Past Times, Changing Fortunes

Edited by Sheelagh Conran, Ed Danaher and Michael Stanley, and published in August 2011, this monograph contains the proceedings of the NRA National Archaeology Seminar held in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, on 26 August 2010. Past Times, Changing Fortunes contains nine papers by a range of archaeologists and specialists who were invited to address the evidence of how the fortunes of the Irish landscape and people have changed over millennia. The multiplicity of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence for the many transformations experienced on this island and the resilience of its inhabitants throughout history is amply demonstrated in the latest proceedings.

 The papers include:

• ‘Souterrains, social stress and Viking wars in north County Louth’ by Niall Roycroft
• ‘Finding the plot: urban and rural settlement in 13th-century Cashel, Co. Tipperary’ by Joanne Hughes and Mícheál Ó Droma
• 'Profiting from the land: mixed fortunes in the historic landscapes of north Cork’ by Ken Hanley
• ‘Boom and bust or sustained development? Fossil pollen records and new insights into Bronze Age farming in County Clare’ by Karen Molloy and Michael O’Connell
• ‘Agricultural boom and bust in medieval Ireland: plant macrofossil evidence from kiln sites along the N9/N10 in County Kildare’ by Scott Timpany, Orla Power and Mick Monk
• ‘Wax or wane? Insect perspectives on human environmental interactions’ by Eileen Reilly
• ‘Excavating death on the M6: 3500 BC to AD 1500’ by Brendon Wilkins
• ‘Back to basics: contexts of human burial on Irish early medieval enclosed settlements’ by Matthew Seaver
• ‘Health in medieval Ireland: the evidence from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal’ by Catriona McKenzie and Eileen Murphy

ISBN 978-0-9564180-5-0

Creative Minds: production, manufacturing and invention in ancient Ireland

‘Another welcome distillation of results from NRA-funded fieldwork, this attractive, lavishly-illustrated and accessible book . . . is full of fascinating nuggets and insights and will be of lasting value for researchers and the public alike . . . the NRA is to be congratulated and encouraged to keep up its excellent work of dissemination’.

Dr Alison Sheridan, National Museum of Scotland, in British Archaeology Magazine.

Edited by Michael Stanley, Ed Danaher and James Eogan, and published in August 2010, this monograph contains the proceedings of the NRA National Archaeology Seminar held in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, on 26 August 2009. The papers presented describe the archaeology uncovered on the M3, N4, M4, N5, N6,  N7 and M8/N8 road schemes. A number of chapters offer important syntheses of the excavation results from numerous other schemes throughout the country.

The papers include:

• 'From boy to man: ‘rights’ of passage and the lithic assemblage from a Neolithic mound in Tullahedy, Co. Tipperary' by Farina Sternke
• 'Spindle-whorls and hand-spinning in Ireland' by Richard O’Brien
• 'Clay and fire: the development and distribution of pottery traditions in prehistoric Ireland' by Eoin Grogan and Helen Roche
• 'Ancient woodland use in the midlands: understanding environmental and landscape change through archaeological and palaeoecological techniques' by Ellen OCarroll
• 'Reinventing the wheel: new evidence from Edercloon, Co. Longford' by Caitríona Moore and Chiara Chiriotti
• 'Iron-smelting and smithing: new evidence emerging on Irish road schemes' by Angela Wallace and Lorna Anguilano
• 'For whom the bell tolls: the monastic site at Clonfad 3, Co. Westmeath' by Paul Stevens
• 'Charcoal production in medieval Ireland' by Niall Kenny

ISBN 978-0-9564180-2-9
 

Dining and Dwelling

Edited by Michael Stanley, Ed Danaher and James Eogan, and published in August 2009, this monograph contains the proceedings of the NRA National Archaeology Seminar held in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, in August 2008. The monograph contains papers outlining the archaeology uncovered on a number of road schemes throughout Ireland, including the N6 Galway to East Ballinasloe PPP scheme, the N6 Ballinasloe–Athlone road scheme, the N7 Castletown–Nenagh: Derrinsallagh to Ballintotty road scheme, the N7 Nenagh–Limerick High Quality Dual Carriageway, the N8 Cashel–Mitchelstown Road Improvement Scheme, the N8/N73 Mitchelstown Relief Road, the N8 Fermoy–Mitchelstown road scheme, the N8 Glanmire–Watergrasshill road scheme, the M8 Rathcormac/Fermoy Bypass, the N9/N10 Kilcullen–Waterford Scheme: Kilcullen–Carlow, the N9/N10 Kilcullen–Waterford Scheme: Knocktopher–Powerstown, the N9/N10 Kilcullen–Waterford Scheme: Prumplestown–Powerstown and the N17 Tuam Bypass.

