Top Ten Sites of The Celtic Tiger

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CELTIC TIGER roared

Irish archaeology’s golden decade
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IRELAND Celtic Tiger archaeology
When the Celtic Tiger

the golden years of commercial
archaeology in Ireland
During the Celtic Tiger economic boom, Ireland experienced a period of

prosperity which led to an unprecedented ‘golden age’ for commercial
archaeology. In a four-part series, Brendon Wilkins examines the top sites,
finds and controversies that defined over a decade of discovery.
I
magine a place where the term ‘million- ABOVE Frosty morning: imagine also that these excavations were fiercely
aire archaeologist’ would not sound looking south on the N9/ regulated to control their quality. This sounds like
N10 motorway project
PHOTO: Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd
ridiculous, and where young archae- an archaeo-utopia: but for a short time it existed.
at Russellstown, County
ology students could look forward to Carlow. This was Ireland’s Celtic Tiger archaeology.
excellent career prospects with salaries Current Archaeology last published a special
equivalent to any other profession. issue on Irish archaeology in September 1970 (CA
Imagine hundreds of excavations up and down 22). The sites reported on then by Andrew Selkirk
the country crying out for help, willing to pay (Knowth, Newgrange, Navan Fort and Ballyglass)
handsomely, even for inexperienced diggers; remained state-of-the-art for the following 30
12 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk October 2010 |

roared
The road building programme in
Ireland initiated some of the largest
infrastructure archaeology projects
undertaken anywhere in the world.
p15); sadly, this bad publicity seems to have been
Ireland’s biggest archaeological export. Few will
have heard news of the multitude of fantastic sites
found during these years, both nationally and
internationally significant, which have revolu-
tionised accepted knowledge of Irish archaeology.
This series of features will redress the balance, by
profiling the ‘best of the best’ of the work that has
electrified archaeology in Ireland.
Boom and bust

There is a strong argument to be made that Ire-
land’s archaeology boom began at precisely
9.00am on 22 February 2002, and finished at
exactly 2.00pm, 6 November 2008. Seminars
were held on both days by the National Roads
Authority (NRA); although they did not feel like
turning points at the time, hindsight shows these
meetings book-end a period during which Ire-
land was the best country in the world to be an
archaeologist. The first seminar, riding the wave
of European funding, was intended to open the
doors to international archaeological consultan-
cies as construction-led demand for archaeolo-
gists far outstripped supply. The second was the
harbinger of doom as Ireland’s Department of
Finance unveiled a new archaeological contract
template, introduced in the wake of steep public
spending cuts. 
BELOW National Roads Authority excavations, 1992-2010.
700
600
500
400
years. The eminent archaeologists interviewed
in that issue, and the sites which they excavated, 300
eventually came to dominate Irish archaeology.
Now, the sheer scale of work undertaken during
GRAPH: National Roads Authority
200
the boom has challenged the accepted wisdom of
many key site types and periods. 100
During the Celtic Tiger prosperity, the world
became aware of the contentious Irish sites that 0
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
made international headlines (see box feature on
| Issue 247 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 13

war reconstruction boom happened long before

such restrictions were commonplace.
Weighing up the legacy of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ eco-
nomic boom, it is clear that it was a golden age for
archaeologists; however, was it also a golden age
for archaeology? And, what insight does that give
us into how archaeology is practised in the UK?
Rumsfeldian archaeology
The majority of archaeologists in both Britain
and Ireland are employed to work on develop-
ment-led (commercial) projects. Embedding
archaeology in the planning process has been
called ‘Rumsfeldian Archaeology’, because it is
best explained by a somewhat mystifying speech
given by the former US Secretary of State for
Defence, Donald Rumsfeld:
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.
12 February 2002,
Department of Defence news briefing
In both Britain and Ireland, large-scale devel-

opments are preceded by an impact assessment
where archaeological remains are a material con-
sideration (the known knowns). In the case of
ABOVE Today’s news, Archaeologists have never quite shared in soci- road schemes, these known sites are avoided, and
tomorrow’s chip paper: ety’s wealth, no matter how successful the wider a desk-based study of maps, documents and other
whenever archaeology
economy. In Ireland, however, the archaeology non-invasive techniques is used to assess the land
is in the news in the UK,
it is a positive story; in boom was fuelled by longer-term trends: gen- adjacent to these sites: the known unknowns. If
contrast, during the Celtic erous European structural funding, attractive tax these have archaeological potential, test-trenches
Tiger, archaeology made incentives and, crucially for archaeology, a com- will be excavated to evaluate whether full excava-
headlines in Ireland for all
prehensive National Development Plan designed tion should proceed.
the wrong reasons.
to fix the country’s inadequate infrastructure. In Ireland, these trenches are not just focused
With an annual budget of €1.5bn, the road around known areas of potential. The entire road
building programme in Ireland initiated some corridor is comprehensively tested, with a centre-
of the largest infrastructure archaeology projects line trench running from start to finish, designed
undertaken anywhere in the world. Irish archae- to find the unknown unknowns; sites that would
ology benefitted significantly from this unprec- otherwise fall through the net. This represents
edented investment, underwritten by a cast-iron a considerable investment in the front end of
legal framework designed to protect the historic archaeological works prior to construction, com-
environment from development impact – a situ- pared to Britain where a much smaller percentage
ation that differed from Britain, where the post- of the road corridor is tested.

Excavations in Twomileborris, Co. Tipperary, were directed by
Mícheál Ó Droma and conducted by a crew of 100 people
over 14 months. The multi-period remains, which spanned
a linear kilometre, included evidence from the Middle
Bronze Age roundhouse through to the Early Medieval.
Later evidence included three structures of 16th century
PHOTO: National Roads Authority

date thought to be associated with a nearby tower-house, a
watermill (preserved in situ) and a 19th century limekiln and
limestone extraction pits. A hoard of 57 silver coins, a bronze
pin and an unusual bone object carved into the likeness of a
crenellated castle tower were also found. Interpretation of
the rich findings from this site, and the dissemination of the
results, is ongoing.
The Anglo-Irish Disagreement tion to ‘total archaeology’ in Ireland and ‘sample

archaeology’ in Britain. In the UK, construction
Perhaps the reason this time-pressured system is impact is controlled through planning guidance:
manageable in Britain is because they have a fun- sites are sampled, normally at a rate of 10% of all
damentally different approach to excavation. Let linear features, 50% of discrete features and 100%
us call it the Anglo-Irish disagreement: a presump- of structures. In Ireland, all archaeology is 
the development took place. Much of the site was destroyed

without record, and the offices that were finally built on the
site, known locally as ‘the bunkers,’ are a sore reminder of the
potential resource that was lost.
The Wood Quay protestors failed in their attempt to have the
site preserved but, in many respects, the saga foreshadowed the
tactics of the media-savvy protest groups that sprang up around
Controversies of the Celtic Tiger the ‘anti-roads’ movement.  (Box continues over)
When large infrastructure projects are proposed, controversy is never far
from the news. Media coverage of Irish archaeology has been dominated
BELOW Looking north from the hill of Tara; the M3
by high profile contentious cases such as the Medieval castle at
roadway is visible between the trees at centre.
Carrickmines on the M50 in Co. Dublin; the 9th century Viking Longphort
at Woodstown, excavated on the N25 in Co. Waterford; and the Iron
Age enclosure monument at Lismullin near Tara on the M3. Given the
considerable investment in archaeology and the remarkable new insights
that commercial excavations have brought, it is worth asking: why has
Celtic Tiger archaeology come to be defined by these problematic sites?
The blueprint for these controversies was drawn in the late 1970s, with
the construction of Dublin Corporation’s headquarters at Wood Quay in
the heart of Medieval Dublin. The 4.5acre site on the banks of the River
Liffey contained deeply stratified urban deposits, dating from the 10th
to the 14th centuries. Initial findings led to a huge public campaign, with
PHOTO: Rónán Swan
street protests and legal challenges orchestrated by Friends of Medieval

Dublin. Though their delaying tactics enabled a rescue excavation to
take place, the government enacted special legal measures to ensure

resourced; not so much ‘preservation by record’

as ‘destruction in denial’. But they may respond
by citing the law of diminishing returns, insisting
that the sampling approach is more cost-effective
and a better way of filtering out the irrelevant,
compared to the indiscriminate information-
gathering of the Irish model. Is it precisely this
indiscriminate approach, however, that safe-
guards archaeology from commercial pressure?
Students of excavation theory will recognise an
echo in this debate that harks back to the foun-
treated as potentially unique, dations of archaeology as a scientific discipline:
requiring 100% excavation General Pitt-Rivers believed everything should be
PHOTO: Headlnad Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd

and preservation by record. recorded, irrespective of perceived significance,
A legal framework under- because ‘fresh problems in archaeology…are con-
writes all decisions that stantly arising’; while Flinders Petrie advocated a
may potentially impact on discriminatory approach because the excavator
the archaeological heritage, ‘does not find anything he does not look for’.
and any proposed develop- But this does not explain how these different
ment must be preceded by full methods were adopted in Britain and Ireland. For
excavation of all sites and features. ABOVE This stone that, we must look back to see how commercial
But, digging larger quantities means larger artefact, broken during archaeology evolved in each country.
manufacture and then
costs. If this is undertaken in the public interest,
reused probably as a
one has to ask: does digging more equal value fishing weight, was found Ground Zero
for money? Who does it better, the British or adjacent to the Bronze
the Irish? Initially, it appears the British are the Age trackway at Site 34, Commercial archaeology in the UK is a legacy of
Newrath.
losers, with excavations understaffed and under- the ‘Rescue Revolution’ – a reaction to post-war
Nowhere were these tactics more apparent than during the preferred route was selected from a number of different options, all of
excavations on the M3 as it passed through the Tara-Skryne valley in which attempted to steer clear of known archaeological sites.
Co. Meath. The Hill of Tara is a complex of earthworks dating from the Nevertheless, in such a rich archaeological landscape it was inevitable
Neolithic to the early Medieval period, and according to tradition was that entirely new sites would be unearthed, and when a highly significant
the seat of the High King of Ireland. The distance between the new Iron Age enclosure was discovered at Lismullin, the excavation rekindled
motorway and the exact site of the hill is 2.2 km (1.37 miles), and the debate in the media on the proposed route. The site was seized upon by
pressure groups opposed to development, and the motorway
was widely reported as being built through ‘the hill of Tara.’ The
perception at home and abroad was that Ireland was riding
roughshod over its past, blatantly bulldozing one of its most iconic
monuments. Public opinion was polarised, and commercial field
archaeologists, engaged by the NRA, were caught in the crossfire.
The fiercest critics of Celtic Tiger archaeology object on
principle. Condemning the ‘development at all costs’ agenda, the
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney criticised modern day Ireland’s
pursuit of the secular above the sacred. In an interview with
the BBC in March 2008, he said, ‘If ever there was a place that
deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations
from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely
PHOTO: Michael Fox/Knowth.com
recently – it was Tara.’ His call to arms was echoed by Jonathan
LEFT The Hill of Tara ceremonial complex. The new motorway

is further away from the monument than the existing roadway,
shown at the bottom of the photo.

