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Ireland is a country notably rich in archaeological sites and this guide is the ultimate handbook to its heritage. Covering the entire island from Antrim to Wexford, Dublin to Sligo, this latest volume in the acclaimed Oxford Archaeoological Guides series provides over 250 plans and illustrations of Ireland's major archaeological treasures and covers sites dating from the time of the first settlers in rephistoric times right up to the seventeenth century. Begining with a concise and readable introduction to the history of Ireland, the book offers an unparalleled journey through the major sites and places of interest.Each chapter combines specific regional information with historical background and essential survey facts for the visitors to the area and provides detailed descriptions of the major archaeological sites within each region, arranged alphabetically and including travel directions, historical overview, and details of the site's mojor features adn the latest available archaeological evidence. One of the most comprehensive adn detailed compact guides to the archaeological sites of Ireland, this new volume will prove invaluable to tourists, armchair travelers, archaeologists, and anyonw interested in the rich and varied history of Ireland. ... Read more

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In the first major work on the subject for over 30 years, Nancy Edwards provides a critical survey of the archaeological evidence in Ireland (c. 400-1200), introducing material from many recently discovered sites as well as reassessing the importance of earlier excavations. Beginning with an assessment of Roman influence, Dr Edwards then discusses the themse of settlement, food and farming, craft and technology, the church and art, concluding with an appraisal of the Viking impact.

The archaeological evidence for the period is also particularly rich and wide-ranging and our knowledge is expanding repidly in the light of modern techniques of survey and excavation.

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Sited at the furthest limits of the Neolithic revolution and standing at the confluence of the two great sea routes of prehistory, Britain and Ireland are distinct from continental Europe for much of the prehistoric sequence. In this landmark study - the first significant survey of the archaeology of Britain and Ireland for twenty years - Richard Bradley offers a new interpretation of the unique archaeological record of these islands based on a wealth of current and largely unpublished data.Bradley surveys the entire archaeological sequence over a 4,000 year period, from the adoption of agriculture in the Neolithic period to the discovery of Britain and Ireland by travellers from the Mediterranean during the later pre-Roman Iron Age. Significantly, this is the first modern account to treat Britain and Ireland on equal terms, offering a detailed interpretation of the prehistory of both islands. ... Read more

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Almost all you need to know about archaeology in Ireland!
As its title promises, this book is, in fact, very well illustrated withhundreds of color, as well as black and white photos and drawings.Thirty-seven contibuting authors take the reader from the StoneAge up toearly modern times.Herein lies my onlycriticism, which is that I hopethis text can be expanded in future revised editions to go beyond just the17th century and into new and important areas of excavation such as theFamine archaeology of the 20th century.Other than that, I salute itseditor for providing features likea useful glossary of terms particularto Irish archaeology, as well as helpful explanations in the beginning ofthis book of some of the newest techniques in Irish archaeology.Well worthits price and 4.5 stars perhaps! ... Read more

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An indispensable guide to the major monuments of the period - earthen and stone castles, moated sites, villages, towns, cathedrals, churches, tower houses, pottery kilns and mills. ... Read more

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Ring-headed crosses of impressive height and intricate design were first erected in Iona and Ireland from the eighth century onwards. This book deals with these but also shows how they were the culmination of a long period of development during the early Christian period. The early sculpture of Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Ireland is examined against the background of the spread of Christian beliefs and practices. Examples selected from the whole of the Celtic west between the fifth and eleventh centuries are fully discussed and illustrated. A bibliography and list of places to visit are also included. ... Read more

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This volume focuses on new research on the archaeology of the early medieval Celtic churches c AD 400-1100 in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, south-west Britain and Brittany. The 21 papers use a variety of approaches to explore and analyse the archaeological evidence for the origins and development of the Church in these areas. The results of a recent multi-disciplinary research project to identify the archaeology of the early medieval church in different regions of Wales are considered alongside other new research and the discoveries made in excavations in both Wales and beyond. The papers reveal not only aspects of the archaeology of ecclesiastical landscapes with their monasteries, churches and cemeteries, but also 'special' graves, relics, craftworking and the economy enabling both comparisons and contrasts. They likewise engage with ongoing debates concerning interpretation: historiography and the concept of the 'Celtic Church', conversion to Christianity, Christianization of the landscape and the changing functions and inter-relationships of sites, the development of saints' cults, sacred space and pilgrimage landscapes and the origins of the monastic 'town'. ... Read more

