Clodagh Finn: The dead show us how the past is always present

 Gabriel Cooney. His new book is an unusual one. It informs, surprises, and challenges in equal measure. Picture: Johnny Bambury

Sometimes it is the tiniest detail that stays with you. In 2004, when archaeologists excavated the remains of a young woman buried some 2,000 years earlier at Rath in Co Meath, they found she was wearing a decorated ring on the fourth toe of her right foot.

Two near-identical spiral rings, made mostly of copper, were also found on each foot. They were thought to be attachments for the sandals she was wearing when she was laid out, on her right side, with her head facing north-west.