Archaeology

Dublin Mountains Community Archaeology Project Year 4

We are delighted to have received Heritage Council funding for year 4 of the Dublin Mountains Community Archaeology Project, information on the project's aims and outputs for year 4 can be found here

Protecting Our Past

Although thousands of years old the archaeological heritage of the Dublin Mountains is fragile and we all have a role in protecting it.

Please see guidance document from the National Monuments Service:

Protecting Our Past  - Code for Caring for Our Monuments

The law on metal detecting in Ireland

Please see link to details on the law on metal detecting in Ireland and high-lights below from the National Museum of Ireland

 

To prevent damage to our archaeological heritage by the unauthorised use of metal detectors, the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 regulate the use of metal detectors for archaeological purposes throughout the State of Ireland and its territorial seas.

Unless you have formally applied for and received consent in writing from the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht under the National Monuments Acts, it is against the law:

to be in possession of a detection device in, or at, a site protected under the National Monuments Acts. This includes:–

     

  • a monument subject to a Preservation Order
  • a monument in the ownership or guardianship of the Minister or a local authority
  • a monument entered in the Register of Historic Monuments
  • a monument included in the Record of Monuments and Places
  • the area around a wreck subject to an underwater heritage order

 

 

Archaeology in the Dublin Mountains

 

The Dublin Mountains was a hugely important landscape during our prehistoric past. This can be seen in the number and variety of prehistoric monuments that stand proudly on the summits of the hills and mountains, or that quietly lie in the wooded glades of the valleys.

The Neolithic (c.4200–2400 BC) is one the most significant periods for the Dublin Mountains in terms of the representation of archaeological monuments. The Neolithic period was the time of the first farmers in Ireland, when the large forests began to be cut back with stone axes to create fields for livestock and tillage.

 

 

Archaeologists have long identified a major cluster of megalithic tombs in the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. These uplands were clearly a place of real importance and appear to have been a landscape of spiritual meaning based on the number of funerary monuments that can be found on the summits and slopes of the mountains and hills, as well as the valleys and low-lying land. These funerary monuments give evidence of the changing nature of society and settlement. They may be seen as a form of expression of not just religious belief, but community strength, cohesion and territorial ownership.

 

 

Ireland is renowned for its megalithic tombs. The term ‘megalithic’ literally means ‘large stone’, and it refers to large stone monuments that typically date to the Neolithic period. The tombs are generally categorised into four main groupings; court tombs (numbering approximately 394 nationally), portal tombs (numbering around 174 nationally), passage tombs (numbering around 230 nationally) and wedge tombs (numbering 505 nationally), though a number of other monuments do not neatly fit into any of the groups and thus fall into the ‘unclassified’ category (approximately numbering 200 nationally).

 

 

With the exception of court tombs (of which there are no known examples in County Dublin), the other three categories are all very well represented within the Dublin Mountains and Uplands. The different types of megalithic tomb tend to be positioned in different parts of the landscape, the topographic choices made by the tomb builders may reflect the purpose of the tomb, the nature of territorial boundaries, or other cultural factors that are not immediately apparent to us today.

 

 

With such an array of ancient monuments, it is no wonder that the valleys, hills and mountains of Dublin have become so imbued with stories of legends and folk tales. These stories range from ancient tales of heroic deeds of Fionn MacCumhaill and his warriors, to the debauchery of the Hellfire Club in the eighteenth century. As you will discover, few mountain ranges in Ireland can compete with the Dublin Mountains for the wealth of archaeology, history and folklore.

 

Text & Images Abarta Heritage

[posted 19.12.19]

Dublin's Monumental Mountains

A great resource and one of the outputs of the 2021 Dublin Mountains Community Archaeology Project is the booklet 'Dublin's Monumental Mountains' which is available to download as a pdf or in paper copy format. Paper copies are available free from libraries in South County Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.

 28.02.24

Sléibhte Séadchomharta Bhaile Átha Cliath

Cliceáil anseo don leagan Gaeilge.

28.02.24

Dublin Mountains Archaeology Videos

The booklet 'Dublin's Monumental Mountains' compliments two short videos on the mountains also the result of the Community Archaeology Project 2021; 'The Story of the Dublin Mountains' and 'Dublin's Megalithic Tombs'. 

The Story of the Dublin Mountains

Dublin’s Megalithic Mountains

Archaeology Sites in the Dublin Mountains

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