The Leirvik 'Bonhústoftin' and the Early Christianity of the Faroe Islands, and beyond.

The best-preserved early church site on the Faroe Islands, locally known as Bønhústoftin (English: prayer-house ruin), is located in the settlement of Leirvík on the island of Eysturoy. Although the site is well known it has neither been the subject of a proper archaeological survey nor has it ever been included in discussions of the nature of early Christianity in the Faroe Islands. The site was recently surveyed and described by the authors, and the results of this work are presented here. Other sites of related type, both in the Faroe Islands and elsewhere, are identified and the archaeological and historical contexts within which these sites should be considered, including the evidence from Toftanes and Skúvoy, are discussed

A Viking Age maritime haven: a reassessment of the island settlement at Beginish, Co. Kerry

The results of O'Kelly’s excavations on Beginish Island are reassessed and it is proposed that there was a long-lived settlement there that functioned as a Viking-age maritime way-station. This re-evaluation is conducted in the light of recent scholarship on the nature of Scandinavian and Hiberno-Scandinavian settlement in Ireland and, in part, is based on the finds that have emerged on Beginish since the conclusion of the excavations there. The site is considered in the context of its location on the sea route that joined Hiberno-Scandinavian Cork with Limerick, and it is suggested that other such way-stations await