It's time for our fifth #TuathaTalk! The Hellfire Club and the Murdered Tomb with @JackmanNeil
Neil carried out a archaeological research project on the famous Dublin landmark back in 2016, and tonight he’s going to share some tales of debauchery and dark deeds 🔥
Here we are now– all the lads
James Worsdale’s portrait of the Dublin Hellfire Club shows a number of the key members. Henry Barry Lord Santry, Clements and Ponsonby (both died at the Battle of Fontenoy) Richard St George and Simon Luttrell (described as the Worst Man in England)
The Schools' Folklore Collection @Duchas. has some hair-raising tales about the Hellfire Club.
In this one you can see that although they may be a pack of messers, they do take their cards seriously. With a harsh penalty for cheats!♣️🔥
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One of the most common stories of the Hellfire Club is that Conolly desecrated an ancient tomb to quarry it for stone to build his hunting lodge. This upset the devil, who blasted the roof off the structure. Conolly undeterred, rebuilt it in stone.
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Neil wanted to, quite literally, dig into the story. Did Conolly really destroy an ancient cairn? If so, what type of monument was it and was there anything left intact below the surface? The Hellfire Club Archaeological Project sought to answer these questions.
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The excavation revealed that despite being almost completely destroyed by Conolly, archaeological evidence survived. The project found intact lower levels of the cairn, megalithic art, stone axe and flint tools. Evidence that pointed towards it once being a Neolithic passage tomb
Lots of information and a free ebook is available on the @AbartaGuides website. It contains information on the history, folklore and archaeology of Montpelier Hill and the Dublin Mountains
abartaheritage.ie/product/sacred…
@AbartaGuides Thanks to everyone for being there and for all of your kind comments and questions!
A recording of the talk will be up in the Online Courses section for Tuatha Members soon.
If you're interested in joining, find out more at tuatha.ie
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