Digging up the past

Often derided as evidence of a backward nation, Ireland’s bogs reveal instead that our ancient ancestors were a sophisticated people rich in culture — albeit with a taste for savage ritual killings. Dan Buckley goes back in time

A WEEK may be long time in politics, but it is barely the blink of an eye in archaeology. Less than three weeks ago — just in time for Irish Heritage Week — a body was unearthed from the murky depths of an Irish bog. It was spotted by a sharp-eyed worker in Cul na Móna bog near Portlaoise and is being excavated by archaeologists from the National Museum of Ireland.

The man leading that examination is Ned Kelly, keeper of antiquities at the museum. His passion — apart from his family and his Connemara ponies — is to give a voice to Ireland’s ambassadors from the past while observing their humanity.