PHOTOS: Headlnad Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd
reconstruction, laying the foundations for a net-
work of regionally-based field units. Widespread
development preceded adequate legislation, ABOVE The main Bronze Age trackway found at Newrath, surrounded by a plank
thereby forcing the archaeological community walkway, and (INSET) close up of the trackway. Note the long-handled Irish shovels next
to lobby for recognition, and develop working to the trench; another difference with archaeology in Britain, where the shovels normally
have a short handle barely 3ft long – and archaeologists swear that anything different
practices that could deal quickly with the would break their backs.
archaeological ‘problem’.
In Ireland, it was the opposite: state control of
archaeology and the introduction of a license- preservation and acquisition of monuments,
based system were enacted long before wide- and placing restrictions on the licensing of
spread development became an issue. Measures excavations.
to protect Irish archaeology were set in place with In a letter to Current Archaeology (CA 225),
the establishment of the National Monuments NRA Project Archaeologist Richard O’Brien
Act in 1930, providing for the guardianship, commented on an article by Richard Moore 
more about modern Ireland’s concerns in the present than it does about
preserving the past. Irrespective of the clear protocols for the conduct of
excavations on road schemes, headlines typically depict the impact of
development as a simple choice between preservation and destruction,
rather than a negotiated process of impact assessment and consultation.
BELOW The arc of stakeholes at Lismullin being watered and protected

with plastic; stakeholes in the foreground are marked with gridpegs.
ABOVE Excavations on the revetted fosse at the site of Carrickmines

Castle, Co Dublin.
Foyle, Chief Executive of the World Monuments Fund Britain, who

PHOTOS: National Roads Authority
declared that the construction of the M3 was equivalent to the state-

backed destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
Ireland is by no means alone in courting controversy over the handling
of its archaeological heritage, but the resulting media storm – detracting
from the positive story about new archaeological discoveries – says

– every 1.3km compared to every 3.7km in the

UK. But recent commentators in Ireland have
pointed out that infrastructure projects are a
special case, and by no means reflect the day-to-
day reality of all commercial archaeology.
Time and tide

This example moves us on to Newrath (Site
34) on the banks of the River Suir, a site that
illustrates perfectly how the Irish method of
‘unknown unknown’ archaeology can find sites
that would otherwise go undiscovered. Newrath
was a multi-period alluvial and estuarine wet-
land site, excavated by Headland Archaeology
(Ireland) Ltd, in advance of the N25 Waterford
bypass.
Exceptionally well-preserved, Site 34 com-
prised 21 individual structures and five areas of
activity, with almost every chapter of human
history represented from the Mesolithic through
to the 19th century. What was most important
about Site 34 was that it was totally unexpected;
although similar landscapes have yielded a
wealth of archaeological information in Britain
IMAGE Headlnad Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd/Jonathan Millar
and Europe, this was the first time an alluvial

and estuarine wetland had been excavated on a
road scheme in Ireland. As a consequence, our
starting assumption was that this type of land-
scape was archaeologically marginal and would
not benefit from extensive excavation.
In spite of these low expectations, Site 34 was
given the same archaeological treatment as the
rest of the proposed road scheme. Much more
was found than we had bargained for: Meso-
ABOVE Plan of Site 34 at of Network Archaeology (Village, cemetery and lithic flint scatters on what would have been a
Newrath, showing all four dyke, CA 222), about work on the Easington to dryland surface at the water’s edge; Early Bronze
excavation areas, with
trackways extending from Morecambe Bay pipeline. O’Brien compared the Age trackways intended to cross boggy ground
the dryland margin into archaeology of the cross-Pennine pipeline with to reach the open water; a Bronze Age burnt
what would have been a that done on the Pipeline to the West in Ireland, mound on the edge of the wetland area; Iron
dynamic tidal landscape. noting that the rate of discovery between the Age hurdles to cross tidal creeks for saltmarsh
two countries differed significantly. On the UK grazing; Medieval platforms and a 19th century
pipeline, 65 new sites were discovered over the brick kiln, which would have made use of the
course of 245km, compared to 245 sites discov- abundant alluvial clay. The quantity and scale
ered in Ireland over a longer 335km route. Over of the remains suggested that Site 34 had been
twice as many new sites were found in Ireland part of a very active landscape; and, the wet con-
ditions of Site 34 meant that – as well as quan-
tity – Newrath had exceptionally well-preserved
archaeological deposits.
What insight can we gain by comparing Located on a terrace on the edge of the River
the British and Irish systems of Suir, we excavated through deposits over 3m
deep, which had been accumulating since the
commercial archaeology? end of the last Ice Age. As the landscape was grad-
ually transformed, layers of earth were deposited

IMAGE Headlnad Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd/Jonathan Millar
SOURCE
Brendon Wilkins
B.wilkins@wessexarch.co.uk
FURTHER READING 
Brendon Wilkins, ‘Time and tide: five millennia of

environmental change and human activity on the Suir,
New Routes to the Past, National Roads Authority.
ISBN 978-0954595531.
James Eogan and Eoin Sullivan, ‘Archaeology and the
decline of the Celtic Tiger’, The Archaeologist, Number
72, Summer 2009.
ABOVE Section photograph showing archaeological phases.
or eroded away, leaving a visible and permanent

record in our section drawings. These layers of The architect of the revolution
different coloured and textured deposits – wood How did the National Roads Authority become such an effective sponsor of
peats, reed peats and estuarine silts – all provided archaeological work? To answer this, look to Dáire O’Rourke (who sadly passed
snapshots of what the landscape had been like, away in 2010), former chief archaeologist of the NRA.
while the artefacts and structures contained In early 2000, a Code of Practice was agreed between the NRA
within them indicated how people had used the and the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (the
land. The site has changed how archaeologists Minister then tasked with the care of Ireland’s archaeological
now think about alluvial landscapes – helping heritage). This was perhaps the single most important
to develop techniques and strategies, as well as archaeological document published during the Celtic Tiger.
influencing policy and guidelines. It saw the NRA directly employ their own archaeologists,
who were responsible for monitoring the work of private
Moving forward archaeological companies employed on road schemes,
from planning stages through to final publication.
What insight can we gain by comparing the Dáire was appointed NRA Chief Archaeologist in 2001,
British and Irish system of commercial archae- at a time of intense pressure for the redevelopment
ology? At the beginning of 2010, the British of existing roads and new motorways. Drawing on her
replaced PPG16, the planning document which previous experience as Dublin city archaeologist, she put into
coined the phrase ‘preservation by record’, with effect a series of protocols to ensure that highways projects
PPS5. The new planning guidance aims to erase would be accurately assessed for their impact on archaeology,
the turf line from consideration, making above- with excavations taking place well in advance of construction.
PHOTO: National Roads Authority
ground and below-ground archaeology equally It is a testament to Dáire’s skills of persuasion that under her
important, and contains the lofty goal that watch, the NRA’s commitment to the historic environment was
archaeology can realise a ‘public benefit’. solidified, and a formidable team of archaeologists was built who
Similarly in Ireland, the question of whether continue her important legacy.
current strategies are fit for purpose is currently
under ministerial review, with wide-ranging
reforms eagerly anticipated. These policy
changes suggest that archaeologists from both Coming next month:
countries have been grappling with the short- From modern highways to ancient waterways: Ireland’s prehistoric beginnings
comings of their frameworks. Clearly, there is a In prehistoric Ireland, people would have moved most easily along rivers; and not
tremendous amount to gain by learning from surprisingly, that is where much of the best archaeological evidence has been found.
each other. Irrespective of what side of modern From remarkably preserved Mesolithic fishtraps on the River Liffey in the centre of
political borders archaeologists may currently Dublin, to the first Neolithic House in Co. Kilkenny near the River Suir, and onwards to a
work, there are many similarities in terms of the multi-period site spanning both sides of the River Lerr in Co. Kildare, the second feature
physical remains of the past: and it is to the dirt of our series will explore the new evidence emerging from these watery landscapes.
that we should turn our attention. C a

IRELAND Prehistoric wetland archaeology
From ancient
waterways
to modern
highways
Ireland’s
prehistoric
beginnings
PHOTO: Headland Archaeology Ltd.
O
As Ireland’s land-hungry Celtic Tiger economic n a misty morning 8,000 years
boom targeted wetland landscapes once ago, two young women pushed
their way through the head-
thought too boggy for modern development, high reeds of a tidal estuary, 6m
it became clear these sites had been home to below the busy streets of what
is now modern Dublin. As they
vibrant prehistoric communities, settled along stepped onto the shifting mud flats, their baskets,
what would have been ancient thoroughfares. wattle work and fishing ground came into view,
and they could see, even from this distance, that
Brendon Wilkins explains the evidence. it had been a bountiful evening.
They belonged to the period known as the
Mesolithic, and were the first people known to
36 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk November 2010 |

