 of Donegal. It was a pioneering survey that took place over 40 years ago. In fact, Donegal was the first county in Ireland to have a full survey of its archaeological sites and Caroline Carr from the museum now joins us in the studio. Caroline, it was groundbreaking stuff at the time to have such an extensive survey of archaeological sites done. How long did it take? It happened over two years, two years of surveying and then it took about another year to collate all the data and it was published in book form in 83. So this is the early 1980s. Right. And it came out in book form. And this, this is showing off the book. This book form here, yeah. This is our Bible, our archaeological survey of Country Donegal. It's an amazing, amazing book. It's extraordinary publication. How many people would have been involved? So Brian Lacey, Dr. Brian Lacey was the survey director and up to about 35 people involved from archaeologists to surveyors to all different occupations were involved in it. And it was, it came out a very funny way because you have to remember the 1980s. It was a time of, you know, huge unemployment in the country. Everybody was leaving. Yeah. And there was no work. And, you know, it was a hard time. And this, this came out of actually of a meeting after a cross-border meeting in about 1979 that there's a regional development committee in Donegal. And it was to do Dees Mackie and Dermot Walsh, a chance conversation. So the madness began then and they put in a proposal to the tripartite government set up a tripartite committee to try and alleviate some of the unemployment in Ireland. Trying to get jobs or create schemes or funds and things like that. So they put in an application for this mad, you know, most people wouldn't expect, you know, to, you know, by creating an archaeological survey. So they put in this proposal for project and it was actually, it was approved for funding and it was a pioneer. It had nothing of this type had been done in Ireland. Previously in County Down there was a smaller survey but nothing to this extent and nothing ever published like it is. After this, where there's similar surveys done in other countries? Yeah, it said it was a pioneer for the whole of Ireland. So there's some surveys being carried out in Ireland and I'm not sure all the counties in Ireland have been covered yet. Well, so it really was pioneering stuff and I'm just looking and it was, a lot of it was very basic stuff because I'm looking at the book here and there's some photographs, grand, but there's also a lot of writing detailing any number of the sites. And then there's some sketches, a lot of sketches. It's very detailed and it was very ground and they have to remember these were carried out with the most basic equipment and we have the minutes and the records of the survey and the survey teams and like they're trying to beg, borrow and steal like range and rods or they had one camera and you have to remember they photographed over nearly 4,000 sites. One camera. One camera. And like they had they had just about luckily rain gear and range and road and they had a couple of vans hired from the council as well. So it was really, really a pain. Literally, there were pioneers on the ground and you have to remember there was no modern IT equipment, no modern surveying equipment, so it was pretty hands-on. So you, before this exhibition, you've been chatting to some of the scientists who were involved. Some, yeah, some of the archaeologists like Claire Cotter called in there the last day and she was pleasantly surprised to see herself on the panel and out and about where sheeps can quote with no buttons. She said they didn't even have, you know, they didn't, some of them didn't have boots or wellies. You know, that's how basic, yeah, they weren't given any equipment. But some of the fantastic stories saying like, you know, remember this archaeological survey, so you're going up hills and downdales and infields and every nook and cranny around the county looking for archaeological sites and surveying. So you're meeting everybody and you need to get permission if you want to land and like she's, you know, many characters she met, but also describe, you know, the unbelievable poverty they came across and the loneliness of older people living on their own and may have never talked to anybody that weak apart from the postman. And then other stories then of them being chased because people were assuming that they were involved with the uranium mining as well, which is a hot topic at the time, and because they were surveying along the border and coming across, you know, being told the site that literally they were going to maybe survey that morning, there was an arm stump found in it. So and then coming across army patrols and coming across because they were in the middle of fields with range and rods and equipment and people didn't know who they were and you wouldn't really come across too many archaeologists now in everyday life anyway. But still wouldn't. No still wouldn't. Okay so a strange activity in sort of strange times, but you know at the heart of it all it's a very detailed survey and it's always compiled here in book form which adds weight to it all if you like, but it's a very detailed survey of every type of archaeological sites. People don't realize how well unfortunately since the book has been published yes more sites are continues to be discovered because not everything can be documented and catalogued and then unfortunately some of the sites have gone. So in our exhibition as well we received funding to the Heritage Institute funding from the Heritage Council we hold the original field notes and we hold also the original plans and drawings your lovely