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2023-12-31-annual-report

Ulster Archaeological Society (UAS)

NIC No 101151

c/o Archaeology and Palaeoecology School of Natural and Built Environment Queen’s University Belfast Fitzwilliam Street Belfast BT7 1NN

ulsterarchaeolsoc@gmail.com

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 01-January 2023 to 31-December 2023

This report has been compiled with regard to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland statutory guidance:

The public benefit requirement , PBR1

The advancement of education supporting document , PBSD02

The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science supporting document PBSD07

It is laid out to conform to:

The trustees' annual report and public benefit reporting, CCNI ARR08, July 2016, Section 3.1.1

Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 101151

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1a Summary of the UAS's main activities to further its purposes for the public benefit :

In accord with the Commission’s guidance on public benefit, the UAS promotes the involvement and education of the general public in archaeological activity and awareness of our heritage by organising free open lectures supported by a series of workshops, field study excursions and site surveys for our members. We further promote research and engage the wider public through the publication and distribution of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology to members and institutions (e.g. libraries) across the world and the quarterly UAS Newsletter to our members.

The Society's beneficiaries are the Society's members, the institutional subscribers to the Ulster Journal of Archaeology , and the general public who attend the Society's lectures or other functions. Membership is open to all and there are no geographical area limitations. It is not considered that the purposes of our Society are harmful in any respect. No private benefit flows from the purposes of the charity.

1b Main achievements of the year 2023

2023 saw the Society start to return to the pre Coronavirus pandemic activities. The Ulster Journal of Archaeology and the UAS Newsletter continued to be published, together with our annual conference. Although live lectures restarted, we continued the use of Zoom for our lectures and internal meetings.

See Appendices 1 and 2 for details.

Education:

The annual Discovery 2023! conference was held live and online.

Research:

The Survey Group were involved in an excavation at Divis. A report of the Survey Group activities is given in Appendix 7 .

Dissemination of research, data and information to the public:

During 2023 the UAS sent three issues of the UAS Newsletter to each of its members advising of forthcoming events and providing a record of past meetings. The UAS also interfaced with the public through our own: Website [http://uas.society.qub.ac.uk/] ,

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Facebook site [https://www.facebook.com/The-Ulster-Archaeological-Society190943297657719/],

Twitter account [https://twitter.com/ulsterarcsoc].

Volume 78 (2023) of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology , our flagship, peer-reviewed, academic journal was published. See Appendix 5.

Social events:

Conventional social events were restarted with our annual dinner.

See Appendix 6

2 The financial position of the UAS at the end of 2023

Our auditor’s report on our finances is presented separate to this report.

The report of our treasurer to the AGM is attached as Appendix 3.

Financial performance in the year to 31[st] December 2023 has resulted in a £2,793 surplus of income over expenditure. The year-end balance was £52,932 compared with a 2022 balance of £50,139.

Income

Details of income are shown on page 16.

Printing costs for the Ulster Journal of Archaeology was £6,911. There was no subvention this year from the Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities.

Personal subscriptions were up at £6,943 from £5,282.

Expenditure

Details of expenditure are shown on page 17.

Funds materially in deficit.

No fund held by the charity was materially in deficit at the end of 2023.

Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 101151

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3 The UAS Trustees

Trustees are solely those members elected to the General Committee by the AGM of that year.

  1. UAS charity trustees on date of report approval:

Anne MacDermott Eileen Murphy John Moore Barrie Hartwell Pat O’Neill Grace McAlister Cormac Bourke Malachy Conway Leo van Es Randal Scott Duncan Berryman David Craig Roisin McCaughan Brian Sloan Rena Maguire Lee Gordon

  1. All UAS charity trustees who served during the year 2023:

Anne MacDermott Eileen Murphy John Moore Ruairí Ó Baoill Gina Baban Barrie Hartwell Pat O’Neill Grace McAlister Cormac Bourke Malachy Conway Leo van Es Randal Scott Duncan Berryman David Craig Roisin McCaughan Brian Sloan Rena Maguire Kasi Quigley Lee Gordon

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4 How the Society is constituted

The Ulster Archaeological Society was founded in 1947 to support the Ulster Journal of Archaeology and to promote the study of archaeology in Ulster.

