Story by Alan Jacques
EXCAVATIONS on the route of the Limerick Southern Ring Road have uncovered remarkable archaeological discoveries that paint a vivid picture of life in the region throughout the ages.
A new book describing the results of 28 excavations on agricultural land and among the mudflats and reed beds of the River Shannon will be launched this Thursday evening in King John’s Castle at 6.30pm.
‘River Road: The Archaeology of the Limerick Southern Ring Road’ is written by Nóra Bermingham, Frank Coyne, Graham Hull, Fiona Reilly and Kate Taylor. The fourteenth book published by the NRA in its Archaeological Scheme Monograph series, it is fully illustrated in colour with photos and line drawings.
The Limerick Southern Ring Road excavations were carried out by three archaeological companies: the Limerick-based Aegis Archaeology; Wicklow-based Irish Archaeological Consultancy and Clare-based TVAS (Ireland).
The excavations and subsequent analysis of the material uncovered by the archaeologists were funded by the National Roads Authority working in partnership with Limerick and Clare County Councils.
Lead archaeologist and contributing author of ‘River Road’, Paul O’Keefe said the excavations reveal a vivid picture of life through the millennia, from hunter-gatherers making stone tools on the banks of the Shannon 8,000 years ago, to the brick-makers of Coonagh tending their kilns to supply building material for the fine Georgian houses of Limerick City.
“How people lived, worked and died is reflected in the objects discovered, such as the 4,000 year-old bronze razors from a burial of a man revealed in Peafield, and the glass jewellery, bone whistle and copper-alloy brooches from previously unknown 1,500 year-old farm settlements uncovered in Newtown and Coonagh.
“These discoveries deepen our knowledge of the ways in which our ancestors made their homes and livelihoods in the Limerick area since the earliest times,” he said.
