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The Mitchelstown Face Cup which dates back to the Bronze Age and features in the new book from the NRA.

The discoveries came about through the excavation of land for new motorways but it's in book format that fascinating details of ancient, hidden county Cork sites are being unveiled by the NRA.

The book has illustrations and details of more than a hundred major excavations undertaken by the NRA in the county, many of them hitherto unknown.

The findings all came about during construction of the N8 Glanmire to Watergrasshill bypass, the M8 Rathcormac to Fermoy motorway, the N8/N73 Mitchelstown Relief Roads, the N22 Ballincollig bypass and N25 Youghal bypass.

The book will be launched at UCC on December 10 by Dr Ann Lynch of the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. It was edited by Ken Hanley, the NRA's project archaeologist.

The book adds substantially to the overall knowledge and understanding of how our ancient Co Cork ancestors lived.

The oldest settlement found was in Fermoy, during construction of the M8. It dates back to 8,100 BC. The settlers were hunter-gatherers. Evidence of other other hunter-gatherer settlements have also been found near Youghal and Ballincollig.

The most exciting find was the Mitchelstown Face Cup which dates back to the Bronze Age. It was radio-carbon tested and found to date to 1,800 BC. The NRA archaeologist says it's unique and described it as "a spectacular find." It's the oldest known three-dimensional representation of a person ever discovered in Ireland, he revealed.

The book also details the discovery of a sauna dating to 1,400 BC made near Watergrasshill. Houses built by some of Ireland's earliest farmers, in 3,900 BC, were also unearthed near Fermoy and Ballincollig.

The book, priced at €35 will be of great interest to anyone who'd like to know more about their ancient ancestors who lived in the region thousands of years ago.

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