Bronze Age Ireland

Bronze Age Ireland 2400 – 500 BC.

As well as copper and bronze, Ireland’s Bronze Age is also notable for the quantity and quality of gold artefacts and jewellery. Some of which appear to indicate that solar worship may have been part of the culture. This era saw the construction of Ireland’s final megalithic tombs, and new forms of monumental cultural expression became prevalent with the construction of stone circles. Towards the end of the Bronze Age in Ireland it appears that conflict had become prevalent, judging by the quantity of weapons like swords and spears, and the enormous hillforts that first appear in this era.

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Materials

  • The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland by Professor John Waddell (now revised and updated a number of times) remains the key publication for the whole of the prehistoric period, and it’s an excellent foundation for the Bronze Age. You can find it here. 

  • You can hear a detailed discussion with Dr. Neil Carlin, an expert on the Beaker Period in this episode of Amplify Archaeology Podcast.

  • You can read Neil’s brilliant book on the Beaker Period for free online from Sidestone Press.

  • Ireland’s Bronze Age gold really is astonishing. You can hear a discussion with Mary Cahill, former Keeper of Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland and the foremost expert in ancient gold in this episode of Amplify Archaeology Podcast.

  • The National Museum of Ireland have information on Ireland’s prehistoric gold here.

  • You can hear a fascinating discussion on Bronze Age gold with Mary Cahill, the former Keeper of Antiquities at the National Museum, on this episode of Amplify Archaeology Podcast.