ANCIENT HISTORY INISHOWEN

Photo: Standing stones, Culdaff,Inishowen.

Photo: Cross, Gleneely, Inishowen

Have you ever thought about your townland name? Ramonn Laoghog has and his enthusiasm spilled out at a talk about the subject in Buncrana library last week. As part of the Heritage week, Ramonn told us about how important placenames are when it comes to finding out about the past. We have one of the oldest European languages in Ireland and the Druids safeguarded information by not writing anything down. Because of this most placenames and townland names have come about through word of mouth and were passed down phonetically for centuries. This is why people (such as Ramonn) can find twenty meanings in one townland name. One issue that was of particular interest for me was how vulnerable both the names and the historical structures in townlands are. In one local area there can be as many as 800 sub names. These can be so small that a named area can literally be built on and disappear forever. Structures such as standing stones, wells and old burial grounds are seriously in danger too. Ramonn was right when he said that in any other place these ancient structures would be under cover or in museums, protected from the elements for future reference (although it is wonderful to see them in situ.). As it stands the only protected piece of history I know of is the cross in Carndonagh. The weather is slowly eroding the detail on most of these structures in the countryside, which is a real pity. There are a lot of monuments of interest in the townlands of Inishowen. These have been well documented by Mabel Colhoun, whose book on the archaeology of Inishowen, is available for reference in the local library Some are so insignificant that they could be mistaken for boulders left in a field or a hedgerow, but they have a significant importance to historians (as the council in Buncrana found out when they inadvertently dug up Father Hegarty’s stone). A lot of history is disappearing under the rush of development in the area and some are even ending up as garden ornaments. Access to the remaining structures can be fraught with danger too. We went to have a look at some standing stones near Culdaff last week. Although initially there was a stile and an access point, this soon degraded into a boundary fence and gate around the stones that was covered in barbed wire. Someone had been there before us and cut a piece of the wire so we still had access.

ACCESS TO MONUMENTS

Access is proving to be more difficult to these areas of interest. The tourist board are advertising Inishowen as a place to come and go walking. Granted there are specified routes for ramblers but it does seem to be getting more and more difficult to get access into the countryside. A visit to a local megalithic tomb involved fighting our way through gorse bushes, hopping over barbed wire fences and no doubt, plenty of trespassing. There might be plenty of access paths and walks and I know there are rambling and hill-walking groups in the peninsula, but as I am unsure of public access routes, I feel uncomfortable walking across farmer’s fields.
There are details coming out soon about a Countryside Recreation Strategy. This is a document drawn up by Comhairle na Tuaithe (The Countryside Council). The plan has been three years in the making and includes the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) Keep Ireland Open (KIO) an access lobby group, the Mountaineering Council of Ireland and Coillte, the forestry people. The main idea is to get farmers involved in setting up walking routes and sometimes being paid to maintain them. The IFA, with 85,000 members apparently have not signed up, as they seem to think there is nothing in it for them. A report in a Sunday newspaper claims that the Association want €5 per metre of walking route as compensation. Keeping the countryside open in a responsible manner and preserving the wealth of ancient structures that we have in Inishowen should be a priority. We are told that Ireland is experiencing an increased amount of overseas visitors coming over and enjoying the friendly welcome and the easy, controlled access to the countryside. This needs to become more of a reality as it will be an uphill struggle to keep increasing the numbers visitors amidst the accusations of “Rip off Ireland” being thrown around. Carbon emissions from the green-thinking walkers who do not want to fly to their holiday destination might have an effect on the numbers coming to Ireland for a walking holiday. People such as Ramonn are doing their best to pass on the townland information to the next generation just as the learned people did hundreds of years ago. And regardless of whether we get tourists here or not in the future, countryside walks, the protection and access to the ancient monuments should be a priority here in Inishowen.

Environmental