Environmental Sciences Research Institute

  1. Background
  2. Publications
  3. Research Grants
  4. Teaching Interests

Dr Wes Forsythe

Lecturer in Geography


School of Environmental Sciences
University of Ulster
Coleraine BT52 1SA
Northern Ireland


Office: G1113, Centre for Coastal and Marine Research
Phone: +44 (0) 2870 124042
E-mail: W.Forsythe@ulster.ac.uk
Research Group: Centre for Maritime Archaeology


Qualifications

2006 PhD, University of Ulster
1996 MA, Queen’s University of Belfast


Experience

2008-Present: Lecturer, University of Ulster
1999-2008: Research Fellow, University of Ulster
1998-1999: Maritime Archaeologist, DoEHLG, Dublin
1997-1998: Freelance Archaeologist


Research interests

  • The archaeology of coastal communities in the post-medieval period
  • Historical archaeologies of the east African coast
  • The archaeology of maritime economies and resources

Publications

Number of items: 32.

Forsythe, Wes (2013) The measures and materiality of Improvement in Ireland. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 17 (1). pp. 72-93.

Forsythe, Wes (2012) Improving landlords and planned settlements in eighteenth-century Ireland: William Burton Conygham and the fishing station on Inis Mhic an Doirn, Co. Donegal. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 112C. pp. 1-32.

Forsythe, Wes, Donnelly, Colm and Breen, Colin (2012) The later Medieval Period. In: Rathlin Island: An Archaeological Survey of a Maritime Landscape . The Stationery Office , Belfast , pp. 150-172. ISBN 9780337097041

Smith, LMV, Mallinson, MDS, Phillips, JS, Breen, CP, Forsythe, W, McErlean, T, Britton, D, Porter, S and Jansen van Rensburg, J (2012) Archaeology and the archaeological and historical evidence for the trade of Suakin, Sudan. . In: Navigated spaces, connected places: Proceedings of the Red Sea Conference V held at the University of Exeter, September 2010. Archaeopress: British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, pp. 173-186. ISBN 978-1-4073-0929-3

Forsythe, Wes and McConkey, Rosemary, eds. (2012) Rathlin Island: an archaeological survey of a maritime landscape. Belfast. 482 pp. TSO. ISBN 9780337097041

Breen, Colin, Forsythe, Wes, Smith, Laurence and Mallinson, Michael (2011) Excavations at the medieval Red Sea Port of Suakin, Sudan. Azania, Journal of Archaeological Research in Africa, 46 (2). pp. 205-225.

Westley, K, Quinn, R, Forsythe, W, Plets, R, Bell, T, Benetti, S, McGrath, F and Robinson, R (2011) Mapping Submerged Landscapes Using Multibeam Bathymetric Data: a case study from the north coast of Ireland. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 40 (1). pp. 99-112.

Plets, R, Quinn, R, Forsythe, W, Westley, K, Bell, T, Benetti, S, McGrath, F and Robinson, R (2011) Using Multibeam Echo-Sounder Data to Identify Shipwreck Sites: archaeological assessment of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey data. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 40 (1). pp. 87-98.

Breen, Colin, Forsythe, Wes, Raven , John and Rhodes, Dan (2010) 'Survey and Excavation at Dunstaffnage Castle, Argyll' . Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 140. pp. 165-178.

Forsythe, Wes (2010) Strangford’s oldest shipwreck: a Neolithic logboat from Greyabbey Bay, Co. Down. In: Battles, boats and bones: archaeological discoveries in Northern Ireland 1987-2008. (Eds: Murray, E and Logue, P), TSO, Belfast, pp. 43-45. ISBN 9780337095924

Forsythe, Wes (2009) Monuments of our founders: archaeology comes full circle in west Donegal. In: Lost and Found: rediscovering Ireland’s past (Vol. II). . (Eds: Fenwick, J. ), Wordwell Books, pp. 253-262. ISBN 978-1-905569-26-7

Mallinson, M, Smith , L, Breen, Colin, Forsythe, Wes and Phillips, J (2009) Ottoman Suakin 1541 – 1865 AD – Lost & Found.. In: Frontiers of the Ottoman World. (Eds: Peacock, A), Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford University Press, pp. 469-492. ISBN 13: 9780197264423

Forsythe, Wes and McConkey, Rosemary (2008) At the crossroads: the historical archaeology of Rathlin Island. In: Scottish Odysseys: The Archaeology of Islands. (Eds: Noble, Gordon, Poller, Tessa, Raven, John and Verrill, Lucy), Tempus, pp. 132-149. ISBN 978-0-7524-4168-9

McErlean, Thomas and Forsythe, Wes (2008) The Archaeology of the North Coast Salmon Fisheries., NIEA.

Quinn, R, Forsythe, W, Breen, C, Boland, D, Lane, P and Omar, A Lali (2007) Process-based models for port evolution and wreck site formation at Mombasa, Kenya. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 34 (9). pp. 1449-1460.

