Archaeology and the National Roads Authority Monograph Series

How to Purchase

The monographs listed below are available through bookshops or directly from Wordwell Books (order online: www.wordwellbooks.com; e-mail: office@wordwellbooks.com or tel: +353 1 2933568) priced at €25 or less.

Cover of book entitled Fragments of Lives Past

Fragments of Lives Past

(ISBN 978-0-9574380-8-8)

Fragments of Lives Past: archaeological objects from Irish road schemes, edited by Bernice Kelly, Niall Roycroft and Michael Stanley, is the 11th and final volume in this series. Published in August 2014, it presents the proceedings of a seminar held during National Heritage Week 2013 that focused on the archaeological objects discovered on national road schemes. The papers examine what Neolithic pottery vessels may actually have contained, the rare survival of wooden objects and the important information they convey, how people in early medieval Ireland expressed identity through their costume and appearance, one of the first locally made pottery wares in Ireland after the aceramic Iron Age and the desperate terror of Jacobite soldiers routed at the Battle of Aughrim, in County Galway.

The papers include:

  • ‘Milk and molecules: secrets from prehistoric pottery’ by Jessica Smyth & Richard P Evershed
  • ‘‘Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad?’ Wooden objects from Irish road schemes’ by Catríona Moore
  • ‘The people behind the pots: considering the Early Bronze Age remains from French Furze, Tully East, Co. Kildare’ by Ros Ó Maoldúin
  • ‘Castlefarm 1 and the working of skeletal materials in early medieval rural Ireland’ by Ian Riddler & Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski
  • ‘An early medieval copper-alloy ladle from Ballynapark, Co. Wicklow’ by Noel Dunne
  • ‘Dress and ornament in early medieval Ireland—exploring the evidence’ by Maureen Doyle
  • ‘Early medieval E ware pottery: an unassuming but enigmatic kitchen ware?’ by Ian Doyle
  • ‘In praise of Leinster Cooking Ware’ by Clare McCutcheon
  • ‘Witnesses to history: a military assemblage from the 1691 Aughrim battlefield’ by Damian Shiels
  • ‘Experimental archaeology: making; understanding; story-telling’ by Aidan O’Sullivan, Mark Powers, John Murphy, Niall Inwood, Bernard Gilhooly, Niamh Kelly, Wayne Malone, John Mulrooney, Cian Corrigan, Maeve L’Estrange, Antoinette Burke, Maria Kazuro, Conor McDermott, Graeme Warren, Brendan O’Neill, Mark Heffernan & Mairead Sweeney
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Cover of book entitled Futures and Pasts

Futures and Pasts

(ISBN 978-0-9574380-5-7) Currently Out of Print

The occasion of Dublin hosting the international conference ‘Euroscience Open Forum’ in July 2012 was celebrated with Dublin City of Science 2012—a year long programme of science-related events. The NRA contributed to this prestigious festival of science with ‘Futures and Pasts: archaeological science on Irish road schemes’, a one-day seminar held on 23 August 2012, which showcased a magnificent array of scientific techniques currently employed in Irish archaeology. This book, edited by Bernice Kelly, Niall Roycroft and Michael Stanley, is the 10th volume in the Archaeology and the National Roads Authority Monograph Series and covers a wide range of complex scientific techniques in an accessible and engaging style.

The papers include:
 
