when the celtic tiger roared: ireland's golden age for archaeology

current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk

ireland Celtic Tiger archaeology

October 2010 |

imagine also that these excavations were fiercely regulated to control their quality. This sounds like an archaeo-utopia: but for a short time it existed. This was Ireland’s Celtic Tiger archaeology.

Current Archaeology last published a special issue on Irish archaeology in September 1970 (CA 22). The sites reported on then by Andrew Selkirk (Knowth, Newgrange, Navan Fort and Ballyglass) remained state-of-the-art for the following 30

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When the Celtic Tiger roared

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.

the golden years of commercial archaeology in Ireland

Imagine a place where the term ‘million-aire archaeologist’ would not sound ridiculous, and where young archae-ology students could look forward to excellent career prospects with salaries equivalent to any other profession.

Imagine hundreds of excavations up and down the country crying out for help, willing to pay handsomely, even for inexperienced diggers; ph

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aBOve Frosty morning: looking south on the N9/N10 motorway project at Russellstown, County Carlow.


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.

years. The eminent archaeologists interviewed in that issue, and the sites which they excavated, eventually came to dominate Irish archaeology. Now, the sheer scale of work undertaken during the boom has challenged the accepted wisdom of many key site types and periods.

During the Celtic Tiger prosperity, the world became aware of the contentious Irish sites that made international headlines (see box feature on


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

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BelOW National Roads Authority excavations, 1992-2010.


The road building programme in Ireland initiated some of the largest infrastructure archaeology projects undertaken anywhere in the world.

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 road schemes, these known sites are avoided, and a desk-based study of maps, documents and other non-invasive techniques is used to assess the land adjacent to these sites: the known unknowns. If these have archaeological potential, test-trenches will be excavated to evaluate whether full excava-tion should proceed.

In Ireland, these trenches are not just focused around known areas of potential. The entire road corridor is comprehensively tested, with a centre-line trench running from start to finish, designed to find the unknown unknowns; sites that would otherwise fall through the net. This represents a considerable investment in the front end of archaeological works prior to construction, com-pared to Britain where a much smaller percentage of the road corridor is tested.

Archaeologists have never quite shared in soci-ety’s wealth, no matter how successful the wider economy. In Ireland, however, the archaeology boom was fuelled by longer-term trends: gen-erous European structural funding, attractive tax incentives and, crucially for archaeology, a com-prehensive National Development Plan designed to fix the country’s inadequate infrastructure. With an annual budget of €1.5bn, the road building programme in Ireland initiated some of the largest infrastructure archaeology projects undertaken anywhere in the world. Irish archae-ology benefitted significantly from this unprec-edented investment, underwritten by a cast-iron legal framework designed to protect the historic environment from development impact – a situ-ation that differed from Britain, where the post-



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aBOve Today’s news, tomorrow’s chip paper: whenever archaeology is in the news in the UK, it is a positive story; in contrast, during the Celtic Tiger, archaeology made headlines in Ireland for all the wrong reasons.

tion to ‘total archaeology’ in Ireland and ‘sample archaeology’ in Britain. In the UK, construction impact is controlled through planning guidance: sites are sampled, normally at a rate of 10% of all linear features, 50% of discrete features and 100% of structures. In Ireland, all archaeology is

The Anglo-Irish Disagreement

Perhaps the reason this time-pressured system is manageable in Britain is because they have a fun-damentally different approach to excavation. Let us call it the Anglo-Irish disagreement: a presump-


When large infrastructure projects are proposed, controversy is never far

from the news. Media coverage of Irish archaeology has been dominated

by high profile contentious cases such as the Medieval castle at

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

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

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

the ‘anti-roads’ movement. Controversies of the Celtic tiger

BelOW Looking north from the hill of Tara; the M3 roadway is visible between the trees at centre.

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 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.

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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-dations of archaeology as a scientific discipline: General Pitt-Rivers believed everything should be recorded, irrespective of perceived significance, because ‘fresh problems in archaeology…are con-stantly arising’; while Flinders Petrie advocated a discriminatory approach because the excavator ‘does not find anything he does not look for’. But this does not explain how these different methods were adopted in Britain and Ireland. For that, we must look back to see how commercial archaeology evolved in each country.

Ground Zero

Commercial archaeology in the UK is a legacy of the ‘Rescue Revolution’ – a reaction to post-war



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Nowhere were these tactics more apparent than during the

excavations on the M3 as it passed through the Tara-Skryne valley in

Co. Meath. The Hill of Tara is a complex of earthworks dating from the

Neolithic to the early Medieval period, and according to tradition was

the seat of the High King of Ireland. The distance between the new

motorway and the exact site of the hill is 2.2 km (1.37 miles), and the

preferred route was selected from a number of different options, all of

which attempted to steer clear of known archaeological sites.

Nevertheless, in such a rich archaeological landscape it was inevitable

that entirely new sites would be unearthed, and when a highly significant

Iron Age enclosure was discovered at Lismullin, the excavation rekindled

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

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.

treated as potentially unique, requiring 100% excavation and preservation by record. A legal framework under-writes all decisions that may potentially impact on the archaeological heritage, and any proposed develop-ment must be preceded by full excavation of all sites and features.

But, digging larger quantities means larger costs. If this is undertaken in the public interest, one has to ask: does digging more equal value for money? Who does it better, the British or the Irish? Initially, it appears the British are the losers, with excavations understaffed and under-

aBOve This stone artefact, broken during manufacture and then reused probably as a fishing weight, was found adjacent to the Bronze Age trackway at Site 34, Newrath.

