Monthly Archives: January 2012

Ireland in the Bronze Age: Help Wanted

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Author requests help from the public in writing a book.

Those of you who have been following this blog or have been a recipient of my emails from time to time are aware that I’ve been collecting material for a book on the Irish Bronze Age. For the last number of years I have been collecting, collating and digesting the many hundreds of reports of Bronze Age sites excavated in Ireland. My thanks go to everyone who has allowed to me to read their reports in advance of publication. Continue reading →

Heritage Council To Go?

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The Future independence of the Heritage Council to be reviewed.


Text of my article published in the current edition of Archaeology Ireland, Volume 25, No. 4, page 4.

On the 17th of November Brendan Howlin, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, published the Public Service Reform Plan. The plan is intended to give effect to commitments made in the Programme for Government to reform the Irish public service. A key item in the programme was the commitment to make substantial cuts to the number of State bodies and companies, and the Reform Plan includes a new and expanded programme of State Agency rationalisation which will affect 48 state bodies by the end of 2012 with a further 46 to be reviewed by June 2012. The Heritage Council has been included in the list of candidate bodies for critical review by the end of June 2012. The proposal in the Reform Plan is to merge the functions of the Heritage Council into the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Continue reading →

Excavation Licenses indicate continued reduction in archaeological and construction activity in 2011

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Excavation licenses 2000-2011

Excavation licenses 2000-2011

Archaeological Licenses indicate that in 2011 archaeological activity in Ireland continued to contract for the fifth year.

Figures provided by the National Monuments Service indicate that the total number of archaeological excavation licenses issued for the year 2011 was 558. This is a reduction of 19.6% from the 694 licenses issued in 2010 and indicates that both archaeological investigations and the construction activity that they relate to have continued to decline. This represents a drop of 73% from the peak of archaeological activity in 2006. Continue reading →