A government Department has claimed that a shipwreck was excavated illegally on Lahinch strand in Co Clare, as it was protected under the 1987 National Monuments Amendment Act.
An investigator for Duchas, the Heritage Service, was at the site in Lahinch last week from which several tonnes of Liscannor stone were taken from the schooner, Elizabeth McClean. The schooner, bound for Glasgow, sank in a storm.
According to Duchas, records state that it sank in 1894 and not 1904, as claimed by the excavators and some local sources. If a wreck dates back more than 100 years, legislation protects it.
Mr Eamonn Brennan, higher executive officer at Duchas, which operates under the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, said yesterday the year had been
established from government records in London from the 1890s and Lloyd's records. In the Edward Burke book, Shipwrecks of Ireland, published in 1993, the ship is referred to as having been grounded on December 18th, 1894.
Mr Brennan said: "A lot of people were going on word of mouth that the schooner went down in 1904. That was true, but they had the wrong ship."
A small quantity of stone was removed in 1988 and Mr Brennan pointed out that taking anything up to 1994 would have been legal and would not have come under the 1987 Act. The recent removal of stone made the operation illegal, he suggested.
Duchas is consulting its legal advisers and looking at its options. "We have no paper evidence at this time that they had the rights from the Receiver of Wrecks."
Liscannor Stone company director Mr P.J. Ryan and Ennistymon businessman Mr Lorcan O'Connor said last week they purchased the salvage rights for £1 from the Customs and Excise Receivers of Wrecks and they were acting in all good faith.
A spokesman for the salvors said yesterday they would be carrying out their own research and would not be making any comment until their investigation is complete.
The secretary of Lahinch Community Council, Mr Seamus Hartigan, said that in his opinion the excavation should not have taken place without consulting the Heritage Service.