Experts in history, archaeology and mapping appointed to committee to examine 75 sites Compiled by Liam Reid
Famous battlefields which were key moments in Irish history are to be given enhanced protection under proposals from the Department of the Environment.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche is to launch a study of at least 75 sites around the country with a view to establishing a register of important battle sites, including their location and extent.
It is also planned that national monuments legislation could be amended to allow battlefield areas to be designated as protected sites. Battlefield sites from the early middle ages right through to the 1798 Rebellion are to be included.
A group of experts in history, archaeology and mapping has been appointed to a steering committee to examine the issue.
A member of the unionist community is also to be asked to join the committee in light of the importance of some of the battle sites in the Williamite wars to unionist heritage.
The move comes as a number of important battle sites have come under threat from the increased levels of road construction and housing development.
Plans for the M6 motorway between Ballinasloe and Galway were the source of serious controversy because of the impact of the proposed road, which is now under construction, on the site of the Battle of Aughrim.
This battle was a key military encounter during the Williamite wars, and one of the biggest land battles ever in Ireland or Britain in terms of casualties.
The move to create a register of battlefields follows similar moves in Britain and the US.
Mr Roche told The Irish Times yesterday that the initiative "would research the key battlefield sites in Irish history on Irish soil, their location, extent and historical and archaeological backgrounds".
"Where they survive, battlefields may contain important topographical and archaeological evidence that can increase our knowledge and understanding of momentous events in Irish history.
"The eventual aim of the project would be to assist in identifying the appropriate statutory protection under the National Monuments Acts that should be extended to battlefield sites."
There is at present very limited work carried out in relation to Irish battlefields with a view to their protection. The only site that has received considerable State attention has been that of the Battle of the Boyne, with the Government having bought a large swathe of the battlefield.
There is also considerable information on the sites of battles during the Confederate Wars in the 1640s, the Williamite wars of the 1690s and the 1798 Rebellion.
However, the expert Irish group faces a considerable challenge in relation to battlefields prior to the 17th century.
The lack of precise historical data, coupled with the running tactics of combatants, makes it extremely difficult in many cases to identify the precise sites of many Irish battles.
The establishment of the group has been welcomed by experts and academics. Prof John Waddell of the department of archaeology at NUI Galway, who will sit on the new committee, said the initiative would ensure better information about battlefields in Ireland.
"It's a highly-desirable thing because, apart from the Battle of the Boyne, there has been very little [ archaeological] research on Irish battlefields." He said such fields were not only of historical value but they often included mass graves and were, therefore, "places of significant memory" for communities.
He said such archaeological research could provide invaluable insights into key historical moments, and disprove folk myths that build up around them.
He cited archaeological research in the US at the Battle of Little Bighorn, known as Custer's Last Stand, which is portrayed as a gallant stand by Gen Custer and his men in the face of overwhelming odds. Recent excavations had unearthed evidence from shot dispersal which suggested the US cavalry attempted to flee in disarray.