Coast Of Co Research Articles

Coastal Erosion and the Promontory Fort: Appearance and Use during Late Iron Age and Early Medieval County Waterford, Ireland

Promontory forts are an understudied but distinctive maritime archaeological feature from the Iron Age to the early medieval period from northern Spain to Scotland. Their coastal location renders them susceptible to erosion and loss to history, a situation exacerbated by increased storm frequency and sea level rise. Reconstruction of their original form is important to determine their role in the society of the time. This paper concentrates on a particularly notable group of promontory forts along the Copper Coast of Co. Waterford, where traces of up to 32 remain today within a 24 km stretch of coastline. The methodology has involved using oral tradition, historical records and field survey. This has been enhanced by aerial survey using drones and light aircraft. This paper models the data to estimate areas eroded and show how forts were once significantly larger and dominated coastal resources with an economy of farming, fishing, mining and trading. This paper calculates a likely erosion rate of 4–5 cm/yr and anticipates the last remains to be lost in 350 years, perhaps sooner with climate change.

The Preacher and the Prelate: The Achill Mission Colony and the Battle for Souls in Famine Ireland by Patricia Byrne (review)

This reversion to a European norm of secularism is emphasised as the new reality of pluralism and multi-culturalism. I would not be quite as certain. Europe is the exception in the sweep of continents, as religious belief and religious passion, both as a spiritual and as a political identifying force, is very much alive elsewhere, and our own cosy corner may not be the standard henceforth. But this is the future, and this excellent book deals with the past and the present. It explains what it set out to do with clarity and with style. In doing so, it makes an invaluable contribution to Irish history and should be read by anyone interested in our story. Alan Titley is Emeritus Professor of Irish in University College, Cork, and writes a weekly column in Irish in The Irish Times. The Preacher and the Prelate: The Achill Mission Colony and the Battle for Souls in Famine Ireland, Patricia Byrne (Newbridge, Co. Kildare: Merrion Press, 2018), 244 pages. Achill Island, which lies off the coast of Co. Mayo on the Western seaboard of Ireland, is the setting for this book. The subject matter is a religious settlement established in 1834 by an evangelical minister, Edward Nangle of the Church of Ireland, and the bitterness it caused between members of the Protestant and Catholic religions. (The author points out that the text will generally use the term ‘Catholic’ to indicate the Christian persuasion of Roman Catholic and ‘Protestant’ to denote a Christian belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the official established church until disestablished by the Irish Church Act 1869). Nangle believed that Achill was a place of ignorance, barbarism and intellectual and moral degradation.1 From the beginning the development was frequently referred to by both Catholics and Protestants as ‘the colony’, perhaps suggestive of a powerful body dominating a lesser one. The focus on such a small area as Achill enables the author to address in detail the sectarian problems common to Ireland for centuries together with the poverty of the native Irish people before, during and after the Great Famine of 1846–1848. The first section of the book deals with the background and health of Nangle, whose driving ambition was to evangelise the native population through education. He placed the emphasis on the superiority of the Studies • volume 109 • number 433 89 Spring 2020: Book Reviews Studies_layout_SPRING-2020.indd 89 Studies_layout_SPRING-2020.indd 89 27/02/2020 13:59 27/02/2020 13:59 Reformed faith. He was the son of a staunch Catholic father and a Protestant mother. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin and his first ministry was in Co. Cavan, where he came under the influence of the local landlord, Lord Farnham. Farnham publicly proclaimed that the calamities that afflicted the Irish people could be solved by delivering them from their degrading bondage in the form of Roman Catholicism and converting them to the Reformed faith (p. 7).2 Nangle was also influenced by the writings of a Scottish Baptist minister, Christopher Anderson. He agreed with both men that evangelisation, meaning conversion to the tenets of Protestanism, could best be achieved through the medium of the Irish language, the language of the people. While ministering in Cavan, Nangle suffered a mental and physical breakdown. He recovered, but within weeks of arriving in Achill he succumbed to similar bad health, a pattern that was repeated throughout his life.At times he had periods of very high energy when he accomplished much and at other times was laid so low that he could barely function. The author suggests that he suffered from what we would now call bi-polar disease or manic depression. Protestant education in the scriptures and work on reclaiming land and planting crops had been under way for some years prior to Nangle’s arrival. Nangle quickly threw himself into developing his evangelisation programme and organising further building and farming projects. Prayers were said morning and evening in both the Irish and English languages and scriptural education was central and seen as necessary for combating popish error and for teaching the principles of Protestantism and civilised living to the Catholic population. Nangle stated...

