Protecting our ancient monuments on farms

OUR country is dotted with historical features, an important record of Irish history.

Ancient settlements and monuments such as fairy rings, giant graves and mass rocks have been protected by previous generations, so it is our turn to ensure these archaeological features.

These sites are under pressure to survive mechanised farming practices and changes in land use.

With heavy machinery, they can be easily removed with little thought for history or their archaeological value.

A small selection of our ancient monuments are in state ownership; the remainder are protected by the state under the National Monuments Act.

However, the faith of these monuments is largely dependant on the interest and respect of individual landowners themselves.

Farmers became more aware of the features of historical and archaeological interest on their farms with the introduction of environmental schemes such as REPS and GLAS.

Such schemes also built links between farmers, agricultural advisors and archaeologists. To qualify for annual payment, farmers must have committed to the conservation of these sites.

Grassland provides the best conditions for the preservation of monuments as the ground remains largely undisturbed by following the correct stocking rates to avoid overgrazing and poaching.

Similar management must take place on commonage land by adhering to the individual minimum and maximum stocking rates for the commonage and compliance with a commonage management plan.

Supplementary feeding sites, such as troughs and ring-feeders, should be located away from monuments.

Farm intensification can continue while preserving ancient monuments at the same time.

Historic buildings should not be used for sheltering animals, and traditional farm buildings that contribute to the visual landscape should be maintained into the future.

If protected sites are overgrown with growth of gorse, scrub or woody plants, the best control method is to cut the base and treat stumps to prevent re-growth.

Farmers with diggers may be tempted to uproot trees on a monument, but this will only cause further damage to archaeological layers.

The preservation of ancient monuments in arable land can be more difficult, so it’s important to know the monuments on your land by examining the record of monuments and places maps.

Upstanding monuments should be left as islands of uncultivated ground within arable fields and should be protected from plough damage by a generous unploughed margin of at least five metres around the edge of the monument.

Also minimise plough depths where there are known levelled sites or crop-mark sites in tillage.

Field stones or farm waste should not be dumped on archaeological monuments.

Avoid burning stubble on or near ancient monuments.

All sites recorded on the register of monuments and places, even where they are not visible, must be protected by buffer strips.

The law contains a number of criminal offences aimed at protecting historic buildings and sites, and if you find a previously unknown archaeological object or monument on your land, report it to the National Museum of Ireland or the National Monument Service immediately.