Ancient Ireland: Life before the Celts [Hardcover]

Flanagan Laurence (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312218818 | ISBN-13: 978-0312218812 | Publication Date: February 15, 1999

When the Celts first arrived in Ireland around 250BC, the island had already been inhabited for over 7,000 years. These pre-Celtic peoples have left no written records, but they have left extensive archaeological evidence, of which Newgrange is the most celebrated example. Who were these peoples and how did they live? Using archaeological evidence, Laurence Flanagan pieces together the sort of houses they built, the way they cultivated the land, their social and economic systems, and many other aspects of daily life in pre-Celtic Ireland. Combining scholarship with an accessible style, the book provides a unique and fascinating insight into a lost, fabled world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Laurence Flanagan is an archaeologist and a former Keeper of Antiquities at the Ulster Museum, UK. He is the author of A Dictionary of Irish Archaeology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (February 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312218818
• ISBN-13: 978-0312218812
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,456,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > History > Ancient > Prehistory

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good but read with caution, May 24, 2005

By 

Hallstatt Prince (MA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Ireland: Life before the Celts (Hardcover)

This is beautiful book that offers a great deal of information about pre-Celtic Ireland through artifacts discovered and the impressive sites from this period that are still standing and through the archeological record the author gives us some insight as to what this culture (or cultures) looked like. However I do take issue with some of the information presented in this book. There is much debate as to the periods of Celtic invasion and more and more the research in both linguistics and archeology continue to push the dates of Celtic occupation further and further back. The Celts and peoples that existed before pre-Celtic times traded with Ireland along the mid Atlantic trade routes for millennia and the Celtic invasions themselves are believed to have occurred along both the mid-Atlantic route and across the English channel.
Please keep this in mind as you read this book.
That being said the this book is still a great resource especially if used in conjunction with current credible sources on the topic of the Celtic invasions.