Publications
Publications
ACSU and its staff have contributed to a wide variety of publications, from books and book chapters to academic papers in international, national and local journals, to newspaper and magazine articles.
See our News section for information on new publications as they come out.
Books

2014 – Woodstown: A Viking-Age settlement in Co. Waterford (edited by Ian Russell of ACSU and Maurice F. Hurley), is the definitive account of archaeological excavations undertaken by ACSU at this important ninth-century Viking settlement on the River Suir. The book draws together all the strands of evidence from the excavation and post-excavation analysis and places Woodstown into its national and international context. Now available to download here.
2013 – Generations: The archaeology of five national road schemes in County Cork (edited by Ken Hanley and Maurice F. Hurley) includes the results of archaeological excavations carried out by ACSU between 2001 and 2004, in advance of the M8 Rathcormac/Fermoy Bypass, the N22 Ballincollig Bypass and the N25 Youghal Bypass.


2013 – Harvesting the Stars: A Pagan Temple at Lismullin, Co. Meath (by Aidan O’Connell) details an important Iron Age post-enclosure that was excavated in the Gabhra Valley, beneath the Hill of Tara, during investigations by ACSU along the route of the M3 Clonee to North of Kells motorway. This book offers a comprehensive discussion on what the site was used for, its dating, astronomical alignment and associated material culture.
2011 – Cois tSiúire – nine thousand years of human activity in the Lower Suir Valley (edited by James Eogan (TII) and Elizabeth Shee Twohig) includes details of excavations undertaken by ACSU along Contract 1 of the N25 Waterford City Bypass, including the substantial remains of an early medieval vertical watermill at Killoteran and the internationally significant Viking settlement at Woodstown.


2009 – Places Along the Way: First findings on the M3 (edited by Mary Deevy of TII and Donald Murphy of ACSU) presents substantial accounts of and reflections on eight of the most significant sites excavated by ACSU on the M3 Clonee to North of Kells motorway scheme between Dunboyne and Navan in County Meath—an area incorporating the broader landscape around the Hill of Tara.
2008 – The Archaeology of Life and Death in the Boyne Floodplain: The Linear Landscape of the M4 (by Neil Carlin and Linda Clarke of ACSU and Fintan Walsh of IAC Ltd.) brings together the results of extensive archaeological work undertaken in advance of the construction of the M4 Kinnegad–Enfield–Kilcock motorway scheme. This book represents a substantial contribution to our understanding of the Iron Age and early medieval period.


2007 – Monumental Beginnings: The archaeology of the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road (by Ed Danaher) is an account of the archaeological excavations carried out by ACSU, including activity dating back some 6,000 years from a causewayed enclosure at Magheraboy to a large ceremonial enclosure at Tonafortes.
ACSU also facilitated the publication of a so-far unique Bronze Age village in Ireland that was excavated by the company between 2002 and 2003 in advance of a large housing development (Kennedy Group). Corrstown, A Coastal Community. Excavations of a Bronze Age village in Northern Ireland (by Victoria Ginn and Stuart Rathbone) presents the results of the investigation and analysis of 76 Bronze Age structures, including associated pottery and worked stone tools. In 2004, the excavation at Corrstown was highly commended in the developer-funded archaeology category of the British Archaeological Awards (now the Archaeological Achievement Awards). These are recognised as the most prestigious in the field across the UK and Ireland, and are designed to celebrate the work of both amateur and professional archaeologists.

Contributions to books / Book chapters

2015 – Archaeological Networks: Excavations on six gas pipelines in County Cork (edited by Kerri Cleary) includes details of excavations undertaken by ACSU in 2008, in advance of the Midleton to Whitegate gas pipeline development. This comprised several prehistoric burnt mounds, Iron Age roasting pits and medieval kilns and ditches.
2013 – Tara from the Past to the Future (edited by Muiris O’Sullivan, Chris Scarre and Maureen Doyle) represents the proceedings of a symposium held in UCD in 2009 and includes a paper by Donald Murphy and Victoria Ginn on the M3 Motorway excavations and Tara (Chapter 18). The excavations were conducted by Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit between 2004 and 2009.


2012 – Life and Death in Iron Age Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations (edited by Christiaan Corlett and Michael Potterton), contains three chapters detailing excavations undertaken by ACSU. In Chapter 6, Ed Danaher presents a possible Iron Age homestead at Ballinaspig More, Co. Cork (N22 Ballincollig Bypass). In Chapter 18, Aidan O’Connell details the ceremonial complex at Lismullin, Co. Meath (M3 Motorway Scheme). In Chapter 21, Ian Russell examines the excavation of Iron Age burials at Claristown, Co. Meath (M1 Motorway Scheme).
2012 – Clanricard’s Castle, Portumna House, Co. Galway (edited by Jane Fenlon) incorporates a detailed account of the excavations undertaken by ACSU at this 17th-century building and National Monument. The archaeological investigations, undertaken between 1997 and 2009, were directed by Donald Murphy and funded by the National Monuments Service (Chapter 5 by Donald Murphy and Victoria Ginn).


2011 – Settlement in Early Medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations (edited by Christiaan Corlett and Michael Potterton), includes three chapters detailing excavations undertaken by ACSU. In Chapter 8, Ed Danaher outlines the results of work at an early medieval settlement at Curraheen, Co. Cork (N22 Ballincollig Bypass). In Chapter 15, Anne Marie Lennon et al. report on the excavation of an early medieval enclosure at Leggetsrath West, Co. Kilkenny (N77 Kilkenny Ring Road extension). In Chapter 17, Donald Murphy gives an account of a multi-period settlement site at Colp West, Co. Meath, which was excavated in advance of a housing estate development (Shannon Homes).
2010 – Death and Burial in Early Medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations (edited by Christiaan Corlett and Michael Potterton), contains two chapters by ACSU staff, Linda Clarke and Tara O Neill. Linda details her excavations at Johnstown 1, Co. Meath (M4 Motorway Scheme), which was a multi-period burial, settlement and industrial site that included 461 inhumation burials. Tara describes the results of her excavations at Parknahown 5, Co. Laois (M7/M8 Portlaoise to Cullahill Motorway Scheme), where an early medieval enclosure contained 425 inhumation burials and a further 428 collections of disarticulated remains.


2003 – Clonmacnoise Studies, Volume 2 (edited by Heather A King) contains a chapter from Donald Murphy of ACSU detailing the results of his excavations in 1999–2000 of a portion of the monastic enclosure at Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly. This work identified the location of the vallum or enclosing ditch around the monastic site and scientifically dated the ditch fill to the eight/ninth century AD, at a time when the monastery was expanding rapidly. Other features were also exposed during the excavation, including two female inhumation burials.
Journals

ACSU projects have also been published in various journals, beginning in 1997 with the Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, where Donald Murphy detailed the excavations he conducted on the site of the medieval Dominican Friary at The Magdalene Tower, Drogheda. This work which revealed part of the original church and south chapel and associated burials, ten of which were found in situ and another 52 in a disarticulated state.
Since then, ACSU projects have appeared in The Journal of Irish Archaeology, Journal of the Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society, Ossory, Laois and Leinster, Ríocht na Midhe (Meath Archaeological and Historical Society), Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historic Society, and more.