This report describes the results of an archaeological excavation carried out in advance of construction of the N25 Waterford City Bypass. Waterford City Council procured two archaeological services contracts in February 2002. The contracts covered the assessment of 274 hectares of land required for construction of the bypass and made provision for the excavation and preservation by record of any previously undocumented archaeological sites identified. Contract 1 was awarded to Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd; Contract 2 was awarded to Archaeological Developments Services Ltd. Geophysical survey and test excavations commenced on the scheme in March 2002 and assessment works continued on-site until July 2002. Following receipt of statutory approval for the scheme in October 2002 archaeological excavation services recommenced in 2003; these works comprised the excavation of remains identified during the previous year’s test excavations. Additional test excavations were also carried out in lands that had been inaccessible the previous year. In early 2004 Waterford City Council awarded archaeological services Contract 3 to Headland Archaeology Ltd. This contract covered the completion of test excavations in a number of areas and the excavation of sites identified in 2003. Contract 3 commenced in February 2004 and site works continued until January 2005. By that time all the available lands which were to be acquired for the bypass, as originally designed, had been archaeologically assessed and all identified archaeological remains impacted by the bypass had been excavated and preserved by record. In total 68 excavation licences were issued for the excavation of 71 sites under Contracts, 1, 2 and 3. In 2003 test excavations in Woodstown townland uncovered extensive archaeological remains associated with a previously undocumented Viking-Age settlement (designated Woodstown 6) which extended along approximately 500 m of the proposed bypass and also extended outside the boundary of the lands acquired for road construction. In February 2005 the Minister for Environment, Heritage & Local Government declared the Woodstown site a National Monument and, using powers acquired under the National Monuments (Amendment) Act (2004), directed Waterford City Council to identify an alternative route for the section of the bypass so the monument could be preserved in situ. Additional test excavations and geophysical surveys were undertaken on the 25 hectares of land required for the Woodstown Alternative Alignment in 2006 as an extension to Contract 1. Following receipt of statutory approval 12 archaeological sites identified on the alternative route were excavated by Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd between April and July 2007. These excavations were carried out under Ministerial Direction ref. no. A037, though part of one site (Bawnfune 2) identified during topsoil stripping of the wayleave for the diversion of a gas pipeline was excavated in 2006. Archaeological monitoring of construction works in previously inaccessible areas (approximately 4% of the total scheme) was carried out by Sheila Lane & Associates on behalf of Celtic Roads Group, the consortium that had been awarded the Public Private Partnership (PPP). Construction works in 11 areas were archaeologically monitored between June 2006 and September 2009, under Ministerial Direction ref. no. A037. The only significant archaeological site identified was a fulacht fia in Newrath (designated Newrath M) which was excavated and preserved by record. Prior to investigations in advance of the construction of the N25 Waterford City Bypass in early 2003, no surface anomalies were visible at ground level in the area to hint at the presence of a substantial archaeological site lying beneath. Test excavation at the site subsequently designated Woodstown 6 initially revealed the presence of a large number of pits, postholes and other features, together with two semi-circular ditches adjacent to the river. Archaeological features extended across two fields, Field 22 to the south-west (in the angle between the River Suir and Kiloteran stream) and Field 23 to the north-east. Following the initial test excavation, subsequent phases of excavation were undertaken between 2003 and 2004 and a focussed research excavation was conducted in 2007. This book describes four distinct phases of archaeological investigation that have taken place at Woodstown 6. Test excavation was conducted in the late spring of 2003 by Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd. (ACS), under the direction of Ian Russell . This involved the excavation of trenches in a herringbone pattern on either side of a central spinal; eleven off-sets were opened in the south-western field (Field 22) and twelve in the north-eastern (Field 23). Many features of potential archaeological significance were identified in these trenches; therefore five additional trenches (Trenches 13-17) were excavated in the southwest part of Field 22. All the features identified were mapped and recorded. A series of geophysical investigations were then commissioned in order to further ascertain the extent of the identified features and a palaeoenvironmental sediment core was taken from the wetland at the western end of the site. The second phase of the archaeological testing took place in early autumn 2003 when portions of 14 previously opened trenches were hand excavated. It was decided at this stage that the site should be preserved in situ beneath the proposed new road and therefore extensive excavation would not be necessary. In order to ensure adequate drainage two culverts or drainage channels would be required beneath the road; one (Trench 34) on the north-eastern boundary of Field 23 and the second (Trench 35) on the boundary between Fields 22 and 23. To clear the way for the creation of the culverts archaeological excavation was undertaken in the areas where the culverts were to be constructed. Excavation of these areas began in March 2004, but in the course of this work the proposals were again altered and Trench 35 was not investigated. The topsoil was removed from both areas, but ultimately only the features in Trench 34 were fully excavated and recorded. At the same time, a finds retrieval strategy, utilising metal detection and soil sieving, was implemented for the topsoil removed during the initial excavation of trenches, as well as the soil removed from Trenches 34 and 35. The intention was to ascertain the finds bearing potential of the topsoil and also to retrieve the maximum number of finds from the plough zone. Excavation of Trench 34 took place between March and June 2004, with artefact retrieval continuing until October 2004. The discoveries made in Trench 34 (including a richly-furnished grave), combined with the remarkable quantity and quality of the artefacts recovered from other excavated areas, transformed our interpretations of the Woodstown site. It was clear at this stage that the site was an important early Viking Age settlement of international importance. In February 2005 the site was declared a National Monument by the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government who directed Waterford City Council to identify an alternative route for teh proposed Bypass to ensure preservation in situ of the Viking Age settlement. The Minister also constituted the Woodstown Working Group to advise on preservation and investigation of the site. A fourth phase of archaeological investigation, funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, was undertaken in the spring of 2007, following the recommendations of the Workign Group. One of the aims of this ‘supplementary research project’ was to determine the full extent and nature of the site using a variety of survey methods (geophysical, inter-tidal and underwater) and further targeted excavation. The project also sought to identify the full ground plan of at least one house. During this phase of excavation, one rectangular shaped structure was discovered within the enclosure and additional Viking Age features, located outside the enclosures, were also investigated. The excavations led to the recovery of a wide range of artefacts in a variety of materials which have been subject to detailed specialist analysis. Samples recovered during excavations, palaeoenvironmental coring and inter-tidal surveys were radiocarbon dated. The archaeological evidence suggests that the Viking Age settlement was established at Woodstown by the mid-9th century AD and that occupation continued until the early 10th century, at which time the site was abandoned and never reoccupied. The artefactual evidence indicates that the occupants of the settlement were associated with raiding and trading, the Viking-style furnished burial is evidence of their strong Scandinavian associations. The Woodstown site may be an example of a type of site established by Vikings in Ireland and described by the Early Irish annalists as a longphort.