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preservation and acquisition of monuments, and placing restrictions on the licensing of excavations.

In a letter to Current Archaeology (CA 225), NRA Project Archaeologist Richard O’Brien commented on an article by Richard Moore

reconstruction, laying the foundations for a net-work of regionally-based field units. Widespread development preceded adequate legislation, thereby forcing the archaeological community to lobby for recognition, and develop working practices that could deal quickly with the archaeological ‘problem’.

In Ireland, it was the opposite: state control of archaeology and the introduction of a license-based system were enacted long before wide-spread development became an issue. Measures to protect Irish archaeology were set in place with the establishment of the National Monuments Act in 1930, providing for the guardianship,


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

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

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.

aBOve Excavations on the revetted fosse at the site of Carrickmines Castle, Co Dublin.

BelOW The arc of stakeholes at Lismullin being watered and protected with plastic; stakeholes in the foreground are marked with gridpegs.

aBOve The main Bronze Age trackway found at Newrath, surrounded by a plank walkway, and (inset) close up of the trackway. Note the long-handled Irish shovels next 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 would break their backs.

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of Network Archaeology (Village, cemetery and dyke, CA 222), about work on the Easington to Morecambe Bay pipeline. O’Brien compared the archaeology of the cross-Pennine pipeline with that done on the Pipeline to the West in Ireland, noting that the rate of discovery between the two countries differed significantly. On the UK pipeline, 65 new sites were discovered over the course of 245km, compared to 245 sites discov-ered in Ireland over a longer 335km route. Over twice as many new sites were found in Ireland

– 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 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-lithic flint scatters on what would have been a dryland surface at the water’s edge; Early Bronze Age trackways intended to cross boggy ground to reach the open water; a Bronze Age burnt mound on the edge of the wetland area; Iron Age hurdles to cross tidal creeks for saltmarsh grazing; Medieval platforms and a 19th century brick kiln, which would have made use of the abundant alluvial clay. The quantity and scale of the remains suggested that Site 34 had been 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.

Located on a terrace on the edge of the River Suir, we excavated through deposits over 3m deep, which had been accumulating since the end of the last Ice Age. As the landscape was grad-ually transformed, layers of earth were deposited



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What insight can we gain by comparing the British and Irish systems of commercial archaeology?

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aBOve Plan of Site 34 at Newrath, showing all four excavation areas, with trackways extending from the dryland margin into what would have been a dynamic tidal landscape.

or eroded away, leaving a visible and permanent record in our section drawings. These layers of different coloured and textured deposits – wood peats, reed peats and estuarine silts – all provided snapshots of what the landscape had been like, while the artefacts and structures contained within them indicated how people had used the land. The site has changed how archaeologists now think about alluvial landscapes – helping to develop techniques and strategies, as well as influencing policy and guidelines.

Moving forward

What insight can we gain by comparing the British and Irish system of commercial archae-ology? At the beginning of 2010, the British replaced PPG16, the planning document which coined the phrase ‘preservation by record’, with PPS5. The new planning guidance aims to erase the turf line from consideration, making above-ground and below-ground archaeology equally important, and contains the lofty goal that archaeology can realise a ‘public benefit’.

Similarly in Ireland, the question of whether 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 countries have been grappling with the short-comings of their frameworks. Clearly, there is a tremendous amount to gain by learning from each other. Irrespective of what side of modern political borders archaeologists may currently work, there are many similarities in terms of the physical remains of the past: and it is to the dirt that we should turn our attention.

the architect of the revolutionHow did the National Roads Authority become such an effective sponsor of

archaeological work? To answer this, look to Dáire O’Rourke (who sadly passed

away in 2010), former chief archaeologist of the NRA.

In early 2000, a Code of Practice was agreed between the NRA

and the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (the

Minister then tasked with the care of Ireland’s archaeological

heritage). This was perhaps the single most important

archaeological document published during the Celtic Tiger.

It saw the NRA directly employ their own archaeologists,

who were responsible for monitoring the work of private

archaeological companies employed on road schemes,

from planning stages through to final publication.

Dáire was appointed NRA Chief Archaeologist in 2001,

at a time of intense pressure for the redevelopment

of existing roads and new motorways. Drawing on her

previous experience as Dublin city archaeologist, she put into

effect a series of protocols to ensure that highways projects

would be accurately assessed for their impact on archaeology,

with excavations taking place well in advance of construction.

It is a testament to Dáire’s skills of persuasion that under her

watch, the NRA’s commitment to the historic environment was

solidified, and a formidable team of archaeologists was built who

continue her important legacy.


Coming next month:from modern highways to ancient waterways: ireland’s prehistoric beginnings

In prehistoric Ireland, people would have moved most easily along rivers; and not

surprisingly, that is where much of the best archaeological evidence has been found.

From remarkably preserved Mesolithic fishtraps on the River Liffey in the centre of

Dublin, to the first Neolithic House in Co. Kilkenny near the River Suir, and onwards to a

multi-period site spanning both sides of the River Lerr in Co. Kildare, the second feature

of our series will explore the new evidence emerging from these watery landscapes.

aBOve Section photograph showing archaeological phases.

Ca

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.

further reading

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Brendon [email protected]

when the celtic tiger roared: ireland's golden age for archaeology

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