On Thursday, 18th June 2026, I had the opportunity, as a member of the Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society, to join other members for a private visit to view the new excavations at the internationally important Woodstown Viking settlement.

Image courtesy of Noel Shanaghy

The site, which was discovered when the motorway to Dublin was being built, was almost destroyed because of the importance of the connection economically. However a strong campaign locally saw it preserved.

There has been a lot of work done behind the scenes to get to this point, but this year Waterford City and County Council, in collaboration with Abarta Heritage, the Discovery Programme and Stavanger University Museum, obtained funding under the Royal Irish Academy’s Research Excavation Fund for a two-week excavation by a team of Irish and Norwegian archaeologists.

Led by Neil Jackman, we were given a short history of the site, an explanation about the setting and then a guided walk through the two test pits.  The end was a wow, however, as Neil gave a view of some of the finds which included nails from a Viking boat.

But the significant moment for me was what was most likely a 1200-year-old fishing net weight, hand-made of stone, and used on the same river I fished for so many years. I had goosebumps when Neil handed it to me. A special moment. One I will treasure.

Images above courtesy of Noel Shanaghy and Christine Maddock 

I think Neil said yesterday that this was made from soapstone – and derived from SW Norway. One theory mentioned was that the stone may have provided ballast for a sea journey and was later worked for the purpose. What was astonishing to me was the precision and uniformity of the holes.

The goosebumps came from the fact that this was only found that afternoon, and we were among the few who had touched it – the last person to do so was 1200 years ago. Most likely an ordinary soul like myself, a fisherman or perhaps a woman, working on the nets and preparing to go to fish. It may have also served as a loom weight and I guess the next phase will be to clean and properly evaluate and examine each find. Perhaps in time, this, with the other finds, may be revised. Whatever emerges, I am so looking forward to hear the outcome.

For now, here’s a piece on these stone weights from the Orkney Islands that you might find interesting for context.

I will add any links that emerge to this piece also.

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