Influence of fresh water, nutrients and DOC in two submarine-groundwater-fed estuaries on the west of Ireland

Coastal fresh water sources, which discharge to the sea are expected to be directly influenced by climate change (e.g. increased frequency of extreme weather events). Sea-level rise and changes in rainfall patterns, changes in demand for drinking water and contamination caused by population and land use change, will also have an impact. Coastal waters with submarine groundwater discharge are of particular interest as this fresh water source is very poorly quantified. Two adjacent bays which host shellfish aquaculture sites along the coast of Co. Galway in the west of Ireland have been studied to establish the influence of fresh water inputs on nutrients and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in each bay. Neither bay has riverine input and both are underlain by the karst limestone of the Burren and are susceptible to submarine groundwater discharge. Water and suspended matter samples were collected half hourly over 13h tidal cycles over several seasons. Water samples were analysed for nutrients and DOC, while suspended matter was analysed for organic/inorganic content. Temperature and salinity measurements were recorded during each tidal station by SBE 37 MicroCAT conductivity/temperature sensors. Long-term mooring data were used to track freshwater input for Kinvara and Aughinish Bays and compare it with rainfall data. Results show that Kinvara Bay is much more heavily influenced by fresh water input than Aughinish Bay, and this is a strong source of fixed nitrogen to Kinvara Bay. Only during flood events is there a significant input of inorganic nitrogen from fresh water to Aughinish Bay, such as in late November 2009. Fresh water input does not appear to be a significant source of dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) to either bay, but is a source of DOC to both bays. C:N ratios of DOC/DON show a clear distinction between marine and terrestrially derived dissolved organic material.

Simulating the nature of vegetation communities at the opening of the Neolithic on Achill Island, Co. Mayo, Ireland — the potential role of models of pollen dispersal and deposition

The landscapes of the extreme western fringe of the European seaboard provide significant challenges to the reconstruction of prehistoric landscapes. The landscapes that exist today often bear little resemblance to those that existed in the middle Holocene owing to a combination of climatic and human influences on the landscape, and there are few surviving landscapes which offer an analogous vegetation situation. The coast of Co. Mayo in Ireland provides perhaps one of the biggest challenges in this regard, being now virtually treeless and covered with extensive tracts of ombrotrophic peat. Palaeoecological data sets indicate extensive woodland in the past in these areas, and the archaeological record shows that the region supported Neolithic populations practising early forms of agriculture. Landscape reconstruction using models that relate pollen dispersal to vegetation communities offers a potential stochastic insight into the nature of former landscapes. The results presented here from a modelling approach to reconstructing earlier prehistoric landscapes clearly demonstrate likely spatial vegetation patterning which could produce pollen assemblages comparable to those in the sub-fossil record. Areas such as Achill Island would have had extensive woodland cover dominated by taxa such as pine, oak and elm, a landscape substantially different from that which exists today. It is argued that at the onset of clearance during the Neolithic the area would have been significantly more attractive to agriculture than it is today.

Geochemistry and potential correlation of Silurian (Telychian) metabentonites from Ireland and SW Scotland

