Beginning with Mesolithic Ireland and ending in 2005, ornamental treasures such as the Book of Kells, the magnificent 8th century Ardagh Chalice and a chair by modernist furniture designer Eileen Gray are given equal importance as pieces such as the bloodstained shirt of Irish revolutionary James Connolly, a 1950s washing machine and the letters from the Anglo Irish Bank sign which were dismantled in 2011.

The concept for this book came from a series in the Irish Times by columnist, writer and literary editor Fintan O'Toole, who also writes the robust introduction to the book.