Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ireland’s
Invisible People
the Celtic present
meets the Celtic past
Comparing Ireland with the fast growing ‘tiger’ economies of the Far East,
economists coined the term ‘Celtic Tiger’; the irony is that evidence for ‘Celtic’
Ireland is almost as rare as evidence for an indigenous species of Irish tiger. Has
a decade of development-led excavations altered this picture? Brendon Wilkins
assesses the new evidence emerging for the Irish Iron Age.
R
ising majestically above Dublin’s Above Mid-excavation name of God,’ he began, ‘and of the dead genera-
busiest street, the Georgian aerial view of the site at tions from which she receives her old tradition of
Rahally, from the south-
façade of the General Post Office nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her
east.
still contains bullet holes – grim children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.’ A
reminders of Easter Monday 1916, line can be drawn between those bullet holes and
when Padraic Pearse read a decla- the development and implementation of some of
ration that signalled the start of the Easter Rising the strongest and most enviable national monu-
and the beginning of Irish Independence. ‘In the ments legislation in the world.
| Issue 249
ireland Iron Age
right A digital
reconstruction of the
Edercloon block wheel.
Ireland’s earliest wheel alder, and covered with almost 140 clean, crisp finished. The outer curve is not continuous, and
A portion of block wheel discovered at Edercloon marks from a sharp-bladed tool, most likely an so this wheel, if completed, would not have been
is the earliest evidence for the wheel in Ireland, adze. The opposite side, which lay on the bog able to roll. Was this wheel a manufacturing
radiocarbon dated to 1206-970 BC. The wheel surface, is worked to a much lesser extent. When mistake, which the community then decided to
was found buried within the base of a large complete, this fragment would have been part reuse as an offering – or as added stability for
trackway, and represents approximately one- of a tripartite block wheel, similar to Bronze and the trackway? Or, was this wheel deliberately
third of a complete wheel. Iron Age examples of this type of wheel found in made for deposition in this fashion? It seems
There are two very distinct sides to the Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. likely that it must have more to do with the
Edercloon block wheel. The side which was What is most curious about the Edercloon enduring tradition of artefact deposition at the
face-upward when excavated is finely worked block wheel is that it could not have been site than with actual use for transport.
right Archaeologists
cleaning the outer
enclosure stake-holes at
Lismullin in preparation
for preliminary drawing.