our history starts here
ARCHIVE
Mountsandel archive
Ireland is a wealth of stories and storytellers and the stories the surround Mountsandel and the Lower Bann and its place in history are no exception. The MDHG’s ambition is to gather the stories of Mountsandel and the lower Bann into an archive to assist our educational outreach and as a historical record for the community as a whole, and for future generations. Archives are important because they provide evidence of past activities and tell us more about individuals and institutions. They tell stories. They also increase our sense of identity and understanding of cultures.
Mountsandel is the starting point of the story of Ireland and its stories ring out through the annals of time from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, the coming of the Celts, the invasions of the Vikings, the Norman Settlement, The Plantation and modernisation of the Industrial Revolution to the present day. Much of these stories are yet to be told and we look to archaeology to fill in the gaps. However, evidence of the near history remains to be uncovered right through to the present day, and it is these stories that MDHG wish to tell.
Let’s begin our story with the man who uncovered the Mesolithic Site and through his research to begin telling the story of ‘ our shared heritage’.
the cradle of civilization in Ireland
Peter wrote his undergraduate degree on a lithics collection from North Africa and then, while employed as the Assistant Keeper of Antiquities in the Ulster Museum, he conducted the now famous Mountsandel excavations. These formed the basis for his doctorate on the Irish Mesolithic which was published in 1978. This was followed by publication of a British Archaeological Report in Oxford, The Mesolithic in Ireland. After his appointment as Professor of Archaeology in Cork in 1983 he published Excavations at Mountsandel, 1973-77, a detailed account of the earliest dated Mesolithic settlement in Ireland.
Before the 1970s most experts believed that Ireland was first settled by Neolithic farming people about 5,000 years ago but Mountsandel confirmed that people were living here as far back as 9,700 years ago. The principal artefacts of the Mesolithic are microliths, tiny blades of razor sharp flint which were used as the hard sharp edges for many different types of tools and weapons. Flint has an edge like broken glass.
Microliths had been found in other sites before, but their significance and age was not understood. The organic remains at Mountsandel made all the difference. They showed a gourmet diet of suckling pig, waterfowl, eel, salmon, sea bass, fruit, nuts and other wild root vegetables including wild garlic and bulbs – the early types of onion and fennel. The diet showed that the site was occupied in all seasons and the sophistication of making a single blade type for use in many diverse implements showed an advanced intelligent society. The diameter of the posthole circles of their huts confirmed that they lived in substantial dwellings.
– Prof. Peter Woodman –
Prof. Woodman’s Book – Ireland’s First Settlers
This work changed the face of Irish Archaeology, proving that human settlement in Ireland was at least twice as long as was previously thought, from 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Since his appointment in Cork, his internationally recognised expertise took him near and far, excavating and researching in Norway, St. Petersburg and Murmansk Russia, above the Arctic Circle and closer to home in the Isle of Man, Newferry and Munster. It has to be said that despite his international recognition, he was always drawn back to Mountsandel.
Peter eventually had at least 112 publications listed, his latest, Ireland’s First Settlers, a synthesis and consolidation of fifty years of research.
In addition to his research and duties as the Dean of Arts in UCC he was a
member of the original National Heritage Council of Ireland, member of the board of the National Museum of Ireland and was on the committee for the archaeological advisory committees to the President. From 2005 to 2010 was a member of the steering group for the European 5 year Mesolithic in Europe Congress held in Belfast which published Mesolithic in 2 volumes. He was committed and tireless.
His work was recognised when he was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy and by the Prehistoric Society which awarded him the Grahame Clarke Europa Prize for contributions to European Prehistory. On his retirement University College Cork conferred the distinction of the title Emeritus Professor.
Peter had hoped that Coleraine Borough Council would have used his knowledge and expertise to promote Mountsandel (with the potential of its being a World Heritage Site) and the concomitant tourism potential associated with the oldest known settlement in Ireland. Peter came regularly from Cork to work with the Rotary Club of Coleraine and the new Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council to assist in the development of the Mountsandel plans.
Many people work as professional archaeologists, but few show the dedication to their work of Professor Peter Woodman and fewer can match his achievements.
“Peter Woodman, was easily the most illustrious Archaeology graduate from Queen’s.” So wrote his close friend and colleague, J.P. Mallory.