To enhance child protection, the constitution was revised in 2023 at an Extraordinary AGM and this is the governing document. See Appendix 8.

5 Summary description of the purposes of the UAS

The UAS promotes the involvement of the public in local archaeological activity by organising meetings, classes, lectures, conferences, field survey and field study trips. It promotes and disseminates academic archaeological research to the wider public by publishing the Ulster Journal of Archaeology.

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Appendices Overview

App. 1-7

These reports on activities carried out by the UAS in 2023 were presented by Officers of the Society to the 2024 AGM of the Ulster Archaeological Society. Motions to accept were proposed, seconded and approved by the members present and by those members online by means of registering their votes by Zoom.

App. 8

This is the 2023 Constitution of the Ulster Archaeological Society and is available for our members to view on our website.

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Appendix 1:

Annual Report for 2023 presented to 2024 AGM 26th February 2024 Venue: Main Lecture Theatre, Elmwood Building, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast

Good evening everyone and welcome to the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Ulster Archaeological Society, our 82nd AGM, this year being presented once again in person and online. For those of you who don’t already know me, I am Anne MacDermott, President of the Ulster Archaeological Society.

Before I start, could I please ask those online to ensure your microphones are on mute as this will help eliminate background and feedback noise and facilitate smooth management of the meeting. Could I please also ask everyone to ensure that your mobile phones are on silent. Thank you.

At last, life was more or less back to normal in 2023 and for the most part, the Ulster Archaeological Society (UAS) was able to get back to the majority of its pre-pandemic activities. Membership continues to grow, with around 306 members now.

Sadly, of course we have also lost some members in 2023. On 6 June we were devastated to lose Ken Pullin, much too early despite his years. Our Hon Secretary for over 20 years, Ken was an integral part of the UAS who did so much to the running of the society and he will be sorely missed. The committee pulled together and great team work helped him to fulfil his last wishes, enabling his brother David to be re-settled with his family in Australia. Sincere thanks to all those involved for helping sort out his affairs.

In December we lost another committee member, Dr Judith Findlater. Judith was our post-grad student representative and despite her long illness, gave of her time and energy to the UAS beyond what could possibly have been expected. Also in December, we lost Prof Mike Baillie, a past committee member and internationally renowned dendrochronologist. I send our sincere condolences to all the families and friends of these and other members we lost during the year. We had a full quota of lectures in 2023, mostly in person again, although a couple which had been arranged whilst some Covid restrictions still applied, took place on Zoom only. However, members were able to watch them collectively on the big screen in this lecture theatre. The programme was as follows:

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In the autumn we reinstated the practice of having tea, coffee and biscuits (before, rather than after lectures) to enable a bit of social interaction which we believe is an integral part of the society. I particularly want to thank committee member Courtney Mundt for setting this up for us, as well as keeping our social media content alive.

Survey Group - The Ulster Archaeological Society has a close relationship with the National Trust for Northern Ireland, which allows the UAS Field Survey Group meeting facilities, storage facility for archives and equipment and access to monuments. The group now has access to some new geophysical survey equipment and there are some exciting projects planned. Work in 2023 focussed on the recently acquired National Trust lands in the Belfast hills, with field walking and geophysical surveys at Altigarron, Ballygomartin and Divis. Further geophysical survey was carried out at Lisnabreeny on the site of a WW2 anti-aircraft battery. A big thanks is due to all the hard work done by Malachy Conway for facilitating this relationship with UAS.

The legacy of the pandemic and other factors, notably the increased cost of living caused by other unfortunate world events, has affected some aspects of our plans including our weeklong study tours. Despite my best efforts, it has not been possible to get these up and running again but I am still working to get these re-established as soon as possible. Nevertheless, we did have a successful County trip to Co Carlow in May and it was really great to be out and about together again, in the company of members of the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society (CHAS).

