Work halted on Longford building site after 'major find' reported

Work has been stopped on the site of a new housing estate in Co Longford after builders reported an unusual find whilst digging foundations. 

The site was shut down on Wednesday evening with officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and UCD's School of Archaeology attending on Thursday for an inspection.

The media has been asked not to report the exact location of the site but we can confirm it is in the south of the county.

One of the UCD researchers described the site as "incredible" as they left on Thursday evening.

"I've never seen anything like it," they told www.longfordleader.ie. 

"This could be the most significant archaeological discovery in Ireland, possibly Europe, this century. It looks like it may be an elaborate Iron Age burial ground or mound but it is too early for us to tell.

"These burial grounds are often made up of one or two ditches containing remains and then covered by a mound of earth. What we have here looks like a maze of circular burial ditches. Hundreds of people could be buried here. It is hugely significant."

That would mean the site dates back to around 1,000 BC. A number of tools suggesting the site relates to the Iron Age have already been found.

Work is now underway to secure a large area of land around the site with the construction of the 143 houses planned on hold.

The builder, however, is unhappy at the disruption and he reckons the tools they've found are his.

"That hammer's not from the Iron Age. I'll admit I have it donkey's years but I wasn't knocking around sites in 1,000 BC. I think I got it in Atlantic Homecare, so how long ago was that?

"We need to get on with the job here now. I haven't seen so many people looking into the one hole since the council came out to fix a pothole at home a few years ago. Now, that definitely does date back to the Iron Age. I'm still driving into it."

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