Category: news

Dear IQUA Members,

We are excited to invite you to the 2024 Autumn Symposium, which will take place on Friday 29th November and will be the first event hosted in the recently refurbished GSI headquarters in Beggar’s Bush, Haddington Road, Dublin 4. 

The theme of this year’s symposium will be “Peatlands: Past, Present and Future”. Peatlands are recognised as a pivotal part of the landscape and have had a major impact on the development of culture, history, and science. Recent studies estimate that ~23% of Ireland’s Quaternary landscape can be considered as peat soils. These environments continue to be important for society as we face environmental challenges. In keeping with our theme we are delighted to announce our keynote speakers include Dave Beilman (University of Hawai’i at Mānoa), John Connolly (Trinity College Dublin) and Kate Flood (University College Dublin).

We would like to invite IQUA members to present research at the Symposium on the broad area of peat studies. We also welcome representatives from public, charitable and industrial bodies with peatlands interests to contribute perspectives through participation in the meeting. Abstracts can be submitted online here and the deadline for abstract submission is 22nd November 2024.

We also ask that people also register their interest to attend here to allow for catering (teas/coffees) and ensure venue capacity isn’t an issue. Registration will still take place on the day, with a fee of €20 for full members, €10 for student members, €30 for non-members, €15 for student non-members, payable at the door.

For any questions please contact Dave at DaveOLearyPhD@gmail.com

We are pleased to provide final details for our upcoming Autumn Symposium on Friday 1st December. We have a list of excellent speakers lined up – the final programme schedule can be downloaded at the link above.

Location: The Symposium will take place in the Helen Roe Lecture Theatre at The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Society House, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin. The lecture theatre can be accessed directly from the street via a stairway ~10 m east of the RSAI front entrance (this will be sign-posted on the day). Please note: unfortunately due to the age of the building the venue is accessible by stairs only – if this will cause any inconvenience to you please let us know as soon as possible.

Transport: We recommend travel by public transport as there is no parking available at the venue. There is some on street parking around Merrion Square but please be advised this is limited and fills up quickly in the morning. If you are arriving into Dublin Heuston, the 26 bus from Parkway Street will take you directly to Merrion Square. If you are arriving into Dublin Connolly or Busáras bus station, the DART, red and green tram lines from Connolly will take you to Dublin Pearse which is a 10 minute walk from the venue. 

Lunch: Unfortunately we are unable to provide lunch at the Symposium. There are a number of cafes, restaurants and shops at the Baggot Street – Merrion Street Upper interchange, approximately 5 minutes walk from the venue. 

Registration: Registration will open from 9:30am for a 10am start. Entry will be €15 for student and €30 for non-student members. Please bring cash to make payment on the day. We look forward to welcoming you at the Symposium. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.

We are excited to invite you to the 2023 IQUA Autumn Symposium that will take place on Friday 1st December at The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Society House, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin.

The Symposium theme is ‘Marginal environments: processes, use, and resilience’. During the Quaternary, a wide variety of environments evolved and developed. All landscapes have a physical margin where change and transition between environmental states takes places, such as ice sheets and coastal plains. Additionally some environments, such as uplands, have been perceived as ‘marginal’ by populations due to inherent environmental constraints. Marginal environments are especially susceptible to the effects of recent global changes. Understanding processes, use and resilience of and in these landscapes through the Quaternary provides a crucial baseline for predicting their future states and implementing appropriate conservation and mitigation measures. We welcome abstracts that explore marginality through the Quaternary.

We are now welcoming abstract submissions for oral presentations (12 minutes +3 for questions). Abstracts should be unreferenced and no longer than 250 words (please use the attached template for formatting). Submissions should be sent to to hessell01@qub.ac.uk and hmosley01@qub.ac.uk no later than Wednesday 8th November.

We are delighted to be returning to an in-person event. This year’s Autumn Symposium will be held on Friday, 2 December at Maynooth University. The event is organised by Helen Shaw and Nick Scroxton of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS) and Department of Geography at Maynooth. The theme of the symposium is Research from the past – Impact for the future.

Although registration is at the meeting we would appreciate it for our planning if you could let us know if you intend to come in the form at https://forms.office.com/r/deF8tHgZ1M
There won’t be facilities to handle card payments so would appreciate if you would bring cash.

Location: The symposium is being held at Maynooth University in the TSI building (Building 30 on the map), Room 1.25 (up the stairs to the end of the corridor). A map of Maynooth campus is here https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/sites/default/files/assets/document/Campus%20Map%2C%20Index%20%26%20Venues%20_3.pdf 

Getting here: Maynooth campus is easily accessible by train from Dublin and on the Sligo line to the west, as well as various bus services to nearby towns and the airport.

Parking: Parking on campus is limited, there are pay and display car parks listed on the map (Colour coded in blue), but they do tend to fill up quite early in the morning.

Lunch: We have reserved a table at Pugin Hall (number 16 on the map) and we hope that you will join us for lunch and discussions. Lunch is a self-service canteen style with hot and cold choices, vegetarian and (usually) vegan options. Please bring separate funds for lunch, as this is not provided as part of the registration. There are other options, from supermarket sandwiches to coffee shops and restaurants in the town, if you prefer.

Programme timings and sessions (Full programme to follow)