IRELAND
Dublin
Prumplestown
Granny
have lived in Ireland, between 8000 and 4000 BC microbacterial decay are slowed to a halt. In late ABOVE Pre-excavation
(there is as yet no evidence for Palaeolithic occu- 2004, Melanie McQuade, a Site Director for Mar- shot of the multi-period
Prumplestown Lower site.
pation in Ireland). The majority of artefacts were garet Gowen and Co., excavated just such a site.
The Early Bronze Age pit
organic and perishable, rarely surviving the life- circle is visible at centre.
time of the people who made them. But it is not Mesolithic Fisher-Foragers
just the durability of the artefacts or activities that
take place on a site that determines how much During routine archaeological monitoring
is found. What survives is also a product of the development works at North Wall Quay in Dub-
burial environment, which on some lucky occa- lin’s Docklands, McQuade and her team found
sions can be exceptionally favourable to archaeo- the remarkably preserved remains of seven Late
logical remains: either because it is waterlogged, Mesolithic fish traps dating to between 6100 and
frozen, or so dry that the natural processes of 5700 BC. These are the earliest securely dated 

PHOTO: Margaret Gowen and Co Ltd.
ABOVE A Late Mesolithic fish traps in Ireland or the UK, and are also some channel of the Liffey, or the shore of a tidal island
C-shaped fish trap. of the earliest examples recorded in Europe. Wet within the estuary.
boggy sites adjacent to rivers – known as estua- The fish traps and the pieces of stakes and wattle
ABOVE RIGHT This
section of beautifully rine and alluvial wetlands – provide a wealth scattered across the site were the remains of struc-
preserved wattle weir was of scientific information, but it is the record of tures that operated on the principle of passive
part of a Neolithic fish human presence in these landscapes that makes fishing: fish in the incoming or outgoing tides
trap that had been left on
them special. The fish trap remains illustrate the were caught in traps, and then retrieved at low
the shore’s edge, probably
washed up by the tide. value of this 70m stretch of the Liffey Estuary, tide when the traps were accessible. The system
which was in use over almost three millennia of is separated into weirs of wattle work designed to
Irish prehistory, as well as guide the fish, and traps
the technological skill of designed to catch them.
their makers – and raise Most of the remains from
several points concerning North Wall Quay were
the social implications of parts of ebb weirs, which
trap fishing. caught fish that drifted
At this time in Ire- with the falling tide. Ebb
land, the population was weirs are typically con-
heavily reliant on fish, due structed of large wooden
to the fact that the limited fences (or stone walls) that
native fauna provided little form a V-shape, with a
opportunity for hunting. basket set at the junction
The importance of fishing is shown by the con- to trap the fish.
RIGHT Earrings and blue centration of Mesolithic material recovered from Four of the ebb weir pieces were Late Mesolithic
glass beads discovered at lakeside, riverine and coastal settings, and is also in date. In addition to the ebb weirs, Late Meso-
Prumplestown.
highlighted by the high percentage of fish bone lithic dates were also obtained on a C-shaped fish
BELOW The wedge-cut within assemblages of that period. In contrast to trap and a basket fragment. Evidence for a Middle
pointed end of a Late Britain, the Irish Mesolithic was a fisher-forager Neolithic fish trap was also discovered, which
Mesolithic fish trap. society, rather than one of hunter-gatherers. comprised a beautifully preserved section of a
wattle weir (4.41m by 4.16m), found at the edge of
5 cms
The fishing ground the shore where it had probably been washed up
by the tide. All the remains were so closely dated
The fish traps were buried within estuarine silts, that they could have been used by the same or
4
where most of the remains were preserved in situ successive generations of fishermen.
3
at depths of 4m to 6m below sea level. They were The high level of preservation enabled detailed
2
set to the south of a gravel shoreline about 30m analysis of the wood used in their construction.
1
north of the existing quay wall, which repre- The traps were made almost exclusively of hazel,
sented either the northern bank of the prehistoric with small amounts of birch, ash and fruitwood

PHOTO: Headland Archaeology Ltd
also used. The selection of hazel was an obvious
one, since it is a pliable wood, ideal for use as
wattling and withies. It grows in dryland areas,
however, and is unlikely to have grown in the
estuarine environment of this site – thus, the
wood must have been sourced elsewhere. Many
of the stakes from the Late Mesolithic fish traps
displayed worked ends, with most cut to a point
on the end.
These took the form of chisel (cut on one face),
wedge (two cut faces) and pencil (multiple cuts)
points. The visible tool marks were mostly flat,
although a few were concave, indicating the use
of convex, narrow bladed, smooth stone axes,
comparable to the narrower examples of such
recorded from Late Mesolithic sites.
Catch of the day

In his seminal 1986 study Reading the Irish Land-
scape, Frank Mitchell argued that dense wood-
land covered Ireland during the Mesolithic,
perhaps explaining why the majority of finds
from this period come from coastal, alluvial and
estuarine sites. The restriction on inland move-
ment meant that people would have travelled
most easily along river valleys, and the fish traps
at North Wall Quay support this picture.
Reconstruction exercises have shown that har-
vesting the raw material and manufacturing a
conical fish trap takes at least seven hours – a con-
siderable investment in time and resources. While
parts of the traps such as baskets and wattle panels
could have been constructed off-site, they would
have to have been assembled and positioned
during low tide when the estuary was accessible
from the shore; thus, the people fishing at North
Wall Quay must have lived within easy reach of TOP The Neolithic
the traps, so that they could harvest the fish and house discovered during
air reconnaissance of
carry out any repairs at low tide.
the route for the N25
The traps could potentially have caught any of Waterford Bypass at
the fish swimming into estuarine waters, namely Granny in Co. Kilkenny.
herring, whiting, bass, sole, trout, flounder, plaice
ABOVE Cobbles inside
and mullet, as well as seasonal runs of salmon and
the Neolithic house,
eel. Such a wide variety of fish may have facili- representing a floor
tated year-round fishing; it could then be argued surface, during excavation.
that the construction of fish weirs may have laid
LEFT North-west wall
the foundation for a trend of sedentism and social
of the house, showing
complexity. Ireland had become isolated from packing stones.
Britain since it was originally settled around 8000
BC, developing its own distinctive settlement
pattern and material culture. Whether the drive
towards agriculture came from within the native
population, or without, there were dramatic 

changes happening beyond the Irish Mesolithic ABOVE Reconstructions Hearth and home
PHOTOS: Headland Archaeology Ltd
world such as the wave of colonisation that was of how the Neolithic
house at Granny was
sweeping into central Europe from the Balkans In 2004 freelance archaeologist Joanne Hughes
constructed, based on
and Western Asia. As our next site shows – an excavation information. had her suspicions, but it wasn’t until she got
early Neolithic house from the River Suir valley – an excited call from NRA Project Archaeologist
prehistoric waterways again came to the fore. James Eogan – just landed from a reconnaissance
helicopter flight along the route of the N25
Iron Age ring- Waterford Bypass – that she was convinced: the
ditch cemetery faint square outline gradually appearing beneath
her team’s busy trowels was the first Neolithic
house discovered in Co. Kilkenny. It has since
turned out to be one of the best examples so far
unearthed in Ireland.
The Neolithic period in Ireland dates broadly
Wetlands area
with trackways to between 4000 and 2500 BC, and is typified
by a change in stone technology, a reliance on
Cow mandibles found here domesticates, and a transformation in social
attitudes. It was a significant departure from
the Mesolithic life-way. Stable isotopic analysis
of Neolithic human remains indicates a general
shift in this period from marine to a terrestrial
diet, dominated by meat, bread and dairy prod-
Causewayed
Iron Age ring- ucts. Settlements were much more permanent,
ditch housing small farming communities dependent
on a narrow range of intensively managed food
sources.
Neolithic This change is expressed at the early Neolithic
timber circle house site discovered at Granny, Co. Kilkenny, on
the N25 Waterford Bypass. Surrounded by tilled
fields and penned animals, it was an isolated
dwelling on a south-facing slope overlooking the
River Suir, measuring 6.5m by 7m, and dating to
between 3950 and 3715 BC. It had been built by
Early Bronze
constructing a square foundation trench, into
Age pit circle
which postholes had been cut at regular intervals
to hold a substantial timber frame supporting
the roof. High quality stone objects, including
Neolithic chipped flakes and leaf-shaped arrowheads, were
timber circle deposited into some of these postholes, before
the posts were packed in and fastened together.
A lighter wall-cladding of split timber planks was
ABOVE Site plan of features on both then added, with packing stones wedged against
sides of the River Lerr, Prumplestown them in the foundation trench.
Lower and Woodlands West. Oak charcoal was found throughout the foun-
dation trench, suggesting that planks had been

charred to preserve them prior to being placed in
the ground. The charred remains of one of these
planks was discovered in situ, and, inside the
house, rare evidence for intact floor surfaces also
emerged. The entrance was on the southern side
of the building, leading into an internal space
that roughly measured 30m². A row of stakeholes
crossed east-west dividing the house in two; this
may have held a portable wattle screen to separate
activity areas, and the majority of finds and a cob-
bled surface were found to the north of this sub-
division. Charred cereal grains of emmer wheat,
naked barley and oat were also recovered, along
with 93 sherds of pottery from at least 14 early
Neolithic carinated bowls. The team also made
the exceptional discovery of a new form of pot-
tery, with a flared concave rim and a pronounced
inward lip designed to accommodate a lid. Pos- TOP The cache of

sibly unique in Ireland, it suggested connections Mesolithic artefacts,
including retouched
or influences from Western Britain.
mudstone blade.
As the new ideas and technology of farming
took hold in Ireland, the surrounding seas were LEFT Early Bronze Age pit
not so much a barrier as a connecting link to the circle.
dramatic changes taking place in Atlantic Europe.
MIDDLE LEFT Working
The Neolithic was a radical break with the past, shot of Mid to Late
and although it also involved the movement of Bronze Age structure.
people, it should not be seen as a straightforward
BOTTOM LEFT Cause-
process of colonisation. Indigenous knowledge
wayed Iron Age ring-ditch
of rivers and coastline may have been an essential during excavation.
condition to the swift adoption of farming. This
continuity is well illustrated by our next site, an
exceptionally well-preserved multi-period land-
scape, where ceremonial activity purposefully
took place adjacent to a river that was prominent
in the Mesolithic.
From subsistence to ritual

