The Bronze Age in Ireland heralded the use of specific materials such as bronze and gold. Very quickly, the population concentrated on mining, and gathered its craftsmen around the creation of various objects such as weapons or tools for daily life. As for megaliths, they are becoming less imposing than during the Neolithic period… Here’s a quick overview of these important developments…
It all began around 2500 BC, when local craftsmen discovered that the alloying of copper and tin formed a new metal: bronze.
The population soon realized the advantages of bronze, and decided to develop copper mines on Ross Island (Co. Kerry) and in County Cork. These operations lasted from 2400 to 1800 B.C., and enabled the population to extract more than 370 tons of copper…
As for tin, Ireland had no potential extraction sites, so it was content to import it from Cornwall to Great Britain.
Irish craftsmen quickly established a reputation for the finesse of their work. The latter produce a number of remarkable swords, axes and horn-shaped trumpets _fabricated by the lost-wax method_. Their wares were then exported all over Europe
It was then that people began to mine for gold. Ireland has numerous gold mines, making it one of the first countries to extract this precious metal… Artisans create fabulous gold-leaf objects such as crescents, torques, earrings, discs and necklaces.
In fact, the largest number of Bronze Age gold treasures in Europe has been discovered in Ireland. Some of these treasures have even been found in faraway lands such as Germany and Scandinavia…
During the Bronze Age, interest in megaliths waned. The population is now too absorbed in metal mining, and devotes its time to creating small dolmens or stone circles in the province of Munster and Ulster. Gone are the days of imposing constructions like cairns and tumuli dating back to the Neolithic period…
At the end of the Bronze Age, however, a new type of tomb was born: the cist tomb, a kind of small rectangular stone chest covered with a slab and buried less than a meter underground.