The papers include:

• 'Cultivating societies: new insights into agriculture in Neolithic Ireland' by Meriel McClatchie, Nicki Whitehouse, Rick Schulting, Amy Bogaard & Philip Barratt
• 'Early medieval food-processing technology at Kilbegly, Co. Roscommon: the miller’s tale' by Neil Jackman
• 'Food for thought: newly discovered cereal-drying kilns from the south-west midlands' by Patricia Long
• 'Geophysics, tillage and the ghost ridges of County Galway, c. 1700–1850' by Jerry O’Sullivan
• 'Fulachta fiadh and the beer experiment' by Billy Quinn & Declan Moore
• 'Hair of the dog: evidence of early medieval food production and feasting at Ballyvass, Co. Kildare' by Tara Doyle
• 'To the waters and the wild: ancient hunting in County Kildare' by Patricia Long & Gillian McCarthy
• 'Excavating a meal: a multidisciplinary approach to early medieval food economy' by Alison Kyle, Karen Stewart & Auli Tourunen
• 'A fixed abode: Neolithic houses in County Carlow' by TJ O’Connell & Nial O’Neill
• 'No corners! Prehistoric roundhouses on the N8 and N7 in counties Cork, Tipperary and Offaly' by John Tierney & Penny Johnston
• 'Hearth and home: Bronze Age structures in south Tipperary' by Melanie McQuade & Colm Moriarty
• 'Reconstructing prehistoric and historic settlement in County Cork' by Ken Hanley
• 'Camlin 3: a cemetery-settlement in north Tipperary' by Colm Flynn
• 'Wining and dining in a medieval village at Mullaghmast, Co. Kildare' by Angus Stephenson
• 'An 18th-century roadside cottage in Danesfort Demesne, Co. Kilkenny' by Richard Jennings & Michelle Delaney

ISBN 978-0-9545955-7-9
 

Roads, Rediscovery and Research

Edited by Jerry O’Sullivan and Michael Stanley and published in August 2008, this monograph contains the proceedings of a seminar on recent archaeological discoveries on national road schemes held in the Gresham Hotel in August 2007. The monograph contains papers outlining the archaeology uncovered on a number of schemes throughout the Ireland, including the N4 Dromod–Roosky Bypass, N25 Waterford City Bypass, the N6 Galway to East Ballinasloe PPP scheme, the M8/N8 Cullahill–Cashel road scheme, the N9/N10 Kilcullen–Waterford Scheme: Prumplestown–Powerstown, the N15 Bundoran–Ballyshannon Bypass, the N18 Ennis Bypass and N85 Western Relief Road, and the M3 Clonee to North of Kells motorway scheme.

The papers include:

• 'Old routes to new research: the Edercloon wetland excavations in County Longford' by Caitríona Moore
• 'The palaeoenvironmental potential of waterlogged deposits and their contribution to archaeological investigations' by Scott Timpany
• 'Three thousand years of human activity at Rahally, Co. Galway' by Gerry Mullins
• 'Fauna and fulachta fiadh: animal bones from burnt mounds on the N9/N10 Carlow Bypass' by Auli Tourunen
• 'Archaeological investigations at Twomileborris, Co Tipperary' by Mícheál Ó Droma
• 'Medieval monastic occupation and post-medieval military activity at Clare Abbey, Co. Clare' by Graham Hull and Sébastien Joubert
• 'The M3 Research Framework and the Lismullin discovery in County Meath' by Mary B Deevy
• 'Fragments from the past: the prehistory of the M3 in County Meath' by Eimear O’Connor
• 'New discoveries and fresh insights: researching the early medieval archaeology of the M3 in County Meath' by Jonathan Kinsella
• 'Early medieval historical research on the M3 in County Meath: sources, contexts and analyses (Anne Connon
• 'Digging with documents: late medieval historical research on the M3 in County Meath' by Margaret Murphy
  'The Ballyhanna Research Project: an introduction' by Michael MacDonagh
• 'An overview of the palaeopathological analyses of the medieval human remains from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal' by Catriona McKenzie
• 'Preliminary osteoarchaeological analysis of the disarticulated human skeletal material from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal' by Róisín McCarthy
• 'Amplification of ancient DNA and determination of sex in medieval human skeletal material from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal' by Sheila Tierney
• 'Multi-elemental analysis of human bone from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal' by Tasneem Bashir and Ted McGowan

