Fergus estuary and islands: discovering a maritime historic landscape in Co. Clare
Principal Investigators
Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan, Mary Dillon, Dr. Rob Sands, Conor McDermott
Funding
Funded by The Heritage Council’s Heritage Research Grants Scheme 2010 (No. R00412)
In collaboration with Clare County Museum, Clare Archaeological and Historical Society, Clare County Council, The Discovery Programme and CNRS University of Rennnes, France
Abstract
The Fergus estuary, Co. Clare is one of the most remarkable areas of coastal/estuarine wetlands in Ireland, with vast areas of mudlfats exposed at low tide the home for huge flocks of waders and migratory birds. The Fergus estuary and its islands are also part of a unique maritime historic landscape, with evidence for human settlement and activity along the estuary’s banks, in the marshlands and on the islands from prehistory until modern times. Recent intertidal archaeological surveys have identified a range of previously Iron Age post alignments (240m in length), spectacularly preserved medieval fishweirs (11th-15th century in date), and post-medieval landing places, piers., seaweed harvesting walls, reclamation banks and fisheries. This project involves an archaeological study of the maritime historic landscapes of the Fergus estuary and islands, promoting a wider academic and public understanding and appreciation of its distinctive heritage; while also contributing to our knowledge of the likely impacts on archaeology of climate and sea-level change in Ireland.
The background and methodologies used by the Fergus estuary and islands project can be downloaded as a pdf.
A previous report, with texts, maps and photographic images, by the project entitled O’Sullivan, A. and Dillon, M. 2009 Islands In Time: The Maritime Cultural Landscapes of the Fergus Estuary’s Islands, Co. Clare. Unpublished Report for the Heritage Council No. 17499 can also be downloaded as a pdf.
Project Aims
- To promote popular and academic understanding of the maritime historic heritage of Clare and beyond
- To establish the Fergus estuary and islands as a key Maritime Historic Landscape case study for the Irish coastline
- To carry out extensive archaeological survey across intertidal zone around islands on Fergus estuary and identify new archaeological sites, to add to 69 sites currently known
- To investigate and record in detail, recently discovered and remarkably well-preserved, but now eroding 2 Iron Age post structures and 20 Medieval wooden fishweirs, on Fergus estuary mudflats
- This project’s emphasis on the Fergus Estuary and Islands as a ‘Maritime Historic Landscape’ also provides supporting data and case studies for future, long-term policy and legislative developments in relation to the conservation and management of Ireland’s heritage.
- The project also hopes to support ongoing public understanding of Clare – and Ireland’s - maritime heritage.
Project methodologies
The project will adopt the methods and theories behind the concept of the ‘maritime historic landscape’, which explore how people in the past lived, worked and moved around ‘seascapes’; spaces dominated by maritime traditions and lifeways. It will also use ‘island archaeology’ approaches, which studies how islands created a sense of identity amongst their human populations, while also enabling connections with the wider world.
The archaeological surveys of the estuary and island foreshores will adopt the intertidal archaeological survey methods previously established by this author for Ireland. These utilize an increasingly focused scale of investigations; beginning with ‘rapid reconnaissance by boat’ to discover sites across extensive areas (plotting sites using hand-held GPS, digital photography, video and written descriptions), then moving to a intensive survey phase whereby individual intertidal archaeological sites (fishweirs, shipwrecks, quays, jetties, kelp-walls, reclamation-walls, etc) are surveyed, described and sampled for c14 dating.
This project is proposing to adopt Terrestrial Lasar Scanning to precisely survey some key features; such as the c.20 Medieval (12th-15th centuries AD) wooden fishweirs discovered at Boarland Rock, Fergus estuary. These sites are being destroyed by erosion. They are situated 1.5km from drylands; are only accessible by boat (with the help of local retired fisherman); are only visible for 2.5 hours at Low Tide, comprising thousands of wooden posts over 600m of shoreline. This survey method may prove to be a key breakthrough in tackling intertidal archaeology internationally.
Public outreach and communication activity will aim:
- To create and promote a knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the maritime cultural heritage of the Fergus estuary and its islands, both at an international, national scale and also amongst local communities who live today in the towns and villages around the estuary.
- To provide local bodies/institutions (e.g. Clare County Council; Clare County Museum; Clare County Library) with tangible new evidence for the value and importance of our maritime cultural heritage in Clare and beyond
- To provide a local/regional case study for national policy providers demonstrating the distinctive nature of Ireland’s coastal and maritime heritage and illustrate the need for further intertidal archaeological surveys in particular.
- To demonstrate the unique and fragile nature of Ireland’s maritime heritage and provide a case study for its potential destruction (e.g. the ongoing erosion of the Boarland Rock fishweirs) by climate and sea-level change.