Forsythe, Wes (2007) Bantry Bay, county cork, a fortified maritime landscape. HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 41 (3). pp. 51-62.

Forsythe, Wes (2007) Historic shipwreck in Ireland. In: The Post-Medieval Archaeology of Ireland 1550-1850. Papers presented at the 1st Annual Conference of the Irish Post-Medieval Archaeology Group. . (Eds: Horning, A, Ó Baoill, R, Donnelly, C and Logue, P), Wordwell, pp. 263-274. ISBN 978-1-905569-13-7

Breen, Colin and Forsythe, Wes (2007) The french shipwreck La Surveillante, lost in Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1797. HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 41 (3). pp. 39-50.

Forsythe, Wes and Gregory, N (2007) A Neolithic logboat from Greyabbey Bay, Co. Down. Ulster Journal of Archaeology , 66. pp. 6-13.

Breen, C, Quinn, R and Forsythe, W (2007) A preliminary analysis of historic shipwrecks in northern Ireland. HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 41 (3). pp. 4-8.

Forsythe, Wes (2007) On the edge of improvement: Rathlin Island and the modern world. . International Journal of Historical Archaeology , 11 (3). pp. 221-240.

Forsythe, Wes (2006) The archaeology of the Kelp industry in the northern islands of Ireland. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 35 (2). pp. 218-229.

Breen, Colin and Forsythe, Wes (2004) Boats and Shipwrecks of Ireland . Tempus. 192 pp ISBN 0 7524 3122 6

Forsythe, W, Quinn, R and Breen, C (2003) Subtidal archaeological investigations in Mombasa's Old Port. In: Researching Africa's Past: New contributions from British Archaeologists. (Eds: Mitchell, P, Haour, A and Hobart, J), Oxbow Books, pp. 133-138. ISBN 978-0-947816-58-2

Quinn, R, Forsythe, W, Breen, C, Dean, M, Lawrence, M and Liscoe, S (2002) Comparison of the Maritime Sites and Monuments Record with side-scan sonar and diver surveys: A case study from Rathlin Island, Ireland. GEOARCHAEOLOGY-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 17 (5). pp. 441-451.

Quinn, R, Breen, C, Forsythe, W, Barton, K, Rooney, S and O'Hara, D (2002) Integrated geophysical surveys of The French Frigate La-Surveillante (1797), Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 29 (4). pp. 413-422.

McErlean, Thomas, McConkey, Rosemary and Forsythe, Wes (2002) Strangford Lough: An Archaeological Survey of the Maritime Cultural Landscape. Blackstaff Press. 689 pp ISBN 085640-723-2

Forsythe, W, Quinn, R and Breen, C (2002) Shipwrecking and maritime casualties in Strangford Lough. In: Strangford Lough: an archaeological survey of the maritime cultural landscape. (Eds: McErlean, T, McConkey, R and Forsythe, W), Blackstaff Press, pp. 377-403. ISBN 978-0856407239

Breen, C, Forsythe, W and Quinn, R (2002) Offshore archaeology of the North Coast. In: Field Guide to the Coastal Environments of Northern Ireland . (Eds: Knight , Jasper), University of Ulster, pp. 109-114. ISBN 1 85923 158 6

Breen, C, Forsythe, W, Lane, P, McErlean, T, McConkey, R, Omar, A Lali, Quinn, R and Williams, B (2001) Ulster and the Indian Ocean? Recent maritime archaeological research on the East African coast. Antiquity, 75 (290). pp. 797-798.

Forsythe, Wes and Breen, Colin (2001) Management and protection of the maritime cultural resource in Ireland. COASTAL MANAGEMENT, 29 (1). pp. 41-51.

Forsythe, Wes, Breen, Colin, Callaghan, C and McConkey, Rosemary (2000) Historic storms and shipwrecks in Ireland: A preliminary survey of severe synoptic conditions as a causal factor in underwater archaeology. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 29 (2). pp. 247-259.

This list was generated on Sat May 25 15:10:20 2013 BST.

Research Grants

2010 - NFSD support for ’Archaeological applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) data’

(Natural Environment Research Council)

2010 – Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey – Phase III.

(Heritage Council INSTAR programme)

2009 – Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey – Phase II.

(Heritage Council INSTAR programme)

2008 – Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey – Phase I.

(Heritage Council INSTAR programme)

2008 – Coastal and laucustrine archaeological survey of West Donegal.

(Heritage Council Archaeology Grant Scheme)

2007 – The Archaeology of Post-Medieval Coastal Settlement in Ulster.

(British Academy Small Grants)

2007 - Dunstaffanage archaeological survey. (Historic Scotland)

2003 – A Post-Medieval Fishing Complex at Rutland Island, Co. Donegal.

(Heritage Council Archaeology Grant Scheme)

Teaching Interests

Teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels includes archaeology, cultural and historical geography, environmental and marine sciences. I regularly participate in university field schools, and have been involved in a series of capacity-building archaeological field schools in Africa.