19 December, 2022

New Book: The Forgotten Cemetery

We are very proud of our colleagues Shane Delaney and Muireann Ní Cheallacháin, and all the team who worked on the Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon project to bring it to publication. ‘The Forgotten Cemetery: excavations at Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon’ contains a significant tome of work detailing the results of a year-long excavation carried out by IAC Archaeology in 2015 and 2016; directed by Shane Delaney and assisted by supervisors Muireann Ni Cheallachain, Hubert Ficner,  and Fergal Murtagh. The excavations were project managed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) Archaeologist Martin Jones. The book, funded by TII, is coauthored by Professor Eileen Murphy of Queen’s University Belfast. Prof. Murphy’s team carried out the specialist analysis of the substantial assemblage of human remains; including osteological, multi-isotope, radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA.

The excavation revealed a previously unknown cemetery, spanning over a millenia of use, that had its origins as a fourth century defended farmstead. The range and importance of the artefactual and ecofactual assemblages has been interrogated by specialists in their field and this book provides a unique and significant contribution to the archaeological record of Iron Age and early medieval Ireland.

Well done to all involved in bringing this amazing site to publication. The book is available to read online or it can be purchased from Wordwell Books.