Archaeology

Knockcurraghbola Commons Wedge Tomb

The wedge tomb in Knockcurraghbola Commons located near Borrisoleigh in Co. Tipperary.

Knockcurraghbola Commons Wedge Tomb

Knockcurraghbola Commons Wedge Tomb

The wedge tomb in Knockcurraghbola Commons located near Borrisoleigh in Co. Tipperary.

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Burial places provide evidence of the earliest human impact on the landscape.  A court tomb, an example of the earliest such structure in Ireland is found at Shanballyedmond in the area of Rear Cross-Kilcommon.  An example of a later type of burial place, a passage tomb (Newgrange being a spectacular example) is found on Slievenamuck in the townland of Shrough.  This was constructed some 5,500 years ago.  Another kind of tomb is popularly known as a dolmen, a large capstone placed on top of several upright stones to form a burial chamber. There is an example at Ardcroney in North Tipperary , not far from Nenagh.  In the townland of Knockcurraghbola Commons in Upperchurch is an excellent examples of a wedge tomb, perhaps 4,500 years old.

Cullen in mid-west Tipperary is famous for its ‘golden bog’, a reference to the Bronze Age practice of placing gold objects into the bog as votive offerings to please the gods. Unfortunately these precious objects were discovered in the 18^th and the 19^th centuries, when there was more interest in their value than their importance as artefacts and consequently, much of the material was melted down.

Perhaps the most common field monuments on the Tipperary landscape are ringforts, which were individual farmsteads, an enclosed lightly defended circular area, into which livestock could be herded and protected.  Hundreds of these structures survive, in large part because of their incorporation into folklore as fairy forts.