surveyors drawings you're talking about all of the sites and also photographs of practically nearly all the sites and they have never been seen by anybody apart from or maybe they've never been seen until they returned into slide form over 40 years ago. Would you say some of them are gone? What's happened to them? Been destroyed or maybe erosion or different reasons. The vast majority of them wouldn't be protected. No they would be protected but you have to remember the when this time we hadn't the all the National Monuments Act weren't in at the time but all the sites that are in now they're all protected and things and even though a site maybe you say for example a standing stone say it's not visible above the ground that means that doesn't mean it's not protected. It's still if done the RMP map there's a socket in the ground it's still protected even though it's not visible it's still there or like Ringford so you have to check and the easiest way to check now is on archaeology.ai and you go into the heritage environment view and you see the most up-to-date listings of archaeological sites in your area and just type in your townland and you'll be surprised what you might see. Yeah and and stuff that you might be passing every day or areas you might be passing every day and you just wouldn't realize that there's something of great significance there. You may not know and then and the problem is not problem with these but some a lot of these sites not all of these sites are in public care and public accessibility they're on private land so you may never see them or you may never get access them but it's it was such an important thing and the detail of you know what they are and maybe some of the research has been updated and the dates have been changed but it's an extraordinary thing to detail on it. And now a lot of this has been digitalized I'm assuming. Well the book hasn't been digitalized yet now we're working on that but the the lovely photographs or slides we have there's a beautiful site of rock art beautiful rock art and it's got its twin twin brother over here and it's it's long the road you know barn is big between you know Terman and Kilmer Cranon it's down below the road and it's most beautiful rock art and then you have the pure freezing cold surveyors out near Petticoat stand and I feel what their high-tech wet gear on them and they're one ranging rod. It looks like it's not the best of days. I know the date first this was about the 30th of December so they're out in all weathers and then we see the state of the county then we know this would be full standing stone it's falling down at that state but you can see the the dump car and the batten car yeah and now you know it's a great snapshot of our county site just over 40 years ago and you can see the difference in sites and you can see you know a lot of sites maybe you know have improved and their condition has improved or has been stabilized or and or some cases sometimes are gone. So the exhibition is really the story behind the survey as opposed to focus on the survey itself is it? It's a mix we do so we have printed and we've created some from the images but it's telling the story of how this amazing survey and the people who worked on it under these conditions and how it was created and we've all as I said we got funding from the Stewardship Fund to digitize all the plans and drawings and slides and there's over about um gosh 8,000 there's probably five or six five over 5,000 of them so they're due to go up on these are on the years when the Donegal County Council gets a new website updated we'll we'll put them up online so they'll be available digitally and they're the most amazing resource for anybody researching the local area or professionals or for planning and things like that because these are sites the images of the sites people have never seen before they're in my office and for the last 20 something years or for 40 years prior or 20 years prior to that and they've never been viewed by anybody it must be fascinating for you to to chat to some of the archaeologists involved and just listen to their stories first hand yes and some of them are the leading archaeologists in the country you know that worked on it um oh yeah in some of the partially some of the stories you couldn't tell I can't tell you I can't but no it was um they're busy were pioneers they were sent out nobody else had done this type of surveying work nobody else worked on on on a county they may have surveyed a local area or local site but not an entire county and the county was divided up into five areas so there's archaeologists based in local areas and they became in you know part of the community as well they've been there for months at a time oh yeah they've been there there for you know a year maybe or more there you go and uh there would be integration into the local community and it's amazing what they I'm sure it was tough for them but it would have been fascinating at the same time well they're a lot of them are all young and just out of college um as well so it was a great a great time and a lot of them maybe like how it didn't realize how far away Donegal was you know and um and there are more corners that they were going to be sent to oh and it is literally the remotest corners of Donegal they got to view these amazing sites are coming across them like but we're always encouraging people to report them any new sites or anything we can help you with the archaeology ring us in the museum we'd love to help you okay the exhibition is open now is it it is it's on and it's free always free yes museum's always free down at the museum down on the high road yeah that's it come in and see us yes Karen thanks man thank you so much