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THE HERITAGE DEPARTMENT has said that it has not been contacted in relation to an apparent archaeological “find” at the ancient historical site of Loughcrew.
A spokesperson also said that while a video purporting to show a discovery was “certainly intriguing and very entertaining”, archaeologists had no intention of investigating it.
A video was posted on Facebook yesterday by a user which showed three men with a shovel and wearing gloves digging through muck and stones.
As the men dig, a shape begins to be uncovered in the ground.
Eventually a full human-like shape is uncovered. The men state that they believe it is stone.
The supposed statue has what appears to be mask with a beak on the end of it.
The “discovery” has gained some traction on social media since the video was first posted yesterday evening.
Both the Meath Chronicle and Independent.ie reported on it, and it has been shared on Twitter and Facebook.
Loughcrew
In the video description, one of the men says that the group were working near to the ruins of St Oliver Plunkett’s Church at the Loughcrew site, near Oldcastle in Co Meath.
Loughcrew itself is an ancient site of considerable historical importance in Ireland, and contains megalithic burial grounds dating back about 5,500 years.
It is one of the four main passage tomb sites in Ireland.
In the video post, one of the men said they were building a stop on a new fairy trail in the area when they “came across a rock we couldn’t move and as we cleared away we ended up with this”.
The Facebook description states that people from the “Department of Environment” were in the process of “excavating” the site.
“They’ve a big tent over it and lights, they went clean mad at us when they arrived and said we should have left it alone,” the post reads.
No intention of investigating
Responsibility for finds such as this would rest with the National Monuments Service, which is a part of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (and not the Department of the Environment).
When contacted by TheJournal.ie over the video, a spokesperson for the department said:
While this video is certainly intriguing and very entertaining, the archaeologists of The National Monuments Service of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht have not been contacted and have no intention of investigating the ‘find.’
Meanwhile, archaeologist Neil Jackman told TheJournal.ie that he had “never seen anything from any period of Irish archaeology that looks anything like it”.
With reporting from Michelle Hennessy
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We’ve just exited a level 5 lockdown and people are being told by the government to…. “stay away from crowded shops”…. obviously shops will be thronged with people now after being cooped up for a month not being able to buy a shirt or a dress or god forbid….a tie…also deemed non essential when I went looking for one in Tesco. That statement is what my late grandfather would call….complete bolloxology.
@Billy Big Baws: And the first pop up I see on my device as I wake is from RTE about QUEUES forming outside shops this morning , and all this before 7 am.
Maybe I’m wrong but I think putting a senior civil servant out in front of the media and telling us how to behave is bizarre ,what qualifies her to pontificate to the Irish people, has she more qualifications than George Lee by any chance?
Christ..It will.be like the last helicopter out of Saigon when the shops open .
@Donal Desmond: Miss Saigon live from Mary Street !
I love how they chose a photo of Penneys for this article. You can guarantee they will have a queue from Mary St to the Spire tomorrow…
@Dobby Dooo Dooo: i am in the queue already
@Dobby Dooo Dooo: already a queue before 7 am .
@Terry Cahill: People going in for “essentials” and coming out with bags full of cr@p they don’t need…
How do people stay away from crowded shops, if they are already in a crowded shop :-/
@Kevin O’Brien: and if we all shopped off-peak…
Me alarm clock set, mask ready to go, hand sanitizer in me pocket, not taking the bus going to walk it. Penny’s here i come. NOT.
@Paul Gorry: as a penneys employee I think your in the minority….unfortunately. they should of sent us for zookeeper training during the lockdown.
Reading down through the articles here on the Journal & all I’m seeing is the word “avoid”. Avoid public transport, avoid crowded shops, avoid putting on special offers. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
The shops are now open to help the economy back on it’s feet and keep people in jobs.
Also don’t go to the shops.
Is this the same headline i read last March, without the Christmas bit?
@Paul Gorry: Reduce reuse recycle….
Consume! Consume! Consume! Retail shopping slaves to the system of controlling your life. Stress over getting stuff and overstretch those cards…… Sad really. I hope everyone eventually wakes up and stops the unnecessary stresses around this time of year. Remember all those toys that will be gathering dust in a month or 2 and all that food that goes to waste cost hours of your life to pay for. Right now off to ques outside Smyths…… Lol
People are already queueing so best of luck with that advice.
@Ed: Hope they’re doing what most people are doing and queuing 2 m apart, outdoors.
but the retailers say the complete opposite, pack in and everyone get out and shop till ye drop, who should we listen to. :-)
Stay away from crowded shops????its christmas time
Ya, but you see “Christmas” you cannot avoid these things. The air must be thin up there.
I will wait a few days and then stroll the shops at my own leisure. I got 95pct of my Christmas shopping done online and feel good about not being frantic this month. I did miss the in-person Black Friday sales this year, to be honest.
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