Madam, - Because I queried the wisdom of allowing the fate of Carrickmines Castle - a national monument - to be decided by a supposed "free vote" of the Dáil (July 15th), Paul Feighery (July 18th) questioned my "acceptance of the democratic process". Considering the ongoing revelations at the Moriarty and Mahon/Flood tribunals, I can only marvel at his confidence in our public representatives. I urge him to consult the official figures published earlier this year by the Standards in Public Office Commission revealing the extent to which many TDs are now openly sponsored by big business, particularly builders and property developers.
More serious are Mr Feighery's contentions about the castle itself.
Claiming to share my concern for the preservation of our historic castles, he nonetheless rehearses the sort of ill-informed arguments common to those who lobby for development at all costs. To wit: (1) that the remains of Carrickmines Castle are "little more than a few outlines of stone foundations and a few stone walls", and (2) that the site has received an "exhaustive" archaeological excavation. Both statements are wrong.
Despite being blown up by besiegers in 1642, the castle remains extend over three acres, and include outer and inner walled defences, moats, a drawbridge, and the foundations of the various cabins, huts, workshops, stables, etc., that once comprised the village. Even the field patterns of the manorial farm have been identified. What has not been found, of course, is the outline of the central keep, or main building, which probably lies somewhere under the present farmhouse or barn; had the excavation been anything like as exhaustive as Mr Feighery claims, the whereabouts of the keep would be known. I might add that the decision in 2001 to compel all archaeologists working on site to sign a contract containing a gagging order about their discoveries is hardly consistent with the usual purpose of "exhaustive" excavation.
It is the view of qualified experts that despite its missing keep Carrickmines is as significant as Wood Quay, having more to reveal of life in medieval and early modern Ireland than any other excavated site.
Surviving documents suggest that for much of the period c.1200-1600 it was one of the 20 or 25 most important castles in Ireland. This is why professional historians and archaeologists have made such a fuss about the site. Its educational potential is enormous. Apart from the extraordinary number of artefacts it has provided about ordinary living conditions, changing military patterns, and inter-ethnic relations across several eventful centuries, it is perhaps the discovery of two burial pits from a religious massacre perpetrated at the castle in 1642 that best underlines its importance. No other site in Ireland could better be used to educate our children about the horrors of sectarianism.
Suffice it to say that if Kevin Myers thinks the campaign to save Carrickmines Castle is only concerned with "ancestor worship" (July 17th), he is more misguided than usual!
I would be grateful if Messrs Feighery, Myers and other contributors to this page stopped trying to depict the castle campaigners as opponents of progress and the popular will. While the motorway enthusiasts are clearly opposed to the castle, the castle campaigners are not opposed to the motorway, only its present proposed route, which the authorities attempted to push through with total disregard for national monuments legislation. Despite official denials, the present route could - and should - be altered to avoid the castle site. Why are the authorities so stubborn on this point? Surely the Irish (and European) taxpayers who are footing the bill would be better served if we ended up with the castle site and the motorway?
Of course, had the original route for the M50, as approved by Dublin County Council in 1993, been left intact, the motorway would now be almost finished without any controversy. The fate of that castle-friendly route is a mystery. I wonder if one day the "Carrickmines Module" of the Mahon/Flood hearings will shed some light on it? - Yours, etc.
Dr DAVID EDWARDS,
Department of History,
University College, Cork.