Leave No Trace – Responsible and Sustainable Tourism when Visiting Monuments in Ireland

Do not bring dogs onto farmland, or where there are notices stating that dogs are not allowed.

This may seem like an obvious point, but there have been a number of disturbing cases where people have abused, or even assaulted, landowners who asked for dogs to be controlled or removed from the land. We are dog owners ourselves, and there are lots of places to go for a good walk with Peig, but we always abide by local signage, and we always ensure that she is on a lead at all times. This is important not just for any potential interactions with livestock or other visitors who may not like dogs, but for the local wildlife. Ground-nesting birds in particular are under enormous pressure from disturbance, particularly along our coastlines. Please keep your dog under control at all times, and leave no trace. Bag all waste and if there is no handy bin, please bring it home with you in an extra bag. You can search for sites that are good to bring your furry friend using our Places to Visit filters.

Dispose of litter responsibly

Please take all litter home with you or dispose of it responsibly. Many sites are not regularly visited and there is no-one appointed to pick up rubbish, so it is every visitor’s responsibility to make sure that they take care of their own litter. As a general policy, where possible it’s always good to try to leave the site in a better state than you found it. If someone else has left litter, and you have the means to do so, please remove it. Think of it as doing a favour to the ancestors – surely a bit of good luck will come your way for it! Though be sure to wear gloves or a litter picker where possible, and don’t take any personal risks to your health. Unfortunately some urban sites, particularly historic graveyards, are often used as places for drug and drink taking as they are so secluded. If needles or other paraphernalia are present then do not try to remove anything, simply alert the local authority instead.

Do not climb on monuments, and do not graffiti

There have been a number of cases in recent years of people leaving their own mark on something that has stood there for thousands of years. From covering the Lia Fáil on the Hill of Tara with paint, to eejits carving their name over 5,000 year old art at Loughcrew, it is tragic to see that some of this damage is easily done but absolutely irreparable. It is not only illegal, it is morally reprehensible, and it profoundly affects future enjoyment of the monument.

A more common and accidental form of damage comes through people climbing on top of monuments, or up the walls of a ruin. They might look stable, but many of our sites, particularly our remote cairns or tombs