Climate breakdown will potentially wash away Irish archaeological material

During 2021 excavations at Doon Point in West Kerry, archeologists found material spanning almost 4,000 years, revealing significant information about Ireland's ancient coastal networks.

The material provides valuable clues to how enigmatic forts were once used in coastal communities, incentivising scientists to rethink modern assumptions about promontory structures.

The discovery of a cluster of huts on the headland was of particular note, as they may have been used to patrol surrounding maritime route ways in the Iron Age. Now remote, experts expect that the area was likely bustling with activity some 2,000 years ago.

They believe the huts were then reused in the 10th and 11th centuries when the area was likely repopulated.

These structures are among the 500 known examples of such forts in Ireland, all of which are at risk of coastal erosion and other climate hazards. Only 12 of these sites have been excavated.

Cherish, an EU-funded project which stands for climate, heritage, and environments of reefs, islands, and headlands, just revealed findings which disclose how extreme weather events caused by climate change are threatening coastal areas.

In West Kerry, rockfalls and erosion spurred by rising sea levels and extreme weather events have caused irreversible damage to Ferriter's fort.