During the spring and summer months we had our usual quota of day and evening trips, starting with a fun day out at Ballydugan Medieval Settlement in May where we were both informed and entertained by members of the very enthusiastic and knowledgeable Magnus Viking Association. In June we had an excellent outing to Greencastle and Carlingford led by Dr Tom McNeill, who regaled us with stories and some fascinating theories connecting the two sites. We also had an evening visit to the state of the art 14Chrono lab at QUB, facilitated by Dr Gerard Barrett and his staff – an education indeed, and utterly absorbing! Mike King led the July evening trip round some of the Patrician pilgrimage sites around Downpatrick, Struell Wells and Saul.

Belfast was buzzing during the end of August/beginning of September when the European Association of Archaeologists held their 23rd Conference at QUB. An enormously prestigious event, Prof Eileen Murphy and her team are to be congratulated, not only for attracting the conference to Belfast in the first place, but for organising and coordinating such a massive event, attended by thousands of archaeologists from all parts of Europe, and beyond. Members of the UAS had the opportunity to be involved as volunteers and I thank them for their considerable contribution.

It cannot be over-emphasised what a coup it was, bringing the EAA to Belfast, and the wider community will have benefited from the influx of so many visitors. The event also highlighted archaeology locally, with the very successful Festival of Archaeology which immediately preceded the conference with a selection of archaeology themed films and a busy, familyfriendly exhibition attended by about 900 members of the public in one day. Perhaps this may become an annual event. The UAS was represented at this event and the main EAA conference

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with a stand shared with the Belfast Naturalists Field Club archaeology section. Thanks to all who helped out, chatting to delegates and promoting the benefits of local societies.

In September we had flint knapping workshop with Brian Sloan, including using flint for firesetting and I am glad to say no damage was done, bar a few slightly bashed fingers and knees. It was great fun and educational and gave us all an increased respect for the talents of our distant ancestors.

The 7th Annual Discovery Conference took place in November, now a well-established event in the UAS calendar. As usual, the programme was arranged by Ruairi O’Baoill, Eileen Murphy and Duncan Berryman. However, the whole committee was involved in the logistics, and supported by an excellent group of students who fetched, carried and served up refreshments.

The event started with a wine reception on the Friday evening and the launch of the longawaited book, ‘Ballynahatty: excavations in a Neolithic Monumental Landscape’ edited by Barrie Hartwell, Sarah Gormley, Catriona Brogan, and Caroline Malone. This excellent book, along with the equally excellent ‘The Forgotten Cemetery’ by Eileen Murphy and Shane Delaney, was nominated for the Current Archaeology Book of the Year Awards for 2023 and we were proud to be associated with both of them.

We were then treated to the Keynote Address by Dr Alison Sheridan – ‘Ballynahatty in its Broader Neolithic Context’ in which Alison examined the monuments and finds from the Ballynahatty landscape and how they related to similar sites and artefacts from Brittany, Britain and elsewhere in Ireland, and what these can tell us about contact and movements in the Neolithic period. There are many secrets yet to be revealed in this fascinating landscape, so watch this space!

On the Saturday we had five sessions with fifteen papers covering the themes of Survey, Research, Excavations, Material Culture and Heritage Matters. Thank you to all those speakers who took the time to share their work with us, giving us a glimpse of the wide-ranging activities currently going on in Ulster and beyond, and how vibrant the archaeology and heritage sector is.

As usual we had a sale of past copies of UJA and Emania, supplemented by a selection of books from Ken Pullin’s large collection. We also had a wonderful display of replica prehistoric pottery, the work of UAS member John Martin, which drew a huge amount of admiration. John very generously donated a considerable sum to the UAS from the sale of some of these lovely pots, for which we are deeply grateful.

On 27 November we had a brief Extraordinary Annual General Meeting to propose a few changes to our Constitution relating to the Code of Conduct and membership categories. These were passed.

The Annual Dinner took place on 30 November, arranged by Pat O’Neill. We had a really fun evening, more than well fed at Villa Italia. (Doggy bags were supplied!)

I wish to take this opportunity to offer my sincere thanks to all of the UAS Committee and coopted members for their enthusiastic and dedicated input into the running of the UAS. It is very much a team effort and probably few realise the amount of time spent not only in organising the annual programme, fielding random enquiries from the public but also ensuring that we fully comply with all the current regulations. I particularly acknowledge those involved in updating our Safeguarding Policy and other difficult matters. It was time consuming and challenging but done willingly with good grace.

I wish to mention the rest of the 2023 Officers: The Vice Presidents, Ruairi O’Baoill, Eileen Murphy and John Moore for advice and support. To Gina Baban for stepping in as the Hon Secretary to keep the UAS admin running after the death of Ken Pullin. To the Hon Treasurer, Lee Gordon who has given me so much good counsel and support in addition to keeping the

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society’s books balanced. To the Auditors, Baker Tilly Mooney Moore for doing the annual audit. To the Hon Editor Cormac Bourke, assisted by Grace McAlister, who have enabled the completion of Vol 78 of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology to the usual high standards, and which is due for distribution very soon. To the Hon Editor of the Newsletter, Duncan Berryman, who also acts as our IT guru, updates the website and enables lectures to be Zoomed and recorded for YouTube. To the Hon Fieldwork Co-ordinator Mal Conway, for enabling the Survey Group to continue, and for the facilities made available at National Trust sites.

I would like to publicly state again our thanks to Queen’s University. The close association of the Ulster Archaeological Society with Queen’s is very precious and we are very grateful for the use of university facilities including the lecture theatre, common room, meeting rooms and storage space. We could not function without these, and we also benefit greatly from our ongoing relationship with the Centre for Community Archaeology (CCA). I would also like to congratulate the core members of CCA for successfully gaining substantial Heritage Lottery funding for the next phase of the Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI) which will bring opportunities for public engagement in a range of projects across all parts of Northern Ireland. The interest in heritage and archaeology is very much alive, and we, as the UAS, fully endorse it.

Finally, I would like to thank all UAS members for their continued support for and participation in the many events that UAS puts on. We greatly value your continued membership and hope to see you all throughout the coming year. It is your society, so feel free to give us your feedback, tell us what you want from your society and we will aim to oblige. Thank you.

Anne MacDermott

President, Ulster Archaeological Society

Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 101151

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Appendix 2:

The Hon Secretary’s Report for the Year 2023 presented to 2024 AGM on 26th February 2024

For quite a few years now this report has been compiled and presented by Ken Pullin who sadly passed away in June 2023. A very moving tribute was made to Ken in the Autumn 2023 edition of the Newsletter. He is sorely missed by all that knew him.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the committee this has been another successful year with a full programme of lectures, fieldtrips, surveys and workshops. Including the well attended and increasingly popular Discovery Conference 2023. We have certainly noticed an increase in attendance at the lectures and conference but also the benefits of our hybrid zoom system to enable those who cannot attend in person, for whatever reason, to not miss out on the live lectures and conference. The publicity sub-committee continues to update our website and Facebook which are important outlets for our members.

The next lecture on our programme will be given by Rhona Robinson of the Historic Environment Division and is titled ‘Going Nuclear – New Developments for the Historic Environment Record of Northern Ireland.’

On March 11 there will be Part 2 of the Workshop on Prehistoric Bead Manufacture with Liam Og Magill which will be held in Arc Pal in Fitzwilliam Street at 7pm. Please note that places for this workshop are limited so please register your interest with the Hon Secretary as soon as possible.

Fieldtrips for 2024 are still to be confirmed and updates will also be circulated by the Hon Secretary. A study tour has been arranged to County Westmeath from 8[th] to 11[th] September 2024.

Thank you to all our members for their unwavering support, contribution and commitment to the Society.

Gina Baban Hon. Secretary, UAS

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Appendix 3:

The Hon Treasurer’s Report for the Year 2024 presented to 2024 AGM on 26th February 2024

Good evening.

For those that do not know me, my name is Lee Gordon and I am the honorary treasurer. I have the pleasure of presenting an extract from the accounts of the Society for the year ended 31st December 2023.

The statutory accounts provided to the Charity Commission run to about six pages, but I only want to present the relevant figures.

First, the Income-Expenditure Account .

Again, I will not go through all the items but will highlight a few particular figures.

Following the rise in annual subscription rates,

Personal Subscriptions at £6,943 showed a 31% rise during 2023.

Institutional Subscriptions at £2,246 show a reduction at 40%. As we did not publish a journal during 2023 institutional orders for that issue may be expected in the next year.

We benefited from the general rise in interest rates during 2023 with our Bank Deposit Interest at £1,581.

The Discovery 23! Conference was a great success and produced an income of £2,289.

Turning to Expenditure ,

Printing Costs : Ulster Journal of Archaeology

Publication of Volume 78 of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology cost is £6,911. We have not received any subsidy for this issue.

Postage & Stationery present as £2,277. This does not include the postal costs for distributing Volume 78 of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology .

Turning to our Balance Sheet , the Society, at the end of 2024, has a surplus of £2,793 of Income over Expenditure.

The Discovery 23! returns, a number of welcome donations and enhanced interest rates have contributed to a surplus.

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In particular I want to mention the generosity of Dr John Martin and also Dr Diana Hadden.

Our Liabilities at £9,816 include payments in advance towards the cost of the next study tour, Subscriptions paid in Advance and for the payment for production of Volume 78 of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology.

May I thank all members who have paid their 2024 UAS subs. In particular members who set up a Standing Order with their bank do not have to remember to pay. Anyone wishing to pay by Standing Order can contact the Hon. Secretary or myself for the necessary paperwork.

I wish to acknowledge the assistance given by John Moore in the preparations of the accounts for the report by Baker Tilley Mooney Moore and the work of our bankers, the Ulster Bank.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if there are any questions, I will try to answer them. If I cannot, I will contact you later with the information you require.

Lee Gordon U.A.S. Hon Treasurer 26/02/2024

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CIRCULATED 2023 REPORTS FOR THE 82[ND] ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ULSTER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY TO BE HELD ON MONDAY 26[TH] FEBRUARY 2024 COMMENCING 7.30 PM

Appendix 4:

Report of Hon. Editor UAS Newsletter to 2024 AGM for 2023

Three Newsletters were produced over 2023. The passing of our Hon. Secretary in 2023 impacted the distribution of the Newsletters, Ken gave up many hours to pack, label and stamp them before taking them to the post office for distribution. The Committee is working to get a process in place to enable the timely dispatch of future editions.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Newsletter during 2023. I am always happy to receive reports of lectures/events or short articles that members wish to share with others.

Duncan Berryman, Hon Editor UAS Newsletter

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Appendix 5:

Report of Hon. Editor Ulster Journal of Archaeology for 2023 to 2024 AGM

Volume 78 (2023) of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology went to press on 13 February 2024 and consists of eight articles amounting to 176 pages. It has been typeset, as before, by Jake Campbell and delivery is expected in early March.

Volume 79 (2024) is now being planned. One submission has already been proposed, further submissions are invited, and it is our intention to publish within this calendar year.

The support of the Hon Assistant Editor, Grace McAlister, is gratefully acknowledged.

Cormac Bourke, Hon Editor (Journal)

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Appendix 6:

Report of Hon Assistant Secretary, Events for 2023 to 2024 AGM

Covid restrictions were lifted so we were able to restart planning some of our activities in 2023. However, some knock-on effects have taken their toll in combination with other world events. Nevertheless, the following events took place:

The visit to Ballydugan Medieval Settlement took place on 13 May, where we were given a hands-on glimpse into medieval life with members of the Magnus Viking Association. It was great fun and educational too, with demonstrations of woodworking, cookery, herbalism, textile making, blacksmithing, weaponry and archery amongst other things.

In mid-May, our county study tours resumed with a visit to Co Carlow. We visited a wide range of sites including castles, megaliths, mottes, churches and industrial heritage on the River Barrow in the company of members of the Carlow Historic and Archaeological Society. Special thanks to past president Padraig Dooley who acted as our guide. We also visited the excellent Carlow County Museum on International Museum Day, guided by curator Dermot Mulligan. It was great to be out and about together again, and we were well looked after and very well fed at the Woodford Dolmen Hotel.