  • ‘Back and forth: paving the way forward by assessing 10 years of geophysical surveys on Irish road schemes’ by James Bonsall, Chris Gaffney & Ian Armit
  • ‘Airborne laser scanning (lidar), prospection and modelling in the Irish archaeological landscape’ by Will Megarry
  • ‘3D laser scanning and printing: a case-study of the Mitchelstown Face Cup and spoon’ by Ken Hanley and Jim Barrett
  • ‘It's not all glue and pot: conservation of Bronze Age burial urns and other delights’ by Susannah Kelly
  • ‘Painful ailments, trauma and violent deaths at Owenbristy, Co. Galway: physical pain interpreted from human skeletal remains’ by Jonny Geber
  • ‘Written in bone: stable isotopic research in bioarchaeology’ by Niamh Daly
  • ‘Radiocarbon dating: theoretical concepts and practical applications (all you ever wanted to know about 14C but were afraid to ask)’ by Robert M Chapple
  • ‘Optically stimulated luminescence dating on the M3’ by Stuart Rathbone
  • ‘The more the merrier—dendrochronology in archaeology’ by Aoife Daly
  • ‘Seeing the wood for the trees: unravelling woodland resource usage in the Irish midlands over the last five millennia’ by Ellen OCarroll
  • ‘Geoarchaeology on the road’ by Steve Lancaster
Cover of book entitled Encounters between Peoples

Encounters between Peoples

(ISBN 978-0-9564180-8-1) Currently Out of Print

Edited by Bernice Kelly, Niall Roycroft and Michael Stanley, and published in August 2012, this monograph contains the proceedings of the NRA National Archaeology Seminar held in the City Wall Space, Wood Quay Venue, Dublin Civic Offices, on 25 August 2011. Encounters between Peoples contains seven papers by a number of archaeologists and a historian who were invited to address the multifaceted nature of our archaeological heritage and the varied peoples that contributed to its creation. In these proceedings we encounter early prehistoric farming communities in County Wexford, Iron Age assembly and ritual in County Meath and the diverse peoples who inhabited a County Tipperary townland over six millennia. Encounters between Peoples also presents material evidence for interactions between communities of differing religion and ethnicity during the historic period.

The papers include:

  • 'Dunsinane 3: an Early Neolithic house in County Wexford' by Derek Gallagher
  • 'The Lismullin enclosure: design beyond the obvious in the Iron Age' by Frank Prendergast
  • 'Camlin: the archaeology of a townland in County Tipperary' by Colm Flynn
  • 'Burial and ritual in early medieval north Wexford: new evidence from Ask townland' by Paul Stevens
  • 'Encounters between peoples: a 'Gaelic' site at Killeisk, Co. Tipperary, and an 'Anglo-Norman' site at Busherstown, Co. Offaly' by Jacinta Kiely and Paul MacCotter
  • 'Natives and newcomers: Plantation-era archaeology on Irish road schemes' by James Lyttleton
  • 'Post-medieval and early modern settlement patterns and community on the M17 in County Galway' by Brian Mac Domhnaill
Cover of book entitled Past Times, Changing Fortunes

Past Times, Changing Fortunes

(ISBN 978-0-9564180-5-0) Currently Out of Print

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
Cover of book entitled Creative Minds

Creative Minds

(ISBN 978-0-9564180-2-9) Currently Out of Print

‘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'

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, Creative Minds: production, manufacturing and invention in ancient Ireland 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
Cover of book entitled Dining and Dwelling

Dining and Dwelling

(ISBN 978-0-9545955-7-9) Currently Out of Print

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. You can view the individual papers below.

The papers include:

Cover of book entitled Roads, Rediscovery and Research

Roads, Rediscovery and Research

(ISBN 978-0-9545955-6-2) Currently Out of Print

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. You can view the individual papers below.

The papers include:

Cover of book entitled New Routes to the Past

New Routes to the Past

(ISBN 978-0-9545955-3-1) Currently Out of Print

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. You can  view the individual papers below.

The papers include:

Cover of book entitled Settlement, Industry and Ritual

Settlement, Industry and Ritual

(ISBN 0-9545955-2-1) Currently Out of Print

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. You can purchase the entire hard copy online or view the individual papers below.

The papers include:

Cover of book entitled Recent Archaeological Discoveries on National Road Schemes 2004

Recent Archaeological Discoveries on National Road Schemes 2004

(ISBN 0-9545955-1-3) Currently Out of Print

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. You can view the individual papers below.

The papers include:

Cover of book entitled Archaeology and the National Roads Authority

Archaeology and the National Roads Authority

(ISBN 0-9545955-0-5) Currently Out of Print

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. You can view the individual papers below.

The papers include: