Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities conference 2026
10/07/2026
TII Archaeologist Michael Stanley presented a paper at the Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DPASSH) conference in Be...
Archaeology and Heritage
Who We Are
The primary objective of the TII Archaeology and Heritage Section is to minimise the archaeological and heritage impacts associated with TII's projects and programmes. The section achieves this by managing archaeological risk, ensuring legislative compliance, and building public trust.
All TII archaeological work is undertaken in the context of the 2017 Code of Practice for Archaeology agreed between the Minister with responsibility for Heritage and TII. TII Archaeology and Heritage has sought to expand on the various methods it uses to communicate the results of archaeological investigations on national road, greenway, and light rail schemes to the public.
TII Heritage Week Seminar 2026
The title and theme of this year’s TII Heritage Week Seminar is Memory and Perspective. Under this banner, our invited speakers will reflect on the lived experience of our distant ancestors and consider the material culture of those who contributed to our collective inheritance within living memory. The day will feature research related to Ireland’s earliest farmers, settlement and burial evidence from the Middle Ages, and the vernacular architecture of the recent past. As we shift our gaze from an ancient cave to intimate domestic scenes of near contemporaries, the seminar will also address past and future TII projects.
The seminar takes place from 9:00 to 17:00 on Thursday 20th August at the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, D02HH58.
You can find out more and register to attend here.
More TII Heritage Week 2026 events and online activities
TII is delighted to highlight the following Heritage Week 2026 events and activities where the results of TII archaeology and heritage works are being featured. We would like to acknowledge the excellent work being done by our partners in local authorities, archaeological companies, community groups, colleges and universities, historical societies and state agencies.
Sunday 16th August
Áonach na nDéise – Viking Heritage Festival at Woodstown on the Waterford Greenway (10.00 – 17.00).
This event is run by Déise Medieval in collaboration with Waterford City and County Council, SETU, TII, National Museum Ireland, TVAS (Ireland) Ltd, The Discovery Programme and Abarta Heritage.
For more information email: bguest@waterfordcouncil.ie
Monday 17th August
Tracing our Ancient Routes Short Film Screening & Meet the Archaeologist, Rathcroghan Visitor Centre (12.00 – 13.00)
Funded by TII through Roscommon County Council, AMS (Archaeological Management Solutions) carried out the test excavations, under ministerial consent.
For more information email: info@rathcroghan.ie and/or heritage@roscommoncoco.ie
Monday 17th August
A Road to the Past: The Archaeology of the Adare Bypass, Fitzgerald's Woodlands House Hotel (19.30)
Limerick City and County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, in association with the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland and hosted by the Adare Community Trust, look forward to an interesting examination of the intriguing new evidence unearthed since the spring of 2024.
For more information email: elyne@midwestroads.ie
Tuesday 18th & Wednesday 19th August
Restoring a Traditional Forged Iron Flat Bar Gate, College of FET Cappamore Campus (10.00 – 16.00)
In an exciting collaborative project between Limerick County Counciland the College of FET Cappamore Campus, traditionally forged iron flat bar gates recovered during the recent heritage works on the Limerick-Foynes scheme have been restored.
For more information email: ciaran.odonnell@lcetb.ie
For Heritage Week 2026, TII is delighted to announce the publication of a new book and a new story map
Ancient Places: Archaeology and history on the N5 Westport to Turlough Road Project
This is latest book to be published in the TII Heritage Series, edited by Kerri Cleary (ACSU), Richard Gillespie (Mayo County Council) and Paul Clarke (Mayo County Council). The PDF and accessible epub are now available on the TII website.
Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd (ACSU) carried out extensive archaeological investigations on behalf of Mayo County Council, with funding from Transport Infrastructure Ireland. Numerous archaeological sites were discovered, providing new insights into aspects of daily life in the region from the Neolithic period to the 19th century, including farming and food processing; craftwork, industry and trade; domestic architecture; and, at the end of life, later prehistoric funerary practices.
Ancient Places is a distillation of that work, telling these stories of the past in accessible language, in an attractive and engaging format, while maintaining the scientific integrity of the evidence.
It can be enjoyed by everyone with an interest in the history and archaeology of Mayo.
Stories from a Shifting Landscape
This is a new StoryMap, developed by Abarta Heritage for TII, exploring the spectacular archaeological discoveries made between 1996 and 2007 in advance of works on the N7 Nenagh Bypass, the N52 Link Road and the N7 Nenagh to Limerick Scheme (now the M7 Motorway).
It offers fascinating insights into Ireland’s past, tracing more than 10,000 years of human activity while exploring the dynamic relationship between archaeology, climate and landscape change.
Drawing on the wealth of archaeological reports available through the TII Digital Heritage Collections, this StoryMap brings to life some of the most significant discoveries uncovered during this major project.
News and Updates
TII Marks World Heritage Day
18/04/2026
In honour of World Heritage Day, the Archaeology and Heritage section of TII has released free digital versions of one of its landmark publications—St...
Call for Papers: AYIA@TII Heritage Week 2026
01/04/2026
The TII Archaeology and Heritage section, in partnership with the Association of Young Irish Archaeologists (AYIA), is inviting early career researche...
Heritage Week 2025 Projects and Events
08/08/2025
Heritage Week 2025 has several events where the results of TII archaeological and heritage works are being featured, as well as events where TII Archa...
What We Do
Road and Light Rail Archaeology
Learn more about the finds and discoveries made before and during the construction of road and public transport schemes.
Archaeology and Heritage Books
We are committed to enhancing accessibility to books on local history and archaeological discoveries in Ireland. Explore our catalogue of recommended titles, including books co-funded by TII and produced by other publishers, as well as co-published works in collaboration with local authorities.
TII Digital Heritage Collections
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in collaboration with the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) and the Discovery Programme, formally launched the TII Digital Heritage Collections in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, in June 2017.
Learn More
Guidance Documentation
- PE-ARC-02009 - Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment of TII National Roads and Greenway Projects (Published September 2025)
- GE-ARC-01035 - Cultural Heritage: Engaging the Public - Archaeology, Built Heritage, Landscape, Portable Heritage and Intangible Heritage (Published September 2025)
- DN-ARC-03076 - TII Palaeo-environmental Sampling Guidelines Retrieval, analysis and reporting of plant macro-remains, wood, charcoal, insects and pollen from archaeological excavations (Published 2015) – Under Review
- GE-ARC-01034 - Notes for Authors, Illustrators and Editors in the TII Heritage Series (Published 2023)
- DN-ARC-03078 - Zooarchaeological Sampling Guidelines: Best Practice for the Treatment, Analysis and Curation of Animal Bones from Archaeological Excavations (Published 2021)
- DN-ARC-03077 - Dealing with Archaeological Risk at Construction Stage - TII funded Minor & Safety Improvement Schemes (Published 2016)
- RE-ARC-07004 - Preparing for the Future: A Reappraisal of Archaeo-geophysical Surveying on Irish National Road Schemes 2001-2010 (Published 2014)
- PE-ARC-02008 - Guidelines for the Testing and Mitigation of the Wetland Archaeological Heritage for National Road Schemes (Published 2005)
- T&C for TII Archaeology and Heritage events (updated 2025)