On 17 Jun Greencastle Carlingford, Tom McNeill led us on a tour of Greencastle and Carlingford, highlighting the connection between the two medieval castles, and putting forward some very interesting theories about their features and function. We also had time to do a “walk and talk” through other features of medieval Carlingford, ending at the Dominican Friary. On the evening of 19 June, we had the opportunity to visit the highly acclaimed 14CHRONO lab at QUB, facilitated by Dr Gerard Barrett. We were given a tour of the new accelerator mass spectrometer and Gerard explained the processes and showed us examples of how the equipment is used to radiocarbon date even the tiniest samples of organic material.

The next evening event was on 31 Jul when Mike King led an evening tour entitled A Pilgrim's Trian: Down, Struell and Saul, to the Patrician sites in the Downpatrick area. As always, a fascinating tour, culminating in supper and further discussions at the Barn Bar and Restaurant in Saul.

At the end of August to the beginning of September, the Annual Conference of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) came to Belfast. The UAS manned a stand at the preceding Festival of Archaeology and also at the EAA Conference Archaeology Fair, along with colleagues from the Belfast Naturalists Field Club. A number of UAS members also acted as volunteers to help out at the Conference, looking after the thousands of delegates who attended.

On 18 Sep, Brian Sloan held a flint knapping workshop for members, outdoors behind Arcpal for safety reasons. It was an informative and highly entertaining practical event, and much harder than it might at first appear.

The Annual Dinner took place on 30 November at Villa Italia. We did not have an after-dinner speaker as finding a suitable venue with private facilities is currently prohibitively expensive. I don’t think the attendees minded at all and we were well looked after by the staff. Our sincere thanks to all those who enabled members to enjoy these events.

It is with great regret that it has not yet been possible to organise a week-long study tour in GB or Europe. Despite researching many options, the costs and/or travel times have proved exceptionally challenging. Unfortunately, as a legacy of the epidemic and other events affecting the cost of living, hotel and coach hire costs have skyrocketed. In addition, flights to most European destinations are at ridiculously antisocial hours. Nevertheless, I will continue to try to arrange something suitable for 2024.

Anne MacDermott, Hon Assistant Secretary (Events)

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Appendix 7:

Report of Hon. Fieldwork Co-ordinator for 2023 to 2024 AGM

Field survey outings were made to Altigarron Td and Ballygomartin Td on five occasions during 2023 (on 25[th] March, 3[rd] June, 24[th] June, 7[th] Oct and 28[th] Oct) and work on these occasions focussed on recording and walk-over survey of a deserted and ruined farmstead in Altigarron dating from the 19[th] century, along with relict field boundaries, ruined farm outbuildings, two rectangular earthwork features; which may be related to warren activity on the Divis escarpment, and a crescent shaped entrenchment believed to be a newly identified defence heritage type earthwork dating from the early 1940s.

Fieldwork outings specifically linked to geophysical surveys were also undertaken at Altigarron Td at the site of a megalithic tomb ‘Giants Grave’ (ANT060:017). The resistivity survey over the site using the TAR-3 resistance meter was undertaken across a gridded area of 40m² size. The survey employed a 1m sampling interval along 1m traverses and anomalous readings produced suggested the outline of what appears to be the former cairn of the tomb. A return to this site is planned for 2024 to undertake a more detailed survey of the site this time using a sampling interval of 0.5m which it is hoped will achieve a higher resolution of the site and present more detail on the layout and extent of the former site.

A 30m² area of resistivity survey was carried out in an open grassed area to the north of Divis Lodge on 29[th] July, during the CBA Festival of Archaeology. The area surveyed used a 0.5m sampling interval along 1m traverses and which revealed good contrast between high and low resistance responses. This highlighted a large oval shaped basin which is thought to be most likely linked to the possible retting pits or channels that were revealed during exploratory excavations by the group on the site back in 2022.

