He died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485 and his mortal remains were found under a carpark in Leicester in 2012. In between, he became one of the most demonised of all English monarchs - but this month, he visits Galway.
Richard III, King of England from 1483 to 1485, the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty, will be the subject of a major exhibition at the Galway Science and Technology Festival at NUI Galway.
Richard III: Solving a 500-year-old cold case comes to NUI Galway and the Galway Shopping Centre from Friday November 24 to Sunday 26. It is being brought to festival by the University of Leicester in collaboration with British Council Ireland.
The public will have the opportunity to meet the Richard III team from University of Leicester who will talk through their work to find and identify the king who had been lost for 500 years. The 3D replica of the skeleton of Richard III will be on view along with an array of exhibit items exploring everything from cancer cells to plasma rockets. These include a suit of medieval armour and weaponry, and children are welcome to take part in other interactive elements including fun activity sheets.
The exhibit led by Dr Turi King and archaeologist Matthew Morris, from the University of Leicester, shows how science and technology was used to discover a body during an archaeological dig under a council car park which led to the identification through DNA of Richard III’s skeleton. This event will show how the combination of genetics, genealogy, archaeology, history, forensics, and CSI techniques were used in solving the mystery of where the monarch's remains lay.Matthew Morris will give a talk entitled Richard III, the King under the car park at 4pm on Friday 24 at NUI Galway. The exhibit will open to students from post-primary schools who will be facilitated in groups of 20 for a 20-minute visit in the O’Donoghue Centre in NUI Galway.
On Saturday 25 the exhibition will be transferred to Galway Shopping Centre and will be open for public viewing from 10am to 4pm. On Sunday 26 the exhibition returns to the O’Donoghue Centre, NUIG, for the Galway Science and Technology Exhibition Day for visits by members of the public. Dr Turi King will present King Richard III: Life, Death and DNA, an interactive talk about her involvement in the discovery.
Admission to the exhibition and talks are free but places are limited and must be booked. Tickets are available via www.galwaysicence.eventbrite.ie and will be released online this Saturday from 11am. To see the full programme of events for the Galway Science and Technology Festival go to www.galwayscience.ie
