Bog Bodies

Seamus Heaney was fascinated by archaeology and bog bodies, so who could have imagined that an Iron Age bog body would be discovered in Bellaghy in 2023?

Bog Bodies is an exciting new educational and creative writing programme, inspired by Seamus Heaney’s ‘The Tollund Man’ and the discovery of an Iron Age bog body close to his home turf.

Learning Outcomes:

• Through a tour of the exhibition, students will be able to contextualise the people and places in Heaney’s poetry.
• Students will examine how Heaney brings together the past and present, as well as the personal and universal, through a study of ‘The Tollund Man’.
• Students will write a poem inspired by the discovery of the 2023 Bellaghy bog body, now known as the Ballymacombs More Woman.

This programme also includes a screening of a unique video, available exclusively at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, covering:

• The significance of Seamus Heaney’s Bog Body poetry and how it has been received critically. (Interview with poet Dr. James Costello O’Reilly, Queen’s University Belfast).
• What osteoarchaeology can tell us about the Ballymacombs More Woman and other Irish and European bog bodies. (Interview with Professor Eileen Murphy, Queen’s University Belfast).
• How bog bodies give us an understanding of the Iron Age in Ireland (Interview with Niamh Baker, Curator of Archaeology at National Museums NI).
• How the police interacted with the Bellaghy bog body find (Interview with Detective Inspector Nikki Deehan, PSNI).

Please refer to our Teacher Guide for information on our cancellation policy.