ISBN 978-0-9545955-6-2
 

New Routes to the Past

Edited by Jerry O’Sullivan and Michael Stanley and published in August 2007, this monograph contains the proceedings of a seminar on recent archaeological discoveries on national road schemes held in the Chester Beatty Library in August 2006. The monograph contains papers outlining the archaeology uncovered on a number of schemes including the N11 Gorey to Arklow Link Road, the N5 Charlestown Bypass, the N8 Mitchelstown Relief Road, the N25 Waterford City Bypass, the N7 Limerick Southern Ring Road (Phase II), the N6 Galway to East Ballinasloe PPP scheme, the N52 Mullingar Belvedere Road Improvement Scheme, the M7 Portlaoise to Castletown/M8 Portlaoise to Cullahill motorway scheme and the M3 Clonee of North of Kells motorway scheme.

The papers include:

• 'Beside the rath: excavations at Raheenagurren West, Co. Wexford' by Thaddeus C Breen
• 'Prehistory and history on the N5 Charlestown Bypass in counties Mayo and Roscommon' by Richard Gillespie
• 'The new face of Bronze Age pottery' by Jacinta Kiely & Bruce Sutton
• 'Burial and ritual in late prehistory in north Wexford: excavation of a ring-ditch cemetery in Ask townland' by Paul Stevens
• 'Environmental archaeology: two examples from the N25 Waterford City Bypass and the N7 Limerick Southern Ring Road (Phase II)' by Stephen Carter
• 'Time and tide: five millennia of environmental change and human activity on the banks of the Suir' by Brendon Wilkins
• 'Prehistoric features and an early medieval enclosure at Coonagh West, Co. Limerick' by Kate Taylor
• 'The quiet landscape: archaeological discoveries on a road scheme in east Galway' by Jerry O’Sullivan
• 'Pagan or Christian? Excavation of a hilltop cemetery at Cross, Co. Galway' by Gerry Mullins
• 'Politics, wealth and expansion: the archaeology of a multiperiod enclosure at Rochfort Demesne, Co. Westmeath' by John Channing
• 'Ancient peoples, hidden landscapes—the archaeology of the M7/M8 motorway scheme' Sylvia Desmond
• 'The hidden past of Parknahown, Co. Laois' Tara O’Neill
• 'Roestown 2, Co. Meath: an excavation on the M3 Clonee to North of Kells motorway scheme' by Robert O’Hara

ISBN 978-0-9545955-3-1
 

Settlement, Industry and Ritual

Edited by Jerry O’Sullivan and Michael Stanley and published in August 2006, this monograph contains the proceedings of a seminar on recent archaeological discoveries on national road schemes held in The Gresham Hotel in September 2005. The monograph contains papers outlining the archaeology uncovered on a number of schemes including the N2 Carrickmacross Bypass, the N25 Waterford Bypass, N2 Finglas to Ashbourne Road Scheme, N77 Kilkenny Ring Road Extension, M1 Dundalk Western Bypass, N7 Limerick Southern Ring Road (Phase I), N26 Ballina to Bohola (Stage 1), M7 Portlaoise to Castletown/M8 Portlaoise to Cullahill Motorway and the N6 Kinnegad to Kilbeggan Dual Carriageway.

The papers include:

• 'Archaeology and roads: an historic opportunity' by Dáire O’Rourke
• 'Neolithic Monanny, County Monaghan' by Fintan Walsh
• 'Excavation of an early medieval vertical watermill at Killoteran, Co. Waterford' by Donald Murphy
• 'Archaeological discoveries on a new section of the N2 in Counties Meath and Dublin' by Maria FitzGerald
• 'Excavation of a ringfort at Leggetsrath West, County Kilkenny' by Anne Marie Lennon
• 'Archaeological investigation of a souterrain at Tateetra, Dundalk, County Louth' by Avril Hayes
• 'Excavation of an early medieval ‘plectrum-shaped’ enclosure at Newtown, County Limerick' by Frank Coyne
• 'Through the mill—excavation of an early medieval settlement at Raystown, County Meath' by Matthew Seaver
• 'Excavation of a children’s burial ground at Tonybaun, Ballina, County Mayo' by Joanna Nolan
• 'Archaeological aerial survey—a bird’s-eye view of the M7/M8 in County Laois' by Lisa Courtney
• 'Death, decay and reconstruction: the archaeology of Ballykillmore cemetery, County Westmeath' by John Channing & Patrick Randolph-Quinney

