Reclaiming local archaeology

clare | environment | event notice Wednesday April 13, 2005 10:25 by anarchaeologist 086 8537281

At a time when the present government is hellbent on destroying the physical evidence for the presence of our ancestors on the landscape, it's up to local communities at grassroots level to reclaim their local monuments and preserve them for future generations.

One such community is in Tulla, Co. Clare, where the ruin of an early eighteenth-century church looms over the town as a centrepiece of the local graveyard.

Familiar to anyone who travels regularly along the Ennis-Scarriff road, the monument serves as a symbol of Tulla and a reminder in stone and mortar of all those who have lived and worked here over the generations.

The church has experienced severe decay over the past number of years and this is now been addressed by the people of the town who have initiated a programme of conservation and restoration.

As part of this process, a public meeting will be held in Tulla Courthouse (familiar perhaps to those who have taken an active interest in preventing the US the use of Shannon warport) on Friday 22 April at 20.30.

The history and significance of the site will be discussed and the proposed conservation scheme presented for public debate. In addition, an invitation will be issued to take part in a licenced archaeological excavation which will take place over the weekend as part of the conservation process.