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REVIEW BY CH
The N25 New Ross Bypass in Co. Wexford was designed to alleviate the notorious peak-time tailbacks that were known to extend for miles on either side of the historic town of New Ross. Its 14km route, stretching from Jamestown to Rathgarogue, opened in 2020, and the scheme notably included the construction of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge which, at almost 900m in length, is the longest bridge built on the island of Ireland. Unsurprisingly, such significant works sparked a major programme of archaeological survey and excavation – and the discoveries unearthed as a result of these investigations represent their own bridge to the past.
Around 40 previously unidentified archaeological sites have now been recorded, representing a broad sweep of time spanning c.9,000 years from the Mesolithic to the early modern period. This publication, the latest in the TII Heritage Series, presents the project’s key findings and their broader implications for our understanding of Co. Wexford’s past. Its introduction places the works in geographical context, before setting out the most significant antiquarian and early 20th-century finds from the area, to establish the archaeological background. We are then taken through current understanding of land-use and human activity there for each period from prehistory to the present day.
Building on this foundation, the next section summarises the eight most significant excavations from the bypass works, ordered geographically. Among the most exciting finds is an early Neolithic house whose rectangular footprint was clearly visible in the ground, showing a predominantly plank-built structure with an internal partition. Around 80 Neolithic houses have been found throughout Ireland over the last 20 years, the book’s authors note, but this was the first to be identified in Co. Wexford (a second has since been discovered near Enniscorthy), offering invaluable insights into the area’s early settlement. The structure has been interpreted as a probable residence big enough to comfortably house eight people, while allowing room for storage, craft activities, and perhaps livestock.
The house is revisited in more detail in Chapter 5, which offers a wider discussion of Neolithic settlement in the Lower Barrow Valley, bringing together all the finds of this period identified during the project; Chapter 6 does the same for the Bronze Age. Sites of this latter period made up the majority of those found during the road scheme – an important factor as, the authors write, the Bronze Age in Co. Wexford is relatively poorly understood. This section considers cremations and evidence for prehistoric beliefs, as well as fulachtaí fia, also known as burnt mounds – the most common prehistoric ‘monument’ in the island of Ireland, with more than 7,000 examples known, but one whose purpose is obscure.
Chapter 7 synthesises the medieval sites. One highlight is an account of an enclosed farmstead that was occupied in two phases between the 13th-14th and 15th-mid-17th centuries. This discussion vividly guides us through living spaces, stores, workshops, and sheepfolds, and offers thought-provoking comments about how we might tell if the farmstead’s inhabitants were Irish or English.
Following coverage of post-medieval and early modern finds in Chapter 8, a final section offers concluding perspectives that present a rich picture of an intriguing and diverse archaeological landscape. This book is engagingly and evocatively written, and although it numbers around 300 pages (including indexes and bibliography), and is packed full of detail, it is always accessibly presented. Better still, the text is well-illustrated with clear maps, plans, and diagrams; colour photographs; and reconstruction drawings. This is an illuminating and very enjoyable read.
Places for the living, places for the dead: archaeological discoveries on the N25 New Ross Bypass
James Eogan and James Hession (eds)
ISBN 978-1911633389
Transport Infrastructure Ireland, €25 via Wordwell Books, or open access online at www.tii.ie/technical-services/archaeology/publications/tii-heritage