AbstractNew occurrences of metabentonites from the Telychian Stage of the Silurian successions in SW Scotland, Co. Down and Co. Mayo, Ireland, are described in terms of their biostratigraphical setting and geochemical characteristics. The Co. Mayo occurrence extends the known distribution of Telychian metabentonites in Europe by 280 km WSW from the coast of Co. Down.Comparisons between samples based on selected trace element ratios suggest three potential correlations. One is between a tuffaceous clay from the Finny School Member, Upper Kilbride Formation of Co. Mayo, and a metabentonite from the Tara Sandstone Formation, Gala Group, Co. Down. One pair of metabentonites from the Carghidown Formation of Kirkcudbrightshire can be related to one pair from the Ardglass Formation of Co. Down. In addition, a unique alkaline chemical composition is identified in two samples from the Kirkmaiden Formation of Kirkcudbrightshire and one sample from the Ballyquintin Formation of Northern Ireland, which implies the existence of a local extensional tectonic regime at that time, consistent with a back‐arc basin.These metabentonites extend across at least two Caledonian suspect terranes and a variety of different sedimentary facies. These data may assist future discoveries and be able to improve stratigraphic correlations across three terranes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Koeleria macrantha (Ledeb.) Schultes (K. alpigena Domin, K. cristata (L.) Pers. pro parte, K. gracilis Pers., K. albescens auct. non DC.)

<i>Koeleria macrantha</i> (Ledeb.) Schultes (<i>K. alpigena</i> Domin, <i>K. cristata</i> (L.) Pers. pro parte, <i>K. gracilis</i> Pers., <i>K. albescens</i> auct. non DC.)

The distribution and utilisation of Zostera species in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland

Strangford Lough is a sheltered marine inlet on the east coast of Co. Down, Northern Ireland. The distribution of Zostera in the Lough and its exploitation by wildfowl was investigated. There was an estimated 1100 tonnes (fresh weight) of Zostera in the Lough in October 1991 covering some 6.3 km 3 of the northern mudflats and representing some 12% of the total intertidal area of the Lough. This was regarded as peak biomass. By January 1992, Zostera was reduced following grazing by wildfowl and weathering to 20% of the initial biomass as measured in the exclusion experiment. The above-ground and below-ground biomass of Zostera were not equally affected with reduction to 7% and 26%, respectively.

The Pre-Cambrian and Lower Palaeozoic Rocks of South-east Co. Wexford, Eire

AbstractThe pre-Carboniferous rocks exposed along the coast of Co. Wexford from Rosslare to Bannow Island have been re-examined. Four distinct units are recognized: the Rosslare Complex, the Cul-lenstown Group, the Tagoat Group and the Bannow Group.The Rosslare Complex and the Cullenstown Group are suggested to be of Pre-Cambrian age. A correlation is proposed between the Cullenstown Group and part of the Mona Complex of Anglesey; the Rosslare Complex is thought to be much older. It is suggested tentatively that all the Bannow Group may be of Ordovician age.

Occurrence of Asparagopsis armata Harv. on the Scilly Isles

THE red alga, Asparagopsis armata Harv., was originally found in Australia, where it is very abundant along the south coast; it occurs also in New Zealand and Tasmania1. It was first recorded in the northern hemisphere in 1925 by Sauvageau2. Its naturalization along the European and North African coasts has been followed and described by J. Feldmann and G. Feldmann3 and shown to be coincident with that of Falkenbergia rufolanosa Harv., the tetrasporic generation of A. armata. No occurrences were recorded north of the coast of Brittany. Since that account, however, Asparagopsis has been found at two stations on the coast of Co. Galway, west Ireland, by de Valera4 in July and October 1941; it has also been found in Cornwall by Drew5 on the Lizard Peninsula, where it was well established in August 1950, and she has found specimens of Falkenbergia cast ashore on the Lizard and at Falmouth, in August 1950. It is not without interest, therefore, to note the presence of Asparagopsis armata on the Scilly Isles. Several plants were found growing tangled among Chondrus crispus (L.) Stackh. and Laurencia pinnatifida (Gmel.) Lamour, on a boulder which projected from the sandy shore at the south end of Pentle Bay, Tresco, at extreme low water, spring tide, on March 24, 1951. The specimens have the characteristic reflexed barbs on otherwise bare branches; the fronds are up to four inches long, and these specimens show neither cystocarps nor spermatangial branches. I am grateful to Dr. Mary W. Parke for her kindness in identifying the specimens and for the loan of literature.

XIX.—Faunistic notes from the Coast of Co. Cork, I.F.S.

(1935). XIX.—Faunistic notes from the Coast of Co. Cork, I.F.S.. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 16, No. 92, pp. 212-214.

XXV.—On the occurrence of Plakina monolopha Schultze on the South Coast of Co. Cork, I.F.S.