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We are now familiar with the Three Age System, the archaeological partitioning of the past into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. This division, which amounted at the time to a major scientific revolution, was conceived in Denmark in the 1830s. Peter Rowley-Conwy investigates the reasons why the Three Age system was adopted without demur in Scandinavian archaeological circles, yet was the subject of a bitter and long-drawn-out contest in Britain and Ireland, up to the 1870s. ... Read more

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This monograph begins by examining the history of medieval rural settlement studies in Ireland, and then moves on to consider the subject-matter thematically. The themes considered include the role of castles as country houses and manorial centres, the nature of English peasant settlement in Anglo-Norman manors and the nature of Gaelic settlement in other areas. Strategies for tackling the various questions identified are also considered in detail. ... Read more

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The first comprehensive survey of Ireland's industrial archaeology. ... Read more

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This widely praised introduction, now extensively revised and enlarged, examines the predominantly warrior and aristocraftic art of the Iron Age inhabitants of Britain and Ireland from the fourth century BC until the Roman conquest. Since these communities, conventionally referred to as Celts, were peoples with an oral tradition, medieval Irish and Welsh texts embodying these traditions are a very uncertain guide to the life and culture of peoples of upwards of a millennium earlier. Celtic art is thus one of the rare, if obscured, windows into the minds and souls of early Celts. Much of the surviving art decorates metalwork, usually weapons or items of personal adornment; there is little or no securely dated sculpture, whether in stone or wood. This is an art style whose imagery is elusive, non-representational and non-narrative, and thus difficult to analyse. This book looks at Celtic art made by communities who lived in Britain and Ireland a thousand years and more before the creation of the Book of Kells or the Ardagh Chalice, the art which is more popularly known as 'Celtic'. ... Read more

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One of the pressing problems listed in the first volume of the third series of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology in 1938 was the need to discover more about the character of early ecclesiastical settlements in the North of Ireland. The material remains of the early church in the north are, however, fragmentary and scattered and have been very unevenly studied. This present work was undertaken in the belief that early ecclesiastical sites deserve more concentrated study than they have received in the past. The authors initial was to bring together the scattered notices of early sites and material, to visit the sites, record the material and look at the evidence as a whole. The search for material, however, led on to the written sources and the place-name evidence, and so the work has grown from a search for material to an exploration of the interrelationships between the different sources. The study is in three parts. The introductory section explores the various approaches and the sources, including a discussion of procedure. Section II pursues the themes which emerge from the introduction. The basis for all this discussion is the material presented in section III, the gazetteer and inventory, which includes 266 sites and is accompanied by illustrations. ... Read more

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This edited volume of 16 papers provides an introduction to the techniques and methodologies, approaches and potential of environmental archaeology within Ireland. Each of the 16 invited contributions focuses on a particular aspect of environmental archaeology and include such specialist areas as radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, palaeoentomology, human osteoarchaeology, palynology and geoarchaeology, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of environmental archaeology within an Irish context. The inclusion of pertinent case studies within each chapter will heighten awareness of the profusion of high standard environmental archaeological research that is currently being undertaken on Irish material. The book will provide a key text for students and practitioners of archaeology, archaeological science and palaeoecology. ... Read more

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A classic of form and content
The culmination of over seven years research, this volume is the seminalwork of the former director of the Ulster Museum. Extending to nearly 400pages, the book contains seven chapters covering Roads and Bridges, Canals,Railways, pre-industrial and early industrial power sources, flax andlinen, the Tyrone coalfields and a concludung chapter on Conservation andPreservation. The volume is replete with photographs from the collection ofsome 26,000 prints which now form the McCutcheon Archive in Belfast, aswell as detailed drawings and a broad selection of facsimile items, some ofwhich verge on the humourous. A sad background theme throughout the book isthe destruction taking place in Northern Ireland which does make theheadlines - the removal (through design or neglect) of antique industrialsites; some of these photographs afford the only chance anyone will everhave of viewing some of this lovely country's industrial past. ... Read more