A powerful leading article in the summer number of Archaeology Ireland, coming at a time when by-passes are the big news in many parts of the country, and concrete is, in some cases, covering the very bones of our history. The article signed by Tom Condit, the editor, makes the point strongly that "communities in the past have defied time by building enduring monuments - created deliberately for subsequent generations to note and remark upon. Other sites - domestic, industrial and military - have survived on the landscape while everything around them has changed. Subsequent generations appreciated that these were the marks of their ancestors and respected their antiquity." But, he fears, such respect is eroding rapidly. Reports from the Heritage Council provide evidence for a significant loss of material that we know about and that we have some primary record of. These formerly tangible monuments to the past have been lost forever.
"Among our excuses for the toleration of this loss is that mere archaeological sites should not stand in the way of progress and development. The time to act is now. Protection of ancient field monuments and artefacts will ensure that this generation can pass on to future generations real heritage, which will make them aware of their past. Otherwise, he writes in a memorable image, "our future population will have the human equivalent of the three-second memory of a goldfish and be starved of its genuine culture and inheritance". And the time to be aware is now. For he ends his article entitled "The Fourth Dimension" with the words: "Incidentally, by the time you have read this, parts of the past will no longer exist, while parts of your future will already have happened!"
By-pass is one of the words of the time, especially in the vicinity of major urban development with its concomitant hordes of commuters to less crowded areas, most of them by car. The long lines of vehicles at the points of traffic congestion, say Dunshaughlin for those going towards Navan and Kells, and other centres which are now part-dormitories for those fleeing the high house prices of Dublin, make the point. Anything that could solve the hour-long nerve-racking evening queues of cars with huge bottlenecks, is worthwhile, and to hell with heritage? What about heart attacks for the present living Irish?
That's only one aspect of the problem, the probable (not proven) attitude of such unfortunates - "get rid of anything that prevents decent roads for us". There is a lot of thought and information and not a little humour in this summer edition of Archaeology Ireland, which, with History Ireland, give us each quarter, much to think of. AE would have approved.