(1934). XXV.—On the occurrence of Plakina monolopha Schultze on the South Coast of Co. Cork, I.F.S.. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 13, No. 74, pp. 318-318.

XIV.—Xantho incisus Leach and Cancer pagurus L., infested with Sacculina carcini Thompson, on the South Coast of Co. Cork

(1932). XIV.—Xantho incisus Leach and Cancer pagurus L., infested with Sacculina carcini Thompson, on the South Coast of Co. Cork. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 10, No. 55, pp. 132-133.

On Caenophyllum, a remarkable New Genus of Carboniferous Coral

Included in a large assemblage of corals from the Lower Carboniferous Shales—referred to a Z horizon—overlying the Lower Carboniferous Sandstone anticline (K) on the north coast of Co. Sligo is a remarkable new genus—Caenophyllum—which forms the subject of this paper. Caenophyllum gen. nov. claims distinction in showing a very unusual life-history—quite unlike that of any known coral; and forms a very interesting example of abnormal coral ontogeny. The shales form cliffs at Pollarone, near Dromore West, Co. Sligo, and vary in height from 30 to 50 feet. They are cut off by the rising tide, and consequently have hitherto been neglected; but are of great importance in zonal work, as they contain a rich coral and Bryozoan fauna and thus form a starting point for zonal investigation.

V.—Notes on some Coastal Features in Co. Waterford

The occurrence of ‘submerged forests’ on the coast of co. Waterford has long been known, though no mention of them was made in the Survey Memoir published in 1865. The more recent discovery of pre-glacial beaches and raised wave-cut rock-platforms along the south coast of Ireland between Baltimore and Carnsore Point has thrown still further light on Post-Tertiary movements of the land-margin; and accordingly some new observations on these phenomena in a hitherto unmarked locality may be of interest.

V.–On the occurrence of a Blue Amphibole in a Hornblende Kersantite from Co. Down

In connection with the revision of the Silurian area in Ireland, at present in progress by the staff of the Irish branch of the Geological Survey, a number of rock-specimens of the dykes occurring on the coast of Co. Down were lately petrographically examined by the writer, who detected in one of the slices a blue amphibole of secondary origin. As a mineral of this kind was not hitherto known to occur in sitû in Ireland, it may be of interest to put its discovery on record here and to give also a few details respecting its characteristics.

The Red Rocks near Bunmahon on the Coast of Co. Waterford

There are a few patches of red sandstone, shale, and conglomerate on the coast of Co. Waterford whose age has been the subject of much divergence of opinion, owing to the obscurity of their stratigraphical relations and isolated positions. A recent visit which I paid to these parts enabled me to collect evidence which seems to my mind to settle their age conclusively. The earliest description of these rocks with which I am acquainted was published by Mr. J. Hodgson Holdsworth in 1833. He maintained the view that they were of the same age as the ‘great conglomerate-formation’ of the Monovoulagh or Comeragh Mountains, which he rightly ascribed to the Old Red Sandstone. He pointed out also the fact that they rest unconformably on the ‘Silurian’ rocks. The next mention of these beds is by Mr. T. Weaver in 1835, when he described a gradual passage from the greenstone rocks into the red sandstone ‘through the medium of a compound conglomerate’ of greenstone with red sandstone-fragments and of red sandstone with greenstone-fragments. Thus he apparently favoured the view of their ‘Silurian’ age. Mr. J. Beete Jukes in 1852 put forward the view that these patches were blocks of Old Red Sandstone let into the ‘Silurian’ rocks of the coast by complicated faults. In 1860 Messrs. W. B. Brownrigg and Theo. Cooke, in a brief description of the coast, accepted the view that these patches are faulted masses of Old Red Sandstone. In the Geological Survey memoir of this district

Geology and Scenery in Ireland1

MR. R. WELCH, of Belfast, well-known as a photographer of Irish scenery, has of late years utilised his intimate knowledge of the country, and his keen judgment as an artist, in the preparation of special series of photographs illustrating archæological and scientific features. The brilliant exposures of volcanic and sedimentary rocks along the coast of Co. Antrim have of the Geological Survey of Ireland have always been willing to give information as to suitable illustrative localities.