The North Munster Project - 2 vols

The North Munster Project was established in 1992 as part of the initial research strategy of the Discovery Programme.

The purpose of the Project was to examine and interpret the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age (later prehistoric) archaeology of the area of the lower River Shannon using an integrated regional strategy, including excavation, field survey, palaeobotanical research and artefact studies.

As the strategy developed it was decided to provide a particular, detailed assessment of significant areas (landblocks) within the region, including the area around the hill fort at Mooghaun South in south-east Clare.

The excavation programme included Mooghaun hillfort and the hilltop enclosure at Clenagh, and a palynological study of Mooghaun Lough was also undertaken.

The results of this project appear in two volumes. Volume 1 deals with the later prehistoric landscape of south-east Clare.

It presents the results of four elements of the Project's research: the assessment of the later prehistory of Mooghaun; the excavation report for Mooghaun South; the excavation report for Clenagh; and the palynological study of Mooghaun Lough. Volume 2 deals with the later prehistoric landscape of North Munster.

Volume 2 is an integrated later prehistoric regional study for the whole of North Munster.

The main focus of the project is, using the known archaeological record as a foundation, to access the nature and range of settlement, economic, social and ritual patterning in a regional framework, and in this way to achieve a detailed view of the processes and changes involved within later prehistory (the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, c. 1000 BC-100 BC). This landscape study draws on a wider time frame, however, spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age (c. 1600 BC-AD 400). Placing the archaeological record in its national and international context is another important element of the research.