Update on Drumclay Crannog Report | response from Prof. Gabriel Cooney

Drumclay Crannog under appalling conditions of mis-excavation July 2012 (Source)

On January 23rd 2014 I wrote to Prof. Gabriel Cooney. In his role as the Chairperson of the Historic Monuments Council for Northern Ireland, he had been charged by the (then) Minister of the Environment, Alex Attwood, to write a report on the planning and excavation background to the Drumclay crannog issue. My hope was to glean some information on the status of this report and to elicit an idea of the timeframe for its publication. I had been informed by a number of well-placed sources that the report had been written and submitted to Mark H. Durkan (the current Minister), but that there was no immediate plan to make it public. I asked Prof. Cooney if he could confirm this situation. Purely on the basis of ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’ I wondered if I could have a summary statement of his findings and conclusions.

On March 13th 2014 I received the following reply:



RE: Review of the context of the excavation of a crannog in Drumclay townland, Co. Fermanagh on the route of the Cherrymount Link Road.

Dear Mr Chapple,

I must apologise firstly for the very long delay in responding to your email on the matter above dated 23rd January 2014.

The report is with the Minister of the Environment, Mark H. Durkan. Following a recent meeting with the Minister my understanding is that the full report is to be released shortly.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Gabriel Cooney

Chair, Historic Monuments Council
Drumclay Crannog under proper scientific excavation February 2013 (Source) 

As I expected, there is no mention of his findings and what conclusions he draws, but at least we have a title to the report and the expectation that the report will be ‘released shortly’. I have written to the Minister (March 22nd 2014) and will provide an update when I receive a reply.

Robert M Chapple

 Background and previous posts:
July 2012: Urgent! Important Early Christian Crannog in Fermanagh in danger of destruction - help needed!
November 2012: Drumclay, Cherrymount, a crannog in crisis
February 2013: Drumclay Crannog Open Day Feb 16 2013
December 2013: Drumclay Crannog, Co. Fermanagh. Dr Nora Bermingham | Lecture to the UAS December 9 2013 | Review

 Chapple, R. M. 2012 'Cherrymount crannog, Fermanagh' Archaeology Ireland 26.3, 10-12. 
Chapple, R. M., O'Dowd, J., & Seaver, M. 2012 'Drumclay crannog, Co. Fermanagh: update' Archaeology Ireland 26.4, 5.

 Update:
March 25th 2014: received the following email:
Mr Chapple,
Thank you for your email below re: Review of the context of the excavation of a crannog in Drumclay townland, Co. Fermanagh on the route of the Cherrymount Link Road. The content of your correspondence has been noted and a response will issue in due course.
Kind regards,
George Turkington
DOE Private Office
April 11th 2014: Update on Drumclay Crannog Report | response from Minister Mark H. Durkan

Location: Drumclay, Enniskillen, Fermanagh BT74, UK

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