the Internet in terms of the dissemination of information and its many potential advantages for Irish archaeology. We felt that there was an opportunity to develop an Internet-based journal devoted exclusively to Irish archaeology. At that time we felt that 'someone should do it' - though probably not us. However, when no 'someone else' had appeared to create such a journal by June 1998 we decided to try it ourselves.

From the start, our ideas focused on providing a high quality archaeological journal which would form an important resource for the study and understanding of Irish archaeology. To present a site which was of greatest benefit to the reader we decided to centre the journal on republishing and prepublishing papers from print-based journals and to also present articles exclusive to the IJAI. Our belief on these matters has always been that such an arrangement would work to the best interests of all concerned. In the first place, the journals of origin who allow us to use their copyrighted material would be afforded an opportunity to advertise the quality of their product in the tangible terms of an actual article to be read on the Internet. In return for this, the IJAI would provide space to advertise the journal of origin in terms of the availability of printed volumes, membership costs etc. The advantages to archaeological authors would be that their work may be made more quickly and widely available than most conventional journals could achieve. We believe that the greatest benefit, however, will be to the discipline itself in allowing a broad dissemination of scholarly information to be made freely available to both the professional and amateur alike.

The truly difficult part came when we attempted to secure papers for the journal. Many expressed interest but few were willing to trust their work to a journal with no track record and which was presented in a new and unusual medium. When it seemed that all our hopes were fading under what felt like a barrage of indifference, the three papers which make up our first volume were offered to us in short order.

Greg Fewer deserves special mention as his offer of a paper providing an archaeological examination of the Great Irish Famine was the first to be received. We feel that this paper makes an important contribution to Irish archaeology in tackling a subject that is usually regarded as the sole jurisdiction of historians and is simultaneously a perennially sensitive political issue. Fewer's contribution is of significance because he argues that new images of our recent history would surely be provided by the excavation of various famine-related sites. Such 'new images' are necessary to broaden the picture provided by the well-worn and over-used contemporary depictions from such newspapers as the Illustrated London News.

Kenneth Wiggins' article on the Medieval town fortifications of Limerick City appears exclusively in the IJAI and was originally presented as a paper at the very successful UCC conference: The Archaeology of the Settlements and Fortifications of Later Medieval Munster, 1100 - 1620. While this paper will be of particular interest to all students of Medieval Ireland and the history of fortifications, it provides a very readable account of the development of Limerick from its foundation to the 17th century. Perhaps the most important, and indeed controversial, aspect of the paper is Wiggins' reinterpretation of the fortification at the eastern side of King John's Castle as an Anglo-Norman ringwork. His contention that this structure was erected as a collaboration between the Anglo-Normans and the Ostmen against the native O'Brien kingship, though cogently and convincingly argued, will undoubtedly provoke some degree of controversy.

Malcolm F. Fry and Alan Martin's paper also appears exclusively in the IJAI in advance of the former's new book Coití: Logboats from Northern Ireland. The paper tackles the difficult topic of the strategies open to the  heritage bodies in the North of Ireland in dealing with the large and cumbersome remains of logboats. The authors deal in depth with the many concerns peculiar to the conservation and display of these artefacts. This is a paper which deserves to be studied in detail by archaeologists and curators alike for its many important contributions to the general debate regarding the preservation and display of large but delicate artefacts.

Unfortunately a number of problems arose which delayed the production of this volume, not least of which was the difficulty in securing viable storage space for the journal. Between the various obstacles thrown up in our path, we have been delayed by over one year and forced to seek commercial funding to secure our future on the Internet. The two other major contributing factors which have delayed publication have been one of the editors (R.M.C.) getting married and the wife of the other (C.McS.) giving birth to their third child.

The editors would like to take this opportunity to thank these authors who have placed their faith and, more importantly, their research work in our hands. We hope that despite all the delays and setbacks, they will find their faith in us well rewarded.

As stated at the beginning, we have striven to provide a high quality journal to present the best of current research into Irish archaeology. We hope our readership will find our pride in this volume to be justified and support us in the future to produce future volumes of the IJAI.

R.M.C.
C.McS.

Back to IJAI home page. Back to contents page.