A team of archaeologists are beginning work to examine and map the site of the Kilcommon Ambush in Tipperary.
Tipperary County Council has commissioned Clonmel-based Abarta Heritage to undertake the study this summer, as part of their existing efforts with the ‘Landscapes of Revolution’ project.
Four RIC members were killed by local IRA troops in the ambush on December 16th, 1920.
Archaeologist with Abarta Heritage, Damian Shiels, says this will be non-invasive work which aims to determine the landscape of 100 years ago:
“We’re trying to identify the elements that are still there – things like the roads, the field boundaries, the buildings, all of that sort of evidence. We can then use that to map not only where things happened, but it gives you a tool by which you can manage that landscape.
“You can interpret a site, and you can say, ‘well we know that this part of this landscape was there in 1920, this element is new, this is how it changed'”.
Over the coming weeks the project team will be holding a number of talks, research workshops and on-site analyses as they work towards the production of an ambush landscape map.
Regular project updates and the final results will also be made available online. The project begins with a project inception talk, which will be held virtually at 7pm on Wednesday 21 July.
You can register for the talk via eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/landscapes-of-revolution-archaeologyproject-tipperarys-kilcommon-ambush-tickets-163029745357 or by emailing [email protected].
You can explore the Project website at www.landscapesofrevolution.com and keep up to date with Kilcommon updates at www.landscapesofrevolution.com/kilcomon-ambush-1920/.