ISBN 0-9545955-2-1
 

Recent Archaeological Discoveries on National Road Schemes 2004

 Edited by Jerry O’Sullivan and Michael Stanley and published in September 2005, this monograph contains the proceedings of a seminar on recent archaeological discoveries on national road schemes held in the Westbury Hotel in September 2004. The monograph contains papers outlining the archaeology uncovered on a number of road schemes including the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road, N25 Waterford City Bypass, N8 Rathcormac–Fermoy Road Scheme, M50 South Eastern Motorway, M1 Dundalk Western Bypass, M3 Clonee–North of Kells Motorway, N2 Finglas–Ashbourne Road Scheme, M4 Kilcock–Enfield–Kinnegad Motorway, N30 Enniscorthy–Clonroche scheme and N8 Watergrasshill Bypass.

The papers include:

• 'Travels through time' by Dáire O’Rourke
• 'Valley bottom and hilltop: 6,000 years of settlement along the route of the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road' by Michael MacDonagh
• 'Two Neolithic structures in Granny townland, Co. Kilkenny' by Joanne Hughes
• 'Bronze Age Ballybrowney, Co. Cork' by Eamonn Cotter
• 'A saddle quern discovered on Site 43, in Ballyduff East, on the route of the N25 Waterford City 'Bypass' by Linda Hegarty
• 'From mountain to sea: excavations in the townlands of Glebe and Laughanstown, County Dublin' by Matthew Seaver
• 'Around the bay on the Great North Road: the archaeology of the M1 Dundalk Western Bypass' by Niall Roycroft
• 'The M3 Clonee to North of Kells Road Scheme, County Meath' by Mary Deevy
• 'Iron Age toe-rings from Rath, County Meath, on the N2 Finglas–Ashbourne Road Scheme' by Holger Schweitzer
• 'Minor ailments, furious fights and deadly diseases: investigating life in Johnstown, County Meath, AD 400-1700' by Linda Fibiger
• 'The Hiberno-Scandinavian site of Woodstown 6, County Waterford' by Richard O’Brien & Ian Russell
• 'Woodstown 6: the finds' by Siobhán McNamara
• 'Discovery and excavation of a medieval moated site at Coolamurry, County Wexford' by Grace Fegan
• 'A society in turmoil—as seen in a 17th century coin hoard from Ballinvinny South, Glamire, County Cork' by Ken Hanley

ISBN 0-9545955-1-3 

Archaeology and the National Roads Authority

Edited by Jerry O’Sullivan and published in 2003, this monograph contains the proceedings of two seminars held in 2002 on provisions for archaeological work within the national roads programme.

 The papers include:

• 'Legislation and policy on the protection of the archaeological heritage during road construction' by Seán Kirwan
• 'A note on archaeological licensing procedures' by Jerry O’Sullivan
• 'The role of the National Museum of Ireland in archaeological excavations' by Nessa O’Connor
• 'Archaeology and the NationalRoads Authority' by Dáire O’Rourke
• 'The role of the Project Archaeologist and the Code of Practice' by Ken Hanley
• 'Public sector procurement of archaeological services and EU law' by Michael MacDonagh
• 'Public-private partnership (PPP) schemes' by Gerry Murphy
• 'A PPP scheme case study: the N25 Waterford Bypass' by James Eogan
• 'Archaeological risk and PPPs: the M4 Kinnegad-Enfield-Kilcock scheme' by Rónán Swan
• 'Archaeological assessment methods for NRA road schemes' by Noel Dunne
• 'Terrestrial and waterborne geophysical survey for road schemes' by Kevin Barton
• 'What is post-excavation work?' by Sébastien Joubert
• 'Reporting, publication & dissemination' by Jerry O’Sullivan
• 'An introduction to the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland' by Martin Byrne

ISBN 0-9545955-0-5

All of the monographs mentioned above are available through bookshops or directly from Wordwell Books (e-mail: helen@wordwellbooks.com or tel: +353 1 2947860).

Monograph No. 1 is priced at €15 and monographs Nos 2–8 are €25 each.