Today, the River Lerr is a relatively minor stream;
however, excavations carried out by Patricia Long,
Site Director with Headlands Archaeology Ltd, in
advance of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Carlow road
scheme, near Castledermot, Co. Kildare, revealed
that the river was the focus of an exceptionally
rich cultural landscape from the Mesolithic
through to the post-Medieval period.
Two sites, at Woodlands West and Prumple-
stown Lower, constitute a single archaeological
landscape located on either side of the River Lerr.
Densely concentrated archaeological features 

in silt on the north, and a pit, dated slightly later

The Gender Agenda at around 5000 BC, containing a cache of three
When it comes to interpreting ‘mankind’s’ lithic artefacts, on the south. The deposition of
prehistoric past, gender roles and the three lithic artefacts within a pit close to a
stereotypes are common currency. This wetland/dryland interface could be the earliest
is the ‘boys and arrows’ mentality, which indication of the river being used as a backdrop
sees women as gatherers and men as for an ‘offering’. One of the artefacts was of very
hunters, despite the notorious difficulties soft mudstone, and may not have been practical
in ascribing gender differences to as a tool – but rather deliberately manufactured
IMAGE: Sarah Nylund/Headland Archaeology Ltd
archaeological evidence. to be deposited in a ritual context.

The scene at the beginning of this article The later Neolithic saw an intensification of
describes two women fisher-foragers on activity in the area, especially on the north side
the River Liffey, but we are unlikely to ever of the river. A small south-facing timber circle
know whether the fishing ground was the was found, 5.8m in diameter and comprised 16
exclusive domain of women, men or both. postholes. A pair of four-post structures, from
It seemed logical to choose women as the the same period, was also found nearby. Timber
protagonists of the story, however, as the circles have been found in association with four-
site was excavated by a woman, and the lead specialist was a woman – as was the post structures elsewhere in Ireland, and are usu-
case with all three of the sites discussed in this article. Irish archaeologists would ally interpreted as ritual in nature. The timber
probably see this as unremarkable; but in Britain, gender inequality in archaeology is circle, constructed on a ridge overlooking the
a very hot topic. river, was the first permanent ritual structure
The British Women Archaeologists (BWA) was formed to address the perceived within the site, and is likely to have been fre-
difficulties faced by women in pursuing a fulfilling career in archaeology. No such quently revisited.
group exists in Ireland, a fact that is supported by figures from Discovering the Some of the most exciting evidence dates to the
Archaeologists of Europe, a cooperative trans-national project undertaken in Early Bronze Age. A pit circle was found close to
2007-2008 which aimed to assess the state of employment within professional the summit of the southern gravel ridge, which
archaeology across Europe. had no evidence of ever having contained or sup-
According to the survey, the size of the archaeological workforce in the UK was ported posts or stones. This monument type is
6,865, and 1,709 in Ireland. Of this figure, 41% were female in Britain, and 45% in rare, and possibly unique, in an Irish context, but
Ireland; not a tremendous disparity, but the figures also show that, in Ireland, women close parallels are found in Britain, mostly dating
hold the majority of permanently-employed positions. The implication is that the to the Neolithic period and normally associated
opportunities for women to move into more senior positions is much better in with henges and other ritual monuments.
Ireland than in the UK – perhaps another unacknowledged benefit of the Celtic Tiger. A number of Bronze Age cremation burials
were identified on both sides of the river, concen-
trated along the gravel ridges in close proximity
show that this remarkable and dynamic area has to, but not impinging upon, the spaces defined
been occupied since the earliest settlers arrived by the Neolithic timber circle and Early Bronze
in Ireland, and that the river was a magnet Age pit circle. Two of these cremations yielded
for monuments associated with ritual and glass beads, as well as three copper alloy rings
burial. The topography of the area is sig- with decoration giving a ‘twisted’ effect.
nificant; excavated areas are dominated The rings are of great importance as rare
by gravel ridges running on both sides Late Bronze Age burial goods, and are
of, and parallel to, the river. A range examples of a new type of ornament.
of features associated with burial
and ritual were found in these Monuments and
well-drained gravel ridges, which memories
would have been inter-visible
across the river, clearly placing The Iron Age saw a continuation
the river at the centre of atten- of the use of the area for burial and
tion within the community. ritual, with the establishment of
The earliest feature on the site a ring ditch cemetery. Two circular,
RIGHT Mesolithic Bann was a pit, dated to c.7000 BC. Lithics one pennanular, and one horse-
Flake discovered at were found on both sides of the river, shoe-shaped ring ditch were exca-
Prumplestown.
with a Mesolithic Bann flake discovered vated on the north side of the river. The

pennanular ring ditch was less than half a metre
north of the Neolithic timber circle, and the
causewayed ring ditch was located less than 5m
from the pit circle on the south side, suggesting
that the remnants of the older monuments may
still have been visible.
Each ring ditch had its own characteristics. The
penannular ditch on the north side had a series of
deliberately deposited cattle mandibles opposite
the entrance. The horseshoe-shaped ditch had a
significant quantity of burnt bone (unidentifi-
able) in its fill. On the south side, the causewayed
ring ditch had two roughly contemporary inhu-
mation burials in the interior.
These marked differences suggest that each
ring ditch represented something unique, and
perhaps were tended by a dedicated group of
people. The picture presented by the clustering
of these monuments alongside older features,
and the wide date range returned from within
small areas, shows continuous use of the area for
burial into the Iron Age. The analogous timing, ABOVE Damp boggy area identity through oral tradition and encounters
and inter-visibility, of the monuments on either adjacent to the south with material culture. Monuments and earth-
side of the River Lerr,
side of the river reinforce the status of the river as works would have played a crucial role in this.
containing trackways.
a focal point within one landscape. Later generations would have had to explain this
With no written records, people in the past evidence from the past, long after their original
would have formed a sense of their collective purpose had been forgotten. The burial tradition
continued on the southern gravel ridge right into
the early Medieval period, but the ancient ritual
traditions were gradually forgotten, and the river
flowed once again through a subsistence land-
scape. The precise reasons why this river was so
LEFT Cattle mandibles
within the Iron Age special to prehistoric people may remain a mys-
penannular ring-ditch on tery. But it is certain that the Celtic Tiger infra-
the north side of the River structure boom allowed the ancient significance
Lerr at Prumplestown. a
of the River Lerr to be rediscovered. C
SOURCES FURTHER READING 

Joanne Hughes Patricia Long and Gillian McCarthy, ‘To the waters and
jhugheso@eircom.net
Patricia Long the wild: ancient hunting in County Kildare’,
trish@headlandarchaeol- Dining and Dwelling - Archaeology and the National
ogy.ie
Melanie McQuade
Roads Authority, Monograph Series No. 6. ISBN 978-
mmcquade@mglarc.com 0954595579.
Joanne Hughes, ‘Two Neolithic structures in Granny
townland, Co. Kilkenny’, Recent Archaeological
Discoveries on National Road Schemes 2004 -
Next month: Archaeology and the National Roads Authority,
Iron Age Ireland: The Monograph Series No. 2. ISBN 0-954595513.
PHOTO: Headland Archaeology Ltd.
Celtic present meets

the Celtic past Melanie McQuade & Lorna O’Donnell, ‘Late
Mesolithic fish traps from the Liffey estuary, Dublin,
Ireland’, Antiquity, Vol 81:313, 2007 pp 569-584.

IRELAND Iron Age
Ireland’s
Invisible People
the Celtic present
meets the Celtic past
Comparing Ireland with the fast growing ‘tiger’ economies of the Far East,
economists coined the term ‘Celtic Tiger’; the irony is that evidence for ‘Celtic’
Ireland is almost as rare as evidence for an indigenous species of Irish tiger. Has
a decade of development‐led excavations altered this picture? Brendon Wilkins
assesses the new evidence emerging for the Irish Iron Age.
28 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk December 2010 |

PHOTO: Markus Casey
R
ising majestically above Dublin’s ABOVE Mid‐excavation name of God,’ he began, ‘and of the dead genera‐
busiest street, the Georgian aerial view of the site at tions from which she receives her old tradition of
Rahally, from the south‐
façade of the General Post Office nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her
east.
still contains bullet holes – grim children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.’ A
reminders of Easter Monday 1916, line can be drawn between those bullet holes and
when Padraic Pearse read a decla‐ the development and implementation of some of
ration that signalled the start of the Easter Rising the strongest and most enviable national monu‐
and the beginning of Irish Independence. ‘In the ments legislation in the world. !

IRELAND Iron Age
but we cannot see them,’ he wrote. ‘Thus we may

truly describe them as the invisible people.’
Archaeologists throughout the world will rec‐
ognise this conundrum: does absence of evidence
equal evidence of absence? Are Iron Age people
‘invisible’ because Ireland was plunged into a
Dark Age of economic and cultural stagnation?
Or are Iron Age people ‘invisible’ because our
excavation strategies have hitherto been ineffec‐
tive? As the Celtic Tiger boomed, archaeologists
were presented with a once in a lifetime oppor‐
tunity to finally find Pearse’s dead generations.
PHOTO: CRDS Ltd
Changing times, changing fortunes

The National Monuments Act was enacted ABOVE Aerial view of Perhaps it was his long years as a dairy farmer that
in 1930, when the nascent state was grasping a Rahally, showing the honed Gerry Mullins’s acute archaeological sen‐
projected outline of the
new identity, independent of its former colonial sitivity to changes in landscape. As the machine
hillfort ditches.
master. If the last 700 years could be dismissed bucket exposed yet another ditch crossing the
as enslavement to the English garrison, then road corridor, the excavation director was quick
archaeology could be called upon to reveal a to notice what a field walking team, desk study
Gaelic Ireland that was fully free. But, as archae‐ and geophysical survey had failed to discover.
ology matured into a professional discipline Employed by Cultural Resource Development
focussed on the scientific recovery of information Services (CRDS Ltd) to undertake test excava‐
about the past, evidence for the native ‘Celtic’ Ire‐ tions on the N6 Galway to East Balinasloe Road
land, glorified in art and literature, was far from Scheme, Mullins recognised that a series of four
forthcoming. concentric ditches cut into the flanks of Rahally
The Irish Iron Age is represented by a handful hill were the remnants of one of the largest hill‐
of high profile ‘royal’ sites, occasional deposits forts ever discovered in Ireland.
of metalwork and an oral tradition of epic sagas. Irish hillforts date to the Late Bronze Age, but
The late Barry Raftery argued in his seminal were occupied for many centuries after, poten‐
1994 book, Pagan Celtic Ireland, that these scant tially shedding light on the nature of society in
remains were the trappings of a small aristocratic Late Prehistoric Ireland. The number of known
elite, shedding little light on how the majority of hillforts in Ireland has increased dramatically
the population had lived. ‘These people existed in recent years (from estimates of 40 in 1972 to
landscape, Ireland maintained a dispersed rural population long

Dead generations into the Early Medieval period. There were no major urban centres
Debates concerning ‘unRoman Britain’ should look across the Irish until the Vikings arrived, and without the driving thrust of Roman
Sea. Ireland was never brought under Roman control, which means industrial pottery production, Irish sites are largely ceramic‐free
the country missed out on the gift of a coherent network of long from the later Prehistoric until the later Medieval periods. Without
straight roads. The Gaelic for road is bothar, literally translated the conventional bookmarks of 43 AD and 410 AD, archaeologists
as ‘cow‐path,’ a word that gives some insight into the ineffective have developed a different chronology, based on radiocarbon, that
transport network that Ireland inherited at the beginning of better reflects the duration of Irish time periods, which retain the
the Celtic Tiger boom. With no ‘top‐down’ reorganisation of the same nomenclature as Britain.
Ireland AD400 AD850 1150

Early Medieval Late Medieval Anglo‐Norman
Mesolithic Neolithic Bronze Iron Age
Age Anglo‐Saxon Medieval
8000BC 4000BC 2500BC 700BC 43BC AD410 AD1066
Britain

given the well‐known prac‐
BELOW Late La Tene
period metal artefact, tice of deposition in watery
of unknown function, places associated with Iron Age
PHOTO: CRDS Ltd

recovered from the ritual. Other finds at the site included a damaged
marshy area of
polished axehead and Late Bronze Age pottery
the inner
ditch. sherds from the inner ditch fills, and a dam‐
approximately 90 aged bone needle and whetstone from the outer
in 2007), but only a double‐ditches. Charcoal samples have returned
small number have radiocarbon dates of 994‐827 BC for the inner
been excavated. As a ditch, whilst the outer double‐ditch and middle
consequence, questions ditch have been dated to 790‐527 BC and 1090‐
concerning the func‐ 900 BC respectively.
tion of these sites abound For a site the size of the Rahally hillfort, espe‐
– with interpretations ranging from military, cially as it was previously unknown and unex‐
industrial or ritual centres, occupied by either plored, one would expect a wealth of finds,
a large population, or a minority of high status documenting the lives, interests and functions
families. With so many unanswered questions, of the community that built it and made it their BELOW A Neolithic
trackway at Edercloon;
hopes were high for the excavation team as they home. As there have been so few excavations of
note the accumulated
prepared to excavate the entire road corridor as it hillforts in Ireland, this site was expected to pro‐ depth of peat overlying
traversed the hill at Rahally. vide a wealth of information; it is notable in ! this level of the bog.
Located in east County Galway near the vil‐
lage of New Inn, the site at Rahally was on a
north‐facing hillside, which formed part of a gla‐
cial ridge surrounded by pastureland as well as
wet pasture and bog areas. East Galway is known
to have a complex archaeological landscape, and
there were several features already identified in
the vicinity of the proposed road corridor prior
to the discovery of the hillfort, including a bival‐
late (double‐ditched) ringfort immediately to
the south.
The hillfort was the earliest, and largest, archae‐
ological monument discovered at Rahally during
the road scheme excavations. Four concentric
rings were identified, including an outer double‐
ditch and two inner single‐ditches, all extending
beyond the road corridor. The distance between
the outer double‐ditches was about 450m, which
enclosed an area of 14.4ha. The ditches were up
to 4m wide and 1.5m in depth, with the outer‐
most and innermost ditches being more substan‐
tial than the middle. No upstanding evidence of
the banks was found in situ; however, banks were
indicated by the presence of sediment that had
slumped into the ditches, as well as many large
stones that were likely used as revetments.
On the northern edge of the inner ditch, at the
base of the hill, the fort builders had incorpo‐
rated a natural wet, marshy area rather than cut‐
ting the normal U‐shaped ditch. A late La Tene
(500 BC‐100 AD) metal artefact, of unknown
PHOTO: CRDS Ltd
function, was found in this wet area. As the only

prehistoric metal object found on the site, it may
be significant that it was found in a wet context,
| Issue 249
IRELAND Iron Age
PHOTO: John Sunderland

technology), but also a type of archaeological
landscape. But even with this extensive experi‐
ence, nothing could have prepared her for the
spectacular site of Edercloon.
The story of Edercloon began almost 6,000
years ago, when a narrow trackway of branches
and twigs was laid down on the wet surface of a
PHOTO: CRDS Ltd
County Longford bog, signalling the start of a

practice that would continue for the following
four millennia and would create one of the most
remarkable archaeological complexes
ABOVE Overall plan the absence of this expected evidence. ever discovered in an Irish wetlands
of trackways (toghers) Rahally occupies a commanding environment.
and other structures
position, making good use of natural The bog lies in the townland of Eder‐
excavated at Edercloon.
topography, but the vast empty space cloon, in the north‐west corner of
ABOVE RIGHT inside the hillfort brings us no closer to County Longford just south of the
Fragmentary alder understanding who built it, or why it was County Leitrim border. In April 2007,
bowl with carved and
used. A thousand years later, three ring‐ investigations in advance of the N4
perforated handles found
in a trackway of early forts were built on the hillside, indicating Dromod‐Roosky Bypass by CRDS Ltd
Medieval date. the continued importance of Rahally into revealed that beneath the grassy sur‐
the Early Medieval period. But, as far as face of the reclaimed bog, hidden by
RIGHT Brushwood trained
the ‘invisible people’ are concerned, once deep layers of peat, was a perfectly
to grow in a spiral pattern.
again they eluded the archaeologists preserved complex of wooden
grasp. If dryland sites proved deceptive, structures. In the following weeks,
then perhaps the Irish wetlands would 28 trenches were opened and over
hold the answer. 100 archaeologists from 17 coun‐
tries arrived to work on this remarkable
Wood for the trees excavation.
The concentration of sites at Edercloon
Archaeological specialists usually was extremely dense, with 48 previously
tend to get involved with projects unknown wooden structures situated in an
during the post‐excavation phase, area measuring 170m long and 30m wide.
bringing their expertise to bear Despite reclamation and drainage in the
on the processed artefacts and last century, these features were perfectly
ecofacts in the warm surround‐ preserved by the wet, anaerobic (oxygen‐
ings of the lab. Wetland archaeolo‐ free) qualities of the bog. The structures
gist Catriona Moore is no stranger ranged from very large, multi‐phase

to the cold outdoors, specialising not toghers (trackways), to short foot‐
just in a type of artefact (wood‐working paths, small platforms and simple
deposits of worked wood. The

structures dated from the Neolithic to the Early RIGHT Edecercloon wheel
Medieval period, when this part of the Edercloon fragment in situ, at the
base of a trackway.
bog was clearly an important focal point within
the surrounding landscape. This was particularly
the case in the centuries of the Late Bronze Age
(c.1000‐700 BC) to the early Iron Age (c.700‐200
BC), during which a network of very large track‐
ways with associated platforms was built.
The profusion of very large sites within such
a small area is unparalleled in Ireland, though
dense concentrations of sites have been identi‐
fied previously in bog environments. While this
alone is unusual, the Edercloon complex con‐
tained even more surprises: interconnecting
trackways with meandering routes, several struc‐
tures of immense scale, and repeated deposition
PHOTO: CRDS Ltd

of objects within structures. The Edercloon arte‐
fact assemblage, comprising bowls, spears, !
RIGHT A digital
reconstruction of the
Edercloon block wheel.
PHOTO: Chiara Chiriotti, CRDS Ltd

Ireland’s earliest wheel alder, and covered with almost 140 clean, crisp finished. The outer curve is not continuous, and
A portion of block wheel discovered at Edercloon marks from a sharp‐bladed tool, most likely an so this wheel, if completed, would not have been
is the earliest evidence for the wheel in Ireland, adze. The opposite side, which lay on the bog able to roll. Was this wheel a manufacturing
radiocarbon dated to 1206‐970 BC. The wheel surface, is worked to a much lesser extent. When mistake, which the community then decided to
was found buried within the base of a large complete, this fragment would have been part reuse as an offering – or as added stability for
trackway, and represents approximately one‐ of a tripartite block wheel, similar to Bronze and the trackway? Or, was this wheel deliberately
third of a complete wheel. Iron Age examples of this type of wheel found in made for deposition in this fashion? It seems
There are two very distinct sides to the Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. likely that it must have more to do with the
Edercloon block wheel. The side which was What is most curious about the Edercloon enduring tradition of artefact deposition at the
face‐upward when excavated is finely worked block wheel is that it could not have been site than with actual use for transport.

