In light of news this week that an archeological discovery has been made in Fermoy, it seems only fitting that the NRA launched a two-volume book detailing the remarkable archaeological discoveries made on five national roads schemes in County Cork.
 The book was launched on Tuesday in UCC by Dr Ann Lynch and it includes a number of sights in The Avondhu's catchment area.
'Generations: the archaeology of five national road schemes in County Cork' is fully illustrated in colour with photos and line drawings and is edited by Ken Hanley and is available for €35 in paperback with an accompanying CD ROM.

Some of the finds detailed in the book, which would be of local interest include sites discovered on the N8 at the Glanmire-Watergrasshill bypass, on the M8 on the Rathcormac-Fermoy motroway and a find on the N8/N73 Mitchelstown Relief Road.

The book reveals evidence of Cork’s first known settlers, over 500 generations ago (c. 8100 BC), found near Fermoy. The excavations revealed the progression of settlement within the county over the intervening 10,000 years. Houses constructed by Cork’s first farmers (c. 3900 BC) were found near Ballincollig and Fermoy while a substantial village-like Bronze Age settlement was exposed near Rathcormac.

An exceptional discovery was the ‘Mitchelstown Face Cup’,  dating to the Bronze Age. This is the oldest known three-dimensional representation of a person in Ireland. A Bronze Age sweat lodge, some of Cork’s earliest iron-working sites, two substantial early medieval settlements, an Anglo-Norman moated settlement and a coin hoard representing the desperate struggles of a 17th-century king are just some of the other exciting discoveries presented.

The NRA has funded over 2,000 archaeological excavations on national road projects since it was established in 1994 and to date, has funded over 25 books on archaeological discoveries on national road schemes. For details see www.nra.ie/Archaeology.

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