Mountsandel discovery, 50 years on

DETAILS have been released of a major event celebrating 50 years since the discovery of Ireland’s earliest known settlement.

The Mesolithic remains at Mountsandel in Coleraine are regarded as one of the country’s most significant archaeological finds.

The 7000-year-old village was uncovered in the early 1970s by Dr Peter Woodhead.

Under the banner ‘Mountsandel, 50 years on’, Ulster University and Mountsandel Discovery and Heritage Group (MDHG) are presenting one day academic and community symposium to explore the importance of its legacy and its potential for the future.

The event will take place in the Riverside Theatre on Wednesday, June 14 and features the BBC’s Ann-Marie McAleese hosting a programme of talks, presentations and discussions, delving into the site’s significance and what it offers to local communities today.

Among them is Professor Mike Baillie who assisted Dr Woodhead in the initial dig.

Research Fellow Thomas McErlean will talk about ‘the people of Mountsandel’, while Dr Colin Breen provide a wider overview of the riverside cultural landscape.

Later local teachers and youth leaders will explain how Mountsandel has become a valuable teaching resource.

In the afternoon Professor Kathrine Best form the German University in Cairo will talk about the creative and cultural potential of a visitor experience.

Representatives from Donegal Council will explain how officials there have capitalised on ancient archaeological sites.

And tourism Ireland’s Patrick Lennon will add his views on Mountsandel’s potential as a visitor attraction.

Plans to develop tourism at Mountasandel received a major boost last year when the site was brought into public ownership.

A deal was struck with the Lennox family who owned the field for an undisclosed sum, thought to be in the region of £40,000.

However, there was also a setback when councillors agreed to withdraw the project as a candidate for central government Growth Deal cash.

Although Causeway Coast and Glens Council insists it maintains its commitment to the longer-term development of the Mountsandel site and continues to pursue major external funding

Plans include a visitor centre linked the archaeological site by a new footbridge.

It's understood the estimated cost of the new bridge has been the stumbling block to progress so far.

According to council Growth Deal documents it will take around £20m to create “enhanced riverside access opportunities for walkers and cyclists, interpretation of archaeological sites, upgrading parkland, connecting pedestrian footbridge over River Bann, and provision of Visitors’ Interpretative Centre.”

Proposals for the actual site include an opportunity to “meet the earliest Irish settlers” by replicating a stone age encampment.

The post holes which revealed the site’s date and significance would be viewed from a glass platforms giving visitors an idea of the scale and extent of the original huts.

You must currently travel 200 miles to Ireland’s National Park in Wexford to see huts reconstructed from excavated post-holes.