IRELAND Iron Age
RIGHT Archaeologists
cleaning the outer
enclosure stake‐holes at
Lismullin in preparation
for preliminary drawing.
PHOTO: Mary Deevy

tool handles and many items of unknown func‐ of ritual activity, rather than lost as a result of use.
tion, is one of the largest collections of wooden With such breath‐taking finds and structures,
objects ever to be archaeologically recovered from Edercloon certainly brings the ‘invisible people’
a raised bog in Ireland, and it is believed to represent a bit closer; but the homes and structures of
a distinct Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age practice of the builders are still missing. Even the artefacts
votive deposition. deposited at Edercloon were arguably selected for
The trackways and assemblage would surely be symbolic reasons, and are not representative of
more than enough to please any archaeologist; day‐to‐day lives in a way that might be expected
but it would be a hidden gem, found buried in at a similarly complex settlement site. If the elusive
the base of a large trackway, that would leave Iron Age still cannot be found at one of the best pre‐
the entire team absolutely amazed: part of a served sites ever excavated in Ireland, then perhaps
wooden block wheel, now known to be the it is necessary to look at the most controversial.
earliest wheel in Ireland. Fragments of three
different wooden wheels, of varying form and Much ado about nothing?
date, were found in total, and represent the
first instance in Ireland where archaeologists The controversy surrounding the construction
have discovered wheels and trackways in direct of the M3 as it passed through the Tara‐Skryne
association. The presence of wheels at Eder‐ valley in Co. Meath was described in CA 247.
cloon is most curious, when taken in light of What is sometimes lost in the polarised debate
the fact that none of the trackways from which about the validity of the road are considerations
these artefacts were recovered were suited of the significance of the archaeology itself.
to the use of wheeled vehicles. Additionally, Taking the ‘invisible people’ barometer used to
there is a broad chronological span between assess the other sites in this article, we might ask:
the three wheel fragments – from as early as 1206 was the protest about Lismullin much ado about
BC through to 880 AD – which points to a local nothing?
tradition of wheel manufacture over many cen‐ Between January and December 2007, excava‐
turies. This evidence combines to indicate that tions in advance of the Dunshaughlin‐Navan
these wheel fragments were likely to have been section of the M3 motorway revealed a large, post‐
deliberately placed within the trackways as part built ceremonial enclosure, dating to the early Iron
Age (6th to 4th century BC), in the townland of
Lismullin, Co. Meath. The excavation was under‐
If ever there was a place that deserved to be taken by ACS Ltd, fielding one of the largest profes‐
sional archaeology teams ever assembled in Ireland,
preserved in the name of the dead generations including six excavation directors, and managed by
from prehistoric times up to historic times Aiden O’Connell. A committee of national experts
from the museum, curatorial and academic sector
up to completely recently – it was Tara. were also drafted in to advise on the excavations.
Lismullin was a multi‐period site with evidence

from the Early‐Middle Neolithic to the post‐Medi‐
PHOTO: BKS Survery Ltd

eval period, but what motivated the declaration of
the site as a National Monument was the Iron Age
post enclosure.
The post enclosure occupied a natural, saucer‐
shaped depression at the west of the site, sur‐
rounded on all sides by higher ground. There
were three surviving elements: an outer enclo‐ screen was
sure, 80m in diameter, defined by a concentric employed at the end
double ring of post holes; a central inner enclo‐ of the entrance‐way
sure, defined by a single ring of closely spaced to restrict movement
post holes; and an east‐facing entrance, com‐ and view from the outer
prised of an avenue of widely‐spaced post holes. enclosure to the central, cer‐
The two outer rings are 1.5m‐2m apart and the emonial space. The construc‐
post holes were at an average of 0.6m. Charcoal tion and siting of the enclosure
from two post‐pipes (the voids left once the posts suggest that it was custom‐built to ABOVE Topographic
survey overlaid with plan
have rotted away) was radiocarbon dated to 520‐ serve the possible short‐term needs of of the Lismullin enclosure.
380 BC and 490‐370 BC respectively. its builders; a monument tailor‐made Note how it occupies the
The inner ring was 16m in diameter and con‐ for a specific set of events in a carefully lowest point of the bowl‐
tained a number of internal features, including chosen landscape setting. shape, rather than the
exact centre.
three pits with charcoal‐rich fills (oriented The Lismullin post enclosure was an
towards the eastern entrance), as well as a slot exciting discovery, but in many ways it high‐
trench, traversing the avenue, about 4m from lights Barry Raftery’s struggle to reconstruct the
the inner circle. It is likely this would have sup‐ character of everyday Iron Age life in Ireland. It
ported a screen, which would have restricted the was a ritual and ceremonial monument, with few
view from the entranceway into the inner enclo‐ finds to suggest that it was used and controlled
sure. A range of artefacts was recovered from the by anything other than an aristocratic elite. The
enclosed area, including a fragment of a rectan‐ invisible people remain invisible. The contro‐
gular stone chisel or adze, and both Middle and versy surrounding the excavation also brings
Late Bronze Age domestic pottery. The Lismullin us back to the steps of the GPO. In an interview
enclosure appears to represent a single phase of with the BBC in March 2008, the Nobel Laureate
construction and a relatively short period of use. Seamus Heaney said:‘If ever there was a place that
The choice of location was important. Just deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead
2.1km south‐west – and within sight distance – generations from prehistoric times up to historic
of the Hill of Tara, the enclosure was also in the times up to completely recently – it was Tara.’
vicinity of Rath Lugh, Rathmiles, Raith Loegaire Now that the Celtic Tiger has come to the end
and Ringlestown Rath, which were all defensive of the road, there are signs that we may be about
outposts in the Tara hinterland in the final few to discover the invisible people after all. Prof. Ian
centuries BC and early few centuries AD. The Armit of Bradford University’s research project,
enclosure occupied a discreet, sheltered position, Remodelling the Irish Iron Age, aims to synthesise
with the surrounding higher ground providing a the evidence from commercially‐funded work.
natural amphitheatre. It is likely that a blocking By reassessing excavation reports and teasing
out the Iron Age data, the project team hope to
FURTHER READING ! assimilate this evidence into a wider archaeo‐
Roads, Rediscovery and Research, Archaeology and logical narrative, finally filling the void in our
the National Roads Authority Monograph Series No. 5. understanding. Those of us formerly employed
ISBN 978‐0954595562. on the front line of the Celtic Tiger wish them
Creative Minds, Archaeology and the National Roads the best of luck. C a
Authority Monograph Series No. 7. ISBN 978‐
0956418029.
Aiden O’Connell, ‘The elusive Iron Age: a rare and exciting Coming next month:
site type is uncovered at Lismullen, Co. Meath’. 2007. Saints and Sinners: fields of conflict in
Seanda: NRA Archaeology Magazine 2, pp52–54. later Medieval Ireland.

IRELAND Medieval
Saints and
Sinners
religion and conflict in
Medieval Ireland
CREDIT: Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd
Religion, and religious strife, have defined modern Ireland. New archaeological
evidence is showing that this cultural clash began long ago, with the very
arrival of Christianity. In our final article on Celtic Tiger archaeology,
Brendon Wilkins looks at the physical evidence of this spiritual struggle.
28 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk January 2011 |

‘H
istory,’ said Stephen Dedalus in the small townland of Ray‐
in James Joyce’s masterpiece stown, Co. Meath. The site,
Ulysses, ‘is a nightmare from which endured for at least 600
which I am trying to awake.’ years as a large farming settle‐
Joyce was commenting on the ment, was excavated by CRDS
violence of Irish history, par‐ Ltd between 2004‐2005. Exca‐ Raystown
ticularly that done in the name of Christian faith. vations, led by Matthew Seaver,
Dublin
That history began at the dawn of the Christian uncovered a burial ground and
Carrickmines
era in Ireland, as a new ecclesiastical class com‐ two areas of domestic activity;
mitted names, stories, and events to paper for the outside this core area were a
Woodstown
first time. But, as the new archaeological evidence large number of boundary
emerging from development‐led excavations has and drainage ditches, cereal‐
shown, they may have been the first to write his‐ drying kilns and the remains
tory ‐ but they weren’t always the winners. of at least eight water‐mills and
Interchangeably known as the early Chris‐ water‐houses.
tian period, Early Medieval Ireland was a highly The burial ground was centred on the top of a
segmented society divided between approxi‐ ridge, with half of it falling within the planned
mately 150 kings, who exercised power through road corridor. Excavations recovered 93 burials,
LEFT Decorated lead pan
a tribal structure. Tradition holds that Saint Pat‐ with evidence, primarily disarticulated bone weight or gaming counter,
rick arrived in Ireland as a missionary in AD 432, scattered through the soil, for a further 40 burials found at Woodstown,
although contemporary chronicles suggest that that had been disturbed by grave‐digging and Co. Waterford.
there were already Christians in Ireland at this agriculture. The mostly shallow, unlined graves
time, with Palladius ordained as their first bishop were generally aligned with the skeleton’s head to
BELOW Unusual burial in
in AD 431 by Pope Celestine I. the west; some burials with a tightly‐bound pos‐
the remains of a kiln on
The advance of Christianity was accomplished ture indicated that the people had been buried in the edge of the Raystown
in two phases: an expansion period when the shrouds, while others contained objects such ! enclosure.
faith was still a minority practice, and a consoli‐
dation period when Christianity bedded down
as the dominant belief system. Missionaries had
two basic strategies to convert the Irish pagans.
Their first option was to befriend wealthy fami‐
lies in the hope that they would grant land for
a church, perhaps with one of their own kin
appointed as abbot. A more effective strategy
would be to convert a king, leading to the nom‐
inal conversion of his entire territory.
Through this gradual process, the church
expanded its reach throughout Irish society,
and by AD 700 Ireland was, at least nominally,
a Christian country. Monks, ecclesiastical ten‐
ants, and sections of the wider community were
encouraged to recognise their affiliation in death
through burial at ecclesiastical sites, though a
large cemetery site excavated on the N2 Finglas‐
Ashbourne road scheme indicates the supremacy
of the Christian authorities was not yet above
challenge.
Secrets from the grave

