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You are > Home > Woodstown excavation to proceed!
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Friday, July 29, 2005
Woodstown excavation to proceed!
THE Save Viking Waterford Action Group have welcomed comments from Minister for Transport Martin Cullen that it was his understanding that a State-funded excavation, in conjunction with the National Museum of Ireland, is planned for the settlement of Woodstown in the near future.
Mr. Cullen made his comments on RTE’s Morning Ireland. He agreed that the site provided unique evidence of Ireland’s historical past and said that this was the reason the N25, which was originally planned to run through the area, had been moved. Save Viking Waterford spokesperson, Dr Catherine Swift expressed her delight at his words. “This is wonderful news.
This is the first time anyone from the government has confirmed that an excavation is planned. Hundreds of thousands of listeners to RTE radio heard Mr Cullen make a public commitment to the excavation of Woodstown.
It is time now for Mr Cullen’s colleague Dick Roche to publicly announce that the excavation will take place and give us a schedule and budget for the dig. “With an excavation we can resolve the vexed question of whether or not Woodstown represents western Europe’s first Viking town or whether it was primarily a ship-building site which also attracted traders from Scandinavia and the Middle East. People have been debating the issue on the basis of tiny amounts of evidence; now we will be able to investigate properly and come up with real hard facts.”
“It is clear our maritime heritage and Viking forebears are key elements in helping to distinguish the regional tourism of the South East: Waterford has just hosted the extremely successful visit of the Tall Ships and on August Bank Holiday, the highlight of the festivities in Wexford will be the visit of the Viking replica ship Gaia to Ferrycarrig.
The City Square excavations made twelfth and thirteenth- century Waterford famous and a Woodstown dig will provide the evidence for the earliest period of Viking settlement known in these islands. Together, they’ll make Waterford renowned worldwide as a centre for Viking research.”
“It is also worth remembering that Woodstown wasn’t founded by the Vikings but by the local people, the Déise, who were kings of an important maritime kingdom long before the Scandinavians ever reached our shores. As the Romans retreated from Britain, Déise colonists from Waterford established the kingdom of Dyfed in West Wales.
There they took over the remnants of Roman administration and culture and facilitated its introduction to Ireland”.
“Thus the excavation of Woodstown will not only provide us with the first big settlement of Scandinaviantype in western Europe, it also has the potential to give us unique insights into the whole process by which the Irish (and in particular the Déisemen) “saved civilisation” by taking over Roman culture in the west, adopting and adapting it and reexporting it back to Europe.
Minister Cullen’s government is to be commended for undertaking the excavation of this amazing site”.
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