HARBISON, Peter 1939-

PERSONAL: Born January 14, 1939, in Dublin, Ireland; son of J.A. (a physician) and Sheelagh (MacSherry) Harbison; married Edelgard Soergel (a paleozoologist), December 6, 1969; children: Jean-Philippe, Maurice. Education: University College, Dublin, National University of Ireland, B.A., M.A.; University of Marburg, D.Phil.; also attended University of Freiburg and University of Kiel. Religion: Roman Catholic Hobbies and other interests: Music, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—1A Castleview Park, Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland.

CAREER: Bord Failte (Irish Tourist Board), Dublin, Ireland, archaeologist, 1966–76. Director of School of Irish Studies, 1975–.

MEMBER: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (past member of council), Association of Irish Art Historians, Association of Professional Irish Archaeologists (vice-chair), Friends of the National Collections of Ireland (member of council), Kildare and University Club (Dublin).

AWARDS, HONORS: German Academic Exchange scholarship, 1959–63; traveling scholarship from German Archaeological Institute, 1965.

WRITINGS:

The Daggers and the Halberds of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland, Beck (Munich, Germany), 1966.

The Axes of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland, Beck (Munich, Germany), 1969.

Guide to the National Monuments in the Republic of Ireland: Including a Selection of Other Monuments Not in State Care, Gill & Macmillan (Dublin, Ireland), 1970, reprinted as Guide to National and Historical Monuments of Ireland: Including a Selection of Other Monuments Not in State Care, Gill & Macmillan (Dublin, Ireland), 1992.

Some Iron Age Mediterranean Imports in England, British Archaeological Reports, (Oxford, England), 1974.

(With John Hunt) Irish Medieval Figure Sculpture, 1200–1600: A Study of Irish Tombs with notes on Costume and Armor, Irish University Press (Dublin, Ireland), 1974.

The Archaeology of Ireland, Scribner (New York, NY), 1976.

Bracers and V-Perforated Buttons in the Beaker and Food Vessel Cultures of Ireland, Moreland (Bad Bramstedt), 1977.

Pre-Christian Ireland: From the First Settlers to the Early Celts, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1988.

The Shell Guide to Ireland, revised and updated edition, Gill & Macmillan (Dublin, Ireland), 1989.

(Editor) Beranger's Views of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, Ireland), 1991.

The High Crosses of Ireland: An Iconographical and Photographic Survey, R. Habelt (Bonn, Germany), 1992, published as Irish High Crosses: With the Figure Sculptures Explained, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1995.

Pilgrimage in Ireland: The Monuments and the People, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1992.

(With Homan Potterton and Jeanne Sheehy) Irish Art and Architecture from Prehistory to the Present, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Jacqueline O'Brien) Ancient Ireland: From Prehistory to the Middle Ages, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

(Editor) Gabriel Beranger, Drawing of the Principal Antique Buildings of Ireland, Four Courts Press (Portland, OR), 1998.

The Golden Age of Irish Art: The Medieval Achievement, 600–1200, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1999.

(Author of text, with Melanie Morris) Dublin City Map, Fodor's Travel Publications (New York, NY), 1999, 2nd edition published as Fodor's Citypack Dublin, 2001.

The Glories of Medieval Ireland, Thames & Hudson (Ireland), 1998.

Cooper's Ireland: Drawings and Notes from an Eighteenth-Century Gentleman: National Library of Ireland, O'Brien (Dublin, Ireland), 2000.

The Crucifixion in Irish Art: Fifty Selected Examples from the Ninth to the Twentieth Century, Morehouse (Harrisburg, PA), 2000.

Spectacular Ireland, Beaux Arts Editions, 2001.

'Our Treasure Our Antiquities': Beranger and Bigari's Antiquarian Tour of Connacht in 1779, Wordwell (Bray, Ireland), 2002.

Treasures of the Boyne Valley, photographs by Tom Kelly, Gill & Macmillan (Dublin, Ireland), 2003.

Ireland's Treasures: 5000 Years of Artistic Expression, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates (Westport, CT), 2004.

Contributor of articles and reviews to professional journals in Ireland, England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

SIDELIGHTS: Peter Harbison's interest in Ireland and its ancient architecture has resulted in numerous books on the subject, including Ancient Ireland: From Prehistory to the Middle Ages, The Golden Age of Irish Art: The Medieval Achievement, 600–1200, and The Crucifixion in Irish Art: Fifty Selected Examples from the Ninth to the Twentieth Century. Ancient Ireland includes some three hundred color photographs of Ireland's ancient forts, castles, tombs, and churches, taken by Jacqueline O'Brien. Kathleen Shanahan, a reviewer for the Library Journal, noted that O'Brien's photographs alone would make an excellent travel book, but those pictures are greatly enhanced by Harbison's text, which offer "scholarly analysis of the pictured sites and detailed background." Ancient Ireland is "a beautiful glimpse at the richness of Ireland's ruined architecture," affirmed Gilbert Taylor in Booklist.

The Golden Age of Irish Art is an "excellent, comprehensive, lavishly illustrated" guide to Ireland's medieval masterpieces. Blending the traditions of Celtic art with the aesthetics of Christianity, scribes and stone cutters created beautiful manuscripts, sculptures, and gold artifacts. Spirals and swirls, typical of pagan art, were adapted to the new religion to give it a uniquely Celtic character. Harbison gives a brief summary of early medieval accomplishment but focuses mostly on the ninth through twelfth centuries, when the monasteries were so important to Irish culture and intellectual life. The Golden Age of Irish Art is "a wonderful overview of the period and a delight to the eye and mind," observed Karen Ellis in the Library Journal. She found Ellis's text to be "delightful," as well as "informed and interesting."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Antiquity, December, 1988, Peter C. Woodman, review of Pre-Christian Ireland: From the First Settlers to the Early Celts, p. 810; December, 1993, Raghnall O'Floinn, review of The High Crosses of Ireland: An Iconographical and Photographic Survey, p. 922.

Booklist, November 1, 1996, Gilbert Taylor, review of Ancient Ireland: From Prehistory to the Middle Ages, p. 479; February 1, 2000, Patricia Monaghan, review of The Golden Age of Irish Art: The Medieval Achievement, 600–1200, p. 1004.

Journal of Religion, January, 1993, Lionel Rothkrug, review of Pilgrimage in Ireland: The Monuments and the People, p. 90.

Library Journal, March 15, 1992, James A. Casada, review of Pilgrimage in Ireland, p. 100; February 15, 1997, Kathleen Shanahan, review of Ancient Ireland, p. 154; October 15, 1999, Karen Ellis, review of The Golden Age of Irish Art, p. 66; April 1, 2004, Anne Marie Lane, review of Ireland's Treasures: 5000 Years of Artistic Expression, p. 89.

Publishers Weekly, February 21, 2000, Jana Riess, review of The Crucifixion in Irish Art: Fifty Selected Examples from the Ninth to the Twentieth Century, p. 51.