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Lectures

field Trips

Glaciers of the Mourne Mountains,N.Ireland

Thursday 5th December
Talk by Dr Sam Roberson
Venue Zoom onlyTBC
Time 7.00pm
Research in the field of glacial geology over the past twenty years has dramatically improved our understanding of the growth and decay of the British and Irish Ice Sheet, primarily through the BRITICE and BRITICE-CHRONO projects. New understandings of glacial dynamics in the Mourne Mountains have also come about though mapping work by the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, as well as by research projects led by Queens University Belfast, University College Dublin and the University of New South Wales. Building on the seminal research by Marshall McCabe in the early 2000s, this recent research has provided us with further age constraints for the deglaciation of valley glaciers in the Mournes, as well as an understanding of local ice cap dynamics through numerical modelling. Rather than being fed by an ice building up on the mountains themselves, glaciers flowing out of the Mourne Mountains in the Annalong Valley and Silent Valley are thought to have been supplied by a large ice dome centred over Lough Neagh. Late-glacial (Nahanagan stadial) corrie glaciers similar to those identified in the Wicklow Mountains are not thought to have been found in the Mournes.

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GeoHibernica:The Irish Landscapes,its peoples and cultures

Monday 1st December 2025
Talk by Paul Lyle PhD
Time 6.30 for 7.00pm
Venue McArthur Hall ,MCB,Belfast

GeoHibernica: The Irish Landscapes, Peoples and Cultures explores the profound relationship between Ireland’s diverse geological foundations and the societies that have shaped – and been shaped by – its landscape over millennia. From the first settlers who arrived around 10,000 years ago to the present day, Ireland’s varied bedrock, revealed as the Ice Age retreated, has provided both the physical and cultural framework for human habitation. As the population expanded from the Neolithic through the Bronze and Iron Ages, the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agricultural societies reshaped both the land and its people. The clearance of ancient forests and the growth of vast peat bogs brought about cultural transformations whose echoes remain visible today.
This book examines how Ireland’s landscape has inspired both practical and artistic responses – from megalithic tombs and high crosses to the vernacular architecture that reflects deep connections to place. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, artists like Paul Henry helped define an enduring vision of Ireland, while naturalists such as Robert Lloyd Praeger and cultural geographers like Estyn Evans deepened our understanding of how land, heritage and history intertwine.
GeoHibernica offers a holistic exploration of how Ireland’s physical landscape has continuously shaped its cultural identity across the ages.
Paul Lyle graduated from the Queen’s University of Belfast with a BSc in Geology, followed by a PhD. He then took up a post as Lecturer in Geology at Ulster University where his research interests centred on the Antrim Lava Group, particularly those of the Giant’s Causeway.

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Rock Solid: A Geological Perspective on our Stone- built Heritage

Monday 17th November 2025
Talk by Joanne Curran
Time 6.45 pm for 7.00 pm
Venue MCB McArthur Hall and Zoom

Rock Solid: A Geological Perspective on our Stone-built Heritage
This presentation explores the connection between Ireland’s geological foundation and its architectural heritage. It will examine how knowledge of rock properties was an essential skill for architects and builders in the 19th and 20th centuries. The talk will also address current challenges in selecting appropriate stone materials for both new construction projects and the conservation of historic buildings.

Joanne Curran, PhD, BSc (Hons)
Associate, Consarc Design Group
Geologist

Biography:
Joanne studied Geology at the University of Edinburgh and awarded a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast in 1995. Joanne joined Consarc Design Group in 2001 from a research position at Queen’s University Belfast to develop a research-industry partnership and set up a specialist advisory service for the conservation of masonry materials.
She also led the ‘Natural Stone Database for NI’ a research project funded by EU to record the condition of >2,000 listed buildings and monuments throughout NI and co-authored the book, ‘Stone by Stone: A Guide to Building Stone in the Northern Ireland Environment’.

Joanne’s is an associate in Consarc and her role is as project manager for a range of conservation projects throughout the UK and Ireland. She also provides specialist advice and materials testing and maintains research links with Queen’s University.

Joanne is the chair of the Institute of Historic Building Council in Northern Ireland – the professional body for building conservation practitioners. She trained in Rope Access for abseil for the survey of buildings and is a member of Mountaineering Ireland and Belfast Association of Rock Climbers and Fell Runners.

E-mail: joanne.curran@consarc-design.co.uk
Website: www.consarc-design.co.uk
www.stonedatabase.com

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Wild Ireland: An exhibition at the Ulster Museum

Thursday 26th June, 10.45 a.m.
Meet in the entrance hall of the Ulster Museum.

A curator-led tour (by Mike Simms) of the exhibition (open until 31st August), showcasing 60 paintings by Julian Friars who worked in collaboration with Mike to explore the changing fortunes of some of Ireland’s wildlife, from long-extinct giant millipedes, through Ice Age ‘monsters’, to extant wildlife.

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