Vol. 508 No. 5
57 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if officials from her Department have examined the remains of a crannóg on the seafront at Ardmore, County Waterford; and the steps, if any, being taken to have it preserved, protected or excavated. [19174/99]
The site of the crannóg at Ardmore was inspected in 1990 as part of the ongoing archaeological survey of Ireland fieldwork.
Earliest reported accounts of the crannóg date to the 1870s when it was discovered on peatland under the high water mark. Even then, fears were expressed about the denudation of the monument from the effects of coastal erosion.
It is thought that the crannóg was originally constructed in a salt marsh but in the intervening years it had become a coastal site from erosion of the sea, and that finally such erosion removed all visible signs of the crannóg.
It is possible however that remains of the crannóg survive below sub-surface level. The site has accordingly been included in the record of monuments and places for County Waterford under section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994. This affords the site legal protection in so far as I must be given two months prior notice of any proposal to carry out works on or at the site. I do not have, nor am I aware of, any plans to excavate the site.
