Documenting 1,000 Years of History: Historic Preservation Fieldwork of Molana Abbe

As a first-year graduate student in the Clemson University historic preservation program, I was afforded the possibility to participate in a hands-on research project in Ireland this past summer. In June 2012, I, along with six other classmates had the life changing opportunity document Molana Abbey in County Cork, Ireland. Working with archaeologists from University College, Cork in Ireland and Mercer University in the US, our class produced architectural documentation drawings and a conditions assessment report that are integral in the stabilization and repair process to be carried out by the Irish Ancient Monuments Commission. On June 16th , 2012, we began our field work. Spending two weeks completing map of the site as well as plans and elevation drawings of the ruins in an effort to determine how the abbey changed over the course of its one thousand year history. Founded in 501AD, the abbey became an important early center of religious learning. The earliest surviving portions of the abbey are said to date to the 11th century