Donegal ‘Archaeology 40’ exhibition at County Museum celebrates pioneering survey 

A truly fascinating exhibition at the Donegal County Museum invites you to visit their latest exhibition celebrating the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, a pioneering survey which took place over 40 years ago. 

County Donegal was the first county in Ireland to have a full survey of its archaeological sites undertaken and published in book form. It was an extraordinary achievement as it was conducted before the availability of modern survey and IT equipment – in fact the survey team only had one camera.

ABOVE: Celebrating Archaeology 40

“About 35 persons, mainly young archaeology graduates, were employed at one time or another on the project. The fieldwork took place over 50 weeks between the summers of 1980 and 1981, followed by the preparation of the survey archive and published book. About 4000 sites were inspected of which 2,500 were included in the final survey.”  Dr Brian Lacy, Director of the Donegal Archaeological Survey.

This exhibition tells the story of the survey and includes a selection of images of archaeological sites from all around the county. This is the first time these images have been seen since they were taken over 40 years ago.

ABOVE: These tombs, also known as dolmens, have stone chambers with taller upright stones at one end, covered by an immense and heavy capstone usually sloping backward, resting on a lower backstone.

This monument is situated near the head of the valley of the Burnside River which flows NW to the sea at Mulroy Bay.  The portals each 2m high are at the SW. The sidestone at the W leans inwards and is 1m high. The opposite sidestone has fallen inwards. The backstone is 1.5 m high. The great roofstone rests on the portals and on the fallen sidestone. It measures 4m by 2.1m and is up to .5m thick.

Donegal County Museum is the home of the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal and received Heritage Stewardship Funding from the Heritage Council to digitise the survey slides and drawings and to create the exhibition. This unique and important digital collection includes many never-before-seen photographs and drawings of the sites surveyed. These will be made available through the Museum’s webpage later this year.

Admission is free and the exhibition runs until the summer. For further information, contact Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. T 074 91 24613 E museum@donegalcoco.ie