Patrick Gleeson

Patrick Gleeson is a Senior Lecturer in Early Medieval Archaeology and Deputy Head of the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen's University Belfast (QUB). He is also Programme Director for Archaeology and Palaeoecology and coordinates multiple postgraduate and widening participation initiatives. His academic work spans teaching, research leadership, and public engagement in archaeology.

• PhD, Archaeology, University College Cork (UCC), 2009–2014
• MA, Medieval Archaeology, University of York, 2008–2009

Patrick Gleeson’s research focuses on the archaeology of rulership, cult practices, and social-ecological dynamics in later prehistoric and medieval Europe, especially in Ireland and the Atlantic zone. He investigates royal sites, assembly places, funerary rituals, and material economies using large-scale geophysical surveys, GIS, remote sensing, and interdisciplinary methods. His work bridges landscape archaeology with human-environment interactions, particularly in island contexts.

His recent publications reflect a strong trend in analyzing royal landscapes (e.g., Navan Fort, Rock of Cashel), ritual assemblages, and burial practices in early medieval Ireland. Themes of power, religious transformation, sensory experience, and environmental change recur across his work, often grounded in field data from major excavations and surveys.

• Philip Leverhulme Prize (2022)
• Martyn Jope Prize (2020)
• Journal of Irish Archaeology Postgraduate Prize (2014)
• ASIMS and Four Courts Press Michael Adams Prize (2013)
• Irish Research Council Doctoral Award (2010)
• Elected Council Member, Society for Medieval Archaeology (2015)
• Member, Young Academy of Ireland (RIA)
• Appointed to Historic Monuments Council of Northern Ireland (2022)

Gleeson actively supervises PhD students on topics including geospatial cemetery analysis, carved stones, digital phenomenology, church heritage, drone-based survey, medieval estates, and textile origins. He leads externally funded projects such as Comparative Kingship (Leverhulme Trust), Waves of Colonisation in the Sea of Moyle (AHRC), and Navan Fort and Environs. His research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to cultural heritage and environmental sustainability. He also serves on editorial boards and peer-review panels for major journals including Antiquity and Royal Irish Academy Proceedings.

His ongoing fieldwork includes key sites like Dunseverick Promontory, Lagore Crannog, Milfield, and Knockainy. He teaches courses on historical archaeology, world archaeology, island archaeology, and kingship, and promotes inclusive education through the Pathways Programme.