Resistivity survey at Lisnabreeny was carried out between 17[th] -21[st] April across an area of farmland used for stock grazing and the field known as the ‘Battery Field’ to the east side of the Rocky Road. As the name suggests, this field was during the early 1940s the location for a Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery position. The Battery Field survey was carried out over a gridded area measuring at most 130m north-south by 80m west-east. Anomalous responses revealed much of the footprint and location of the former battery including its command post and the location of three of its former gun emplacement positions. Further anomalous responses particularly to the south of the battery location, suggest at least one rectangular and one or possibly two circular buildings, all of unknown date or function. A higher resolution resistivity survey of the battery field targeting areas displaying these key anomalous responses from 2023 is now being planned for 2024 and will also include a gradiometer survey of the area.

In addition to the field survey work carried out by members of the survey group, two training sessions were also arranged in 2023 for using the resistivity kit and also an initial go at using the National Trust provided Ground Penetrating Radar. These training events took place on 29[th] April (Divis Lodge), 9[th] October (Lisnabreeny) and on 25[th] November (Rowallane).

The planned 2024 survey programme will have a strong focus this year on carrying out geophysical surveys. The first planned event, which will also serve as a training event for

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application of resistivity will take place at the site known as Kilmocholmog, Lurgan on Sat 24[th] February. The survey will cover an area which has been partly dug during community excavations at the site run by Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd in 2022 and 2023 (as communicated in the November Discovery 2023 lecture programme). It is hoped that in using both the Resistivity meters and the twin-gradiometer a larger extent of potential archaeological targets and features will be revealed which will hopefully aid the organisers in targeting areas for planned excavation at the site in 2024.

Targets for other geophysical surveys to be carried out in 2024 will include high resolution resistivity survey and gradiometer survey at Lisnabreeny (Battery Field), high resolution survey at Altigarron Td (the Giant’s Grave site) and at Ardkeen, Co. Down (a Gaelic medieval site).

Several excavations are also in the process of being planned and agreed for 2024 and include sites at Divis Mountain, at Dunseverick (Co. Antrim) and at Lisnabreeny (Co. Down), the latter ground-truthing geophysical survey anomalies.

Malachy Conway, Honorary Fieldwork Coordinator

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Appendix 8:

Rules and Constitution of the Ulster Archaeological Society incorporating amendments up to and including October 2023.

1 TITLE:

The Society shall be called "The Ulster Archaeological Society".

2 OBJECTS:

The objects of the Society shall be to advance the education of the public in archaeology and history particularly in regard to Ulster. In furtherance thereof but no further or otherwise the Society may

3 RULES:

All members shall read and comply with the Ulster Archaeological Society’s Rules of Conduct, set by the committee, as published by the Society.

4. MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTION:

The Society shall have the following categories of membership, all of which require the member to be over 18 years of age;

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The subscription rates for the various categories of membership shall be determined by the General Committee, which is empowered to change the rates from time to time as it sees fit. Subscriptions shall be due and payable on 1st January each year.

5. FINANCE:

The financial year shall be from 1st January to 31st December. All monies received on behalf of the Society or the Journal shall he paid into a banking account in the name of the "Ulster Archaeological Society". Withdrawals from the account shall be made only over the signatures of the Honorary Treasurer and one other officer of the Society.

6. OFFICERS:

The officers of the Society shall be:-

All officers shall offer themselves for re-election each year.

7. EDITORIAL BOARD:

The Editorial Board shall consist of four Members of the Society who shall be co-opted annually to the General Committee, in addition to the Honorary Editor.

8. GENERAL COMMITTEE:

(i) The General Committee shall consist of

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10. ALTERATION OF THE RULES:

Alteration of the Rules of the Society may only be made at the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting provided that notice of the motion to alter the Rules be delivered in writing to the Honorary Secretary at least thirty days before the date of the meeting and that notice of such alteration be given in the notice convening the Meeting. No alteration shall be made to the Rules of the Society unless two-thirds of the Members present entitled to vote and voting shall vote in favour, provided that no amendments shall be made to the Constitution which would cause the Society to cease to be a charity at Law.

11. DISSOLUTION:

In the event of the dissolution of the Society for whatever reason any assets remaining after the satisfaction of any outstanding debts and liabilities shall be transferred to some other charity or charities, as chosen by the General Committee, having objects similar to the objects of the Society.

Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 101151

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