Heritage trail proposal for Achill’s Deserted Village
A HERITAGE trail at Slievemore in Achill is to be developed to improve public access to a number of important archaeological features and areas of interest, including court and portal tombs and the Deserted Village.
The Slievemore Heritage Trail will be approximately three kilometres long and will also provide high quality interpretation of the landscape for locals and visitors.
A public information meeting held online heard that the key aim of the project is to preserve and protect the existing sites for future generations.
Recent years has seen a growing number of visitors to Slievemore and the Deserted Village. It is unregulated and damage is being caused inadvertently to the remains of the old stonewall houses and tracks.
The trail, the meeting heard, would allow safe access for these heritage sites while they are also being preserved and protected.
Interpretation will largely be delivered through augmented reality to visitors' smartphones, with the full spectrum of information, from pre-historic to today's landscape, and the people who live and still work there. Visitors will be educated as to the fragile nature of the site.
The trail follows an existing route at the Deserted Village and on to the court tomb and portal tomb, with no new route to be developed. When maintenance works and a surface are put in place, Mayo County Council will provide insurance, which will indemnify landowners, and ongoing maintenance.
Visitors will be encouraged to stay on the trail, Leave No Trace, with signage too about keeping dogs on a lead.
It was never an aim of the project to attract additional visitors, the meeting was told, but to help protect and preserve what is already there and to educate people who are turning up, some of whom are doing damage inadvertently.
Slievemore is a living landscape, attendees heard. The site has to be treated respectfully and this could be done by letting visitors know the significance of the site.
A strong message would be delivered to Leave No Trace and respect the local people and the landscape.
Issues raised by locals in a Q&A included the finished surface on the trail and road widening and parking.