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civic · Monday 17 August 2026 · 7:30pm 
A Road to the Past, Archaeology of the Adare Bypass Talk
At Fitzgerald's Woodlands House Hotel · Knockanes, Adare, Co. Limerick
At Fitzgerald's Woodlands House Hotel · Knockanes, Adare, Co. Limerick
As part of National Heritage Week, Limerick City and County Council is co-hosting a free public lecture, A Road to the Past: The Archaeology of the Adare Bypass, at Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel in Adare on Monday, 17 August 2026 at 7.30pm. The talk is a citizen-facing update on archaeological works carried out as part of the Adare Bypass road scheme, bringing the findings back to the community whose landscape they were dug out of.
Archaeologist Sean Tiffin of AMS Ltd, who worked on the excavations, presents findings from digs carried out along the bypass route, focusing on early medieval enclosures uncovered since excavation work began in spring 2024. The lecture is organised jointly by Limerick City and County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland and the Adare Community Trust, reflecting how road-building and heritage protection work together in practice: a scheme of this scale requires archaeological assessment before construction, and this talk is the council’s way of sharing what that process turned up with the people of Adare. It is a free, open lecture with no booking required, aimed at anyone with an interest in local history, archaeology or the bypass project itself, rather than a specialist academic audience.
Adare already sits on ground rich in medieval and monastic history, so a talk uncovering more of that layer beneath a modern road scheme is likely to draw a mixed crowd of locals who watched the bypass go in, archaeology enthusiasts and anyone curious about what turns up when a major road is built through farmland that has been settled for well over a thousand years. Holding the talk in the hotel rather than a lecture theatre keeps it informal, with time expected for questions afterwards.
Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel is on the edge of Adare village, a short drive or taxi from the village centre, with on-site parking for attendees.
Heading to Fitzgerald's Woodlands House Hotel in Adare? Limerick has plenty more to see. Read the Adare area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.