Professor Michael J. O'Kelly (1915–October 1982) was an Irish archaeologist who excavated and restored Newgrange

Newgrange

Newgrange is a prehistoric monument located in County Meath, on the eastern side of Ireland, about one kilometre north of the River Boyne. It was built around 3200 BC , during the Neolithic period...

, a Late Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

 passage tomb in the Boyne Valley, County Meath

County Meath

County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. P. R. Giot wrote of him: "O'Kelly was a man of the field, an expert excavator, an experimental archaeologist, not at all involved in pseudo-marxist, pseudo-freudian, or pseudo-structuralist interpretations. He was an ethno-archaeologist."

Early Life

O'Kelly was born in Abbeyfeale

Abbeyfeale

Abbeyfeale is a historical market town in County Limerick, Ireland near the boundary with County Kerry. The town is in the midwest of Ireland, some from Newcastle West on the N21 – the main road from Limerick to Tralee.-Geography:...

, County Limerick

County Limerick

It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...

 in 1915. Although he was baptized Michael Joseph, he was known to family and friends as Brian, the name his mother originally wanted, throughout his life. He entered University College, Cork (UCC) in 1934. While still an undergraduate he began fieldwork in 1937. He worked as a surveyor in the excavation of the ring-fort at Garranes, County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

 with Seán P. Ó. Ríordáin, then Professor of Archaeology at UCC. Later that year he moved on to the neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 site of Lough Gur

Lough Gur

Lough Gur is a lake in County Limerick, Ireland between the towns of Herbertstown and Bruff. The lake forms a horseshoe shape at the base of Knockadoon Hill and some rugged elevated countryside. It is one of Ireland's most important archaeological sites...

. After receiving his M.A. he was appointed curator of the new Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald Park. In 1945 he married his wife Claire, also an archaeologist, who he had met as a student.

Professional Career

In 1946 O'Kelly succeeded his mentor, Professor Ó Ríordáin, as head of the Archaeology Department at UCC, a position he held for 36 years. He excavated continuously, every summer. From 1944 on he was published extensively in scholarly journals. O'Kelly was widely respected as a teacher, for his field work, and for his published articles.

Newgrange

Newgrange, the site O'Kelly would be most associated with, was accidentally discovered in 1699 and attracted a tremendous number of visitors. But as of 1961 it was in extremely poor condition, and there was no public access. That year the archeologist Patrick Hartnett of the Bord Fáilte Eireann (Irish Tourist Board) selected O'Kelly to direct the excavation and to make Newgrange safe for tourists. Work continued every season through to 1975.

On December 21, 1968 O'Kelly confirmed a local legend that the rays of the sun on the midwinter sunrise

Winter solstice

Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...

go straight through the tomb – passing through a small 'roof-box' opening above the doorway to penetrate along the whole length of the passage as far as the center of the chamber. O'Kelly speculated: "I think that the people who built Newgrange built not just a tomb but a house of the dead, a house in which the spirits of special people were going to live for a very long time. To ensure this, the builders took special precautions to make sure the tomb stayed completely dry, as it is to this day. …"

Selected Bibliography

• Irish Antiquity (1981)
• Newgrange: Archaeology, Art and Legend (1982)
• Early Ireland: An Introduction to Irish Prehistory (1989, posthumous)