In the early 5th century, at approximately the
PHOTO: CRDS Ltd
same time that the first Irish Christians were

seeking their first Bishop from Rome, people
began burying their dead in an enclosed cemetery

IRELAND Medieval
as an iron knife, iron pin, copper‐alloy ring, and

a blue‐glass bead found near a child’s neck. The
graves were radiocarbon dated to between the
early 5th to the late 10th centuries.
The burials comprised 68 adults, three adoles‐
cents, 20 juveniles and two older infants. During
this period, children frequently died before four
years of age; at Raystown, the percentage of juve‐
niles and infants was very low, and there are
no neonatal (birth to four weeks) burials, sug‐
gesting that they must have been buried else‐
where – perhaps in a cillin (a separate, designated
area of non‐consecrated ground for unbaptised,
PHOTO: Hawkeye
premature, and illegitimate offspring). Disease
was a factor of everyday life, and many of the
adult burials showed evidence of infections,
ABOVE Excavation of two
such as tuberculosis. A number of the burials also souterrains (subterranean unusual burial practice was also apparent, with
demonstrate the violent nature of Early Medieval structures) in the one male inserted in a former drying kiln, some
Irish life, with two males in particular showing northern area of the distance from the other burials. Unlike the other
Raystown site.
cuts to the bone from a blade. Additional, burials, he was covered with stones, in a north‐
south position, with legs flexed.
Land of the living

On either side of the cemetery were densely set‐
tled areas. To the north, an area paved with small
stones was discovered to be littered with animal
bone, and artefacts such as bone and iron pins,
needles, iron tools, and a horse bit. Post‐holes sug‐
gest a house, and two souterrains were discovered
in this area. The first had a narrow passageway
leading to a rounded chamber; initially timber‐
built, the entrance was later replaced with stone.
The second was stone‐built with a corbelled roof
and rectangular chamber. This northern area
and the cemetery were later enclosed by a large,
rectangular enclosure, indicating that the people
felt the need to distinguish this area of the site
from the farming activity outside. To the south
of the cemetery was a dense pattern of gullies,
hearths and a probable house site.
The land outside the settlement and cemetery
enclosures was dominated by features relating to
work and production, such as field and livestock
enclosures, kilns, and mills. Ditches, running
down‐slope, radiated outward from the core
enclosures, subdividing this area and forming
IMAGES: CRDS Ltd and GSB Prospection Ltd
drains and boundaries. Five figure‐of‐eight
ABOVE LEFT Aerial photograph of Raystown, with

topographical contours at 1m intervals (white lines) and
geophysical survey data (blue lines).
LEFT Plan of Raystown, showing geophysical survey data

and excavated remains.

shaped cereal drying kilns were found, which
would have been a necessity in the damp, cold
Irish climate for staving off decay, and allowing
grain to be milled more efficiently. Animal hus‐
bandry was also a large part of life at Raystown,
with more than 700kg of animal bone recovered
during excavations, representing the remains of
cattle, pig, sheep, goats, horses, deer, and birds.
The most impressive, and community‐defining
remains, however, were the spectacular physical
remains of up to eight watermills along with the
substantial watercourses that fed them.
The mills were concentrated in clusters across
the site, and located some distance from the water
source, which was a channel connecting to the
IMAGES: Hawkeye, Simon Dick for CRDS Ltd

Broad Meadow River. The majority of the mills
used horizontal wheels, which were fed water by
a wooden chute, known as a flume; this directed
the water, with force, at the wheel, which in
turn drove a haft that turned the millstones
in the upper building. Wooden and stone
foundations from five of these buildings
survived at Raystown. Horizontal mills of longships, powered by large crews of 20 or
these types were in common use in Ireland more under oar and sail. The sight of such
until the 20th century, and can still be seen ships, perhaps headed by warrior chieftains,
in operation in Bosnia, Spain, and Portugal. sent chills through the monastic communi‐
The mills were radiocarbon dated ties that had grown rich through Ireland’s
between the 7th and 10th centuries, and ‘Golden Age of Christianity.’ At one such
Raystown was abandoned by the 12th cen‐ ecclesiastical site near Waterford, it seems
tury. Choosing this place to bury their dead, that rather than striking and leaving, the
rather than the official church burial yard, raiding parties settled in for the long haul.
was a deliberate strategy to articulate a long Ireland’s oldest city, Waterford, was
history with the area, re‐establish their rela‐ founded in AD 914 as a Viking longphort,
tionship with their ancestors, and guarantee or shore fortress. The city is located at the
connection with the land. As Christianity head of Waterford harbour, and though
established its monopoly on salvation of the ABOVE Aerial rich archaeological evidence for the later
soul in Ireland, ancestral burial grounds fell out photograph of mills Hiberno‐Norse period has been excavated below
of favour, to be replaced by churchyard burial. under excavation. the modern streets, the early origins of the first
Across Europe, the arrival of Christianity fur‐ Viking settlers were mysteriously absent. This
INSET A reconstruction
ther strengthened and consolidated royal power, of one of the mills at was to change, however, with remarkable discov‐
laying the foundations for Medieval feudalism, Raystown. eries between 2002 and 2006 at Woodstown. The
and a re‐patterning settlement with an ecclesi‐ entirely unexpected discovery suggested that
astical or monastic focus. Into this heady, new‐ archaeologists had been looking in the wrong
found affluence, technological developments in place, and the first Viking encampment was up‐
ship‐building saw new types of craft set sail on river of the present city.
the western seas, emanating from the North Sea In March 2002, Archaeological Consultancy
shores of Scandinavia. The Vikings were coming. Services Ltd began archaeological testing !
Oath‐bound thugs At one ecclesiastical site near Waterford,

The period is named after the Norse warriors rather than striking and leaving, the
who went i viking or ‘raiding’, attacking coastal or
estuarine settlements in pursuit of money, slaves,
raiding parties settled in for the long haul.
treasure, and honour. They traveled in slender

IRELAND Medieval
deposits, with geophysics showing the presence

of additional features between the test‐trenches.
Portions of 12 of the original 29 test trenches
were fully excavated, providing evidence for
both domestic and industrial activity, including
an enclosure ditch, pits, linear features, ditches,
hearths and other areas of burning, and struc‐
tural evidence such as post‐ and stake‐holes. Once
the significance of the site had been appreciated,
it was declared a National Monument; and, for
the first and only time in Irish archaeology, the
road was redesigned to avoid and safeguard the
archaeology.
Some evidence for Middle‐ to Late Bronze Age
(approximately 1500 BC) activity was discov‐
ered, and the deep enclosure ditch was revealed
to have been dug in the early 5th century AD.
Further excavation of the ditch would prove to
be extremely fruitful, as significant evidence was
found for extensive metalworking, including a
silver ingot, large quantities of slag, iron blades
IMAGES: Simon Dick for CRDS Ltd
and knives, an iron knife blade and tang, iron

nails and rivets, crucibles, burnt bones, an ivory
bead, honestones, and rotary burnishing stones.
The majority of the site was radiocarbon dated
between the late 7th and early 11th centuries,
the early Medieval or Hiberno‐Norse period. Ini‐
and geophysics in advance of the proposed ABOVE Reconstruction of tially interpreted as a defended settlement, there
N25 Waterford City Bypass, in the township of Raystown c.AD 900. is a possibility that such a large and wealthy
Woodstown, 6km south of Waterford City on site could have been ecclesiastical in nature; a
the southern bank of the River Suir. The work number of stratified copper caskets and stud‐
was directed by Ian Roberts, and coordinated mounts, dated between the late 6th and early 7th
for the NRA by Richard O’Brien. Test‐trenching centuries, were also found in the enclosure ditch,
revealed approximately 600 buried features and and these would be more typical of objects owned
IMAGE: Earthsound Archaeological Geophysics
RIGHT Interpretive
drawing of the
archaeological features
detected by geophysical
survey of Woodstown.

