Launch of the CHERISH Project: Climate Change and Coastal Heritage Exhibition - Outside at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown LexIcon Library, Moran Park

The CHERISH Project is delighted to announce the launch of The CHERISH Project: Climate Change and Coastal Heritage exhibition. The exhibition is on display in for the first time in Ireland at the dlr LexIcon Library, Dún Laoghaire and will continue until 26 September 2021.

The exhibition will be launched by the Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Lettie McCarthy. The event will be addressed by project partners, Mr Tom Dowling, Chairperson, Board of the Directors, the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, and Mr Sean Cullen, Head of the Marine and Coastal Unit, Geological Survey Ireland, a division of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. A selection of images from the project have been reproduced and will be on display in Moran Park, providing a back drop for the launch.

In light of the recent IPCC report, outlining the irrefutable evidence that climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying, this is a timely exhibition. It aims to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on the rich cultural heritage of Ireland’s coasts and seas. These impacts include erosion and loss of coastal sites due to wave actions during storms and the acceleration of structural damage to built heritage such as churches and castles through increased rainfall. Hotter, drier summers can produce cropmarks that allow the discovery of new archaeological sites, as was the case in 2019 when Dronehenge[i] was discovered. However, hotter conditions can also lead to the drying out of cliff faces increasing the risk of destabilisation and collapse affecting coastal heritage sites.

CHERISH is a team of archaeologists, geologists and geographers studying the effects of climate change on coastal and maritime heritage in Ireland and Wales. From the skies, at the coast edge, and beneath the waves we are using the latest technologies including planes, drones and radar to carry out research. We are monitoring recent and long-term change to reveal the past and present impacts of weather and climate on our rich cultural heritage. Our work involves investigating archaeological sites and environments around our coasts including shipwrecks, promontory forts, wetlands and sand dunes.

When Professor John Sweeney, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Geography, Maynooth University, addressed the CHERISH online conference in May this year, he said that

CHERISH is the first step towards achieving these goals.

ENDS

Further information:

Dr Kieran Craven, GSI CHERISH Project Co-ordinator

Geological Survey Ireland

kieran.craven@decc.gov.ie

Tel: 086 2224664

The project is funded through the Ireland-Wales Programme 2014-2020, part of the European Regional Development Fund, which focusses on seeking solutions to shared challenges on both sides of the Irish Sea.

CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands, and Headlands) is an exciting, 6-year European-funded Ireland-Wales project between the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Geological Survey, Ireland. The project will receive €5.1 million through the Ireland-Wales 2014-2020 Programme.

[1] Dronehenge is a spectacular pit circle that was discovered through drone photography in Summer 2019 https://archaeologyireland.ie/2018/09/07/summer-of-discoveries/