The aim of the project is to apply a multi-proxy approach that combines zooarchaeological and multi-isotope analytical techniques, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the human-animal-environment interactions that enabled key religious houses to function in Late Medieval Ulster. The Church in Medieval Ireland underwent a period of reorganisation in the 12th century, with the introduction of a diocesan structure across the island and new reformed religious orders such as the Cistercians at Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth, in 1142. This reform process received amplification in the last decades of the century with the arrival of Anglo-Norman adventurers in the east and south of Ireland in the years after 1169 and a range of new orders became established with cloister-based complexes becoming the primary form of monasticism across the island. Five of the main monastic orders present in Late Medieval Ireland will be included in the project and selected sites will include St. Mary’s, Devenish Island, Co. Fermanagh (Augustinian); Cathedral Hill, Downpatrick, Co. Down (Benedictine); Newry Abbey, Co. Down (Cistercian); Bishopsgate Priory, Coleraine, Co. L’Derry (Dominican) and Massereene Friary, Co. Antrim (Franciscan).
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