LEFT An aerial view of in future Viking discoveries, particularly rural
Woodstown, taken in sites. The discoveries at Woodstown show that
2001.
similar settlements must have existed on other
waterways, as the River Suir is only one of three
rivers feeding Waterford Harbour. Similarly, the
lack of known early Viking settlement along the
Co. Waterford coast is probably down to a lack of
research, rather than a lack of sites.
Radiocarbon dating suggests the Woodstown
settlement was abandoned by the middle of the
11th century, and it remained forgotten until
its rediscovery in 2003. Did events following
the Battle of Clontarf in AD 1014, in which !
PHOTO: Waterford City Council
A warrior’s grave
A Viking grave was discovered about 22m outside the enclosure ditch at
Woodstown 6. Buried beneath just 0.25m of topsoil, it is likely that the grave had
by the Church rather than the mundane objects been disturbed by ploughing, and several large boulders found within the grave
found on secular settlement sites. Though Wood‐ suggest that it may once have been covered by a low stone cairn. Due to the high
stown was, in fact, a substantial, multi‐period site, acidity of the soils, no skeleton was
it is the Viking Age evidence – and the manner in found; however the finds, including a
which it was discovered – which has proved most broken sword, sword fragments, shield
interesting. boss, spearhead, battleaxe, copper‐alloy
During the middle to late 9th century, Viking cloak pin, and a perforated honestone,
ships sailing on the River Suir landed at Wood‐ indicate a burial of relatively high status.
stown, which was then a native Irish settlement. The soils from within the grave were
How these Vikings interacted with the natives hand‐sieved, and thus all the iron shield
may never be fully understood, but they cer‐ rivets were found. The burial was dated
tainly settled on the site and made significant by stylistic comparison to other securely
changes to the existing structures there. In addi‐ dated sites, with the sword hilt placing
tion to the grave of a single Viking warrior, over it between the mid‐9th to mid‐11th
5,000 Viking Age artefacts were recovered from centuries. The Woodstown warrior grave
the topsoil at Woodstown. is the first scientific excavation of a rural
Analysis of the finds shows quite clearly that Viking burial in Ireland since the 1940’s.
trading was an important aspect of Viking life at
Woodstown. In total, 36 pieces of silver – mostly RIGHT AND BELOW Picture and plan
of the Viking Grave at Woodstown.
hacked ingots – and 208 pan lead weights, used
to weigh precious metals, were found in the top‐
soil. This assemblage is the largest such collection
from rural Ireland; the high rate of recovery high‐
lights the importance of systematic scanning
of the site using metal detectors. Other objects
found included iron clench nails, roves (used to
join ship timbers), and a fragment of an Arabic
silver Kufik coin, which reflects the Vikings’
wider trading contacts.
Over 5,000 artefacts (89% from topsoil) found
at Woodstown were recovered after six months’
continuous investigation by a team of five archae‐
ologists using metal detectors. This raises meth‐
IMNAGE: ACS Ltd
odological questions about how such sites should

be investigated in future, and surely indicates
that such intensive work needs to be replicated

IRELAND Medieval
Brian Boru was defeated by the King of Lein‐ The 17th century was perhaps the bloodiest
ster and his Viking mercenaries, play a in Ireland’s history, with the Irish Rebel‐
part in its demise? Did these Vikings lion of 1641 descending into an
move upstream and settle in the ethnic conflict between native
present Waterford City? The Irish Catholics and English
political landscape was cer‐ and Scottish Protestant set‐
tainly changing in Ireland, tlers. Carrickmines was
becoming concentrated laid siege on 26 and 27
in the hands of a few March 1642, when Eng‐
regional dynasties. But lish troops under Sir
by 1168, an invasion Simon Harcourt suc‐
force of Norman knights, cessfully stormed the
themselves descended castle – being held at
from Vikings, were about the time by rebel forces.
to land on Ireland’s shores, Neither man, woman
heralding a bloody age of or child was spared the
conquest and rebellion that ensuing slaughter, and the
would continue into living discovery of a mass grave con‐
memory. taining the remains of 15 butch‐
ered skeletons brought this grisly
Beyond the pale past dramatically to life.
Analysed by conflict archaeologist Damian
Carrickmines Castle was an Anglo‐Norman for‐ Shiels and osteoarchaeologist Linda Fibiger, the
tress dating to the 12th century. It was located in ABOVE A selection of team identified two multiple burials containing
the former marshes of south Co. Dublin, near stone, glass, bone, metal, the remains of men, women, and children, aged
and glass artefacts
the foothills of the Dublin and Wicklow moun‐ between 3 and 45 years old. A young male was
recovered at Woodstown.
tains, on the line of the Pale Ditch. The Norman also excavated some 7.5m from the mass grave,
invasion of 1168 brought much of Ireland under buried face down with no indication of care or
the control of the kings of England, but their ceremony. Clear evidence for blade trauma was
influence waned in the 13th century as Norman found on seven individuals and a number of
knights became increasingly assimilated into other disarticulated remains. None of the inju‐
Irish culture. The Pale was the part of Ireland that ries showed signs of healing, indicating that they
was directly under the control of the English gov‐ were sustained at the time of death, likely to be
ernment in the late Middle Ages, and by the 15th the result of sword cuts.
century it had been reduced to a small area along A musket ball was found in close association
the east coast encircling Dublin. with one skeleton, suggesting at least one indi‐
The site was subject to a major excavation vidual was shot; other artefacts found in the
between 2000 and 2002 in advance of the M50 grave provided clues as to the date of the victims’
Dublin Ring Road, directed by Dr Mark Clinton death. Thirteen coins were recovered, with nine
on behalf of Valerie J Keely Ltd. Carrickmines coming from a single find spot, and the others
became a flashpoint for controversy surrounding from close proximity. The coins were of Eng‐
the road construction, as protesters calling BELOW Viking‐type five‐ lish mint, consisting of ten sixpences and three
themselves the ‘Carrickminders’ sought to have lobed sword pommel. shillings. A key was also discovered beneath the
the road re‐routed. Allegations of bribery were right elbow of one of the victims. Was this the
PHOTOS: Richard O’Brian, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd
also investigated as council officials, at key to an important room or chest in

greatly inflated prices, had suspiciously the castle? We may never be able to
rezoned large areas of farm‐ recover the precise details Many than
land. While the forensic of their gruesome end, mentione
Michael S
accountants sorted the but the Carrickmines National R
finances, the discovery assemblage has pre‐ and suppo
of a mass war graves sented archaeologists
from the 17th century with an insight into
kept the forensic archae‐ the physical reality of
ologists equally busy. sieges in the 17th century,

and the brutal warfare that engulfed the country
during Irish Rebellion.
The End of the Road

In his recent book, Europe Between The Oceans
(profiled in CA 229, 230, 231), Barry Cunliffe
assessed how the relatively minor peninsula of
Europe came to dominate world affairs. By the
15th century, Europe was a driving world force,
and the prehistoric origins for this success lay
in the dynamic mix of natural resources, strong
sea‐faring traditions and continual interaction
between different cultures. The movements and
migrations of people throughout Irish prehis‐
tory are complex and every bit as convoluted as
FURTHER READING ! the political history of our modern age. As the
western‐most outpost of the European peninsula,
Richard O’Brien and Ian Russell, 2004. ‘The Hiberno‐Scandinavian site of Woodstown 6, County
Waterford’. Recent Archaeological Discoveries on Road Schemes 2004, the National Roads Ireland was a rich, fertile ground for travellers
PHOTOS: Róisín Barton‐Murray

Authority Monograph No. 2, ISBN: 978‐0954595517. and traders from afar.
When the Celtic Tiger reached the end of the
Matthew Seaver, 2006. ‘Through the mill: excavation of an Early Medieval settlement
road, it became clear that the enduring gift of this
at Raystown, County Meath’, Settlement, Industry and Ritual, National Roads Authority
Monograph No. 3, ISBN 978‐0954595524 never‐before‐seen scale of work has allowed us to
grasp Ireland’s historical complexity throughC a
ABOVE The only surviving upstanding wall with window of Carrickmines Castle, Co.
Dublin, which was incorporated into a later post‐medieval structure. This section of the
castle wall has been preserved in situ.
BELOW A section of the revetted fosse at the site of Carrickmines Castle, Co. Dublin,
preserved in situ under the roundabout of the current motorway interchange.
nks to all the site directors and companies

ed throughout these articles. Special thanks to
Stanley, Frank Zac, Ronan Swan and all at the
Roads who have given so generously of their time
orted the project from start to finish.

Top Ten Sites of The Celtic Tiger

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THE UK’S BEST SELLING ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE

Issue 247 | £4.00

CELTIC TIGER roared

When the Celtic Tiger

During the Celtic Tiger economic boom, Ireland experienced a period of

12 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk October 2010 |

Boom and bust

BELOW National Roads Authority excavations, 1992-2010.

| Issue 247 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 13

war reconstruction boom happened long before

In both Britain and Ireland, large-scale devel-

14 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk October 2010 |

PHOTO: National Roads Authority

The Anglo-Irish Disagreement tion to ‘total archaeology’ in Ireland and ‘sample

the development took place. Much of the site was destroyed

street protests and legal challenges orchestrated by Friends of Medieval

| Issue 247 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 15

resourced; not so much ‘preservation by record’

PHOTO: Headlnad Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd

recently – it was Tara.’ His call to arms was echoed by Jonathan

LEFT The Hill of Tara ceremonial complex. The new motorway

16 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk October 2010 |

BELOW The arc of stakeholes at Lismullin being watered and protected

ABOVE Excavations on the revetted fosse at the site of Carrickmines

Foyle, Chief Executive of the World Monuments Fund Britain, who

declared that the construction of the M3 was equivalent to the state-

| Issue 247 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 17

– every 1.3km compared to every 3.7km in the

Time and tide

and Europe, this was the first time an alluvial

18 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk October 2010 |

Brendon Wilkins, ‘Time and tide: five millennia of

ABOVE Section photograph showing archaeological phases.

or eroded away, leaving a visible and permanent

| Issue 247 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 19

36 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk November 2010 |

| Issue 248 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 37

38 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk November 2010 |

Catch of the day

| Issue 248 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 39

40 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk November 2010 |

inward lip designed to accommodate a lid. Pos- TOP The cache of

From subsistence to ritual

| Issue 248 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 41

in silt on the north, and a pit, dated slightly later

archaeological evidence. to be deposited in a ritual context.

42 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk November 2010 |

SOURCES FURTHER READING 

Celtic present meets

| Issue 248 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 43

28 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk December 2010 |

| Issue 249 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 29

but we cannot see them,’ he wrote. ‘Thus we may

Changing times, changing fortunes

landscape, Ireland maintained a dispersed rural population long

Ireland AD400 AD850 1150

30 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk December 2010 |

PHOTO: CRDS Ltd

function, was found in this wet area. As the only

PHOTO: John Sunderland

County Longford bog, signalling the start of a

gist Catriona Moore is no stranger ranged from very large, multi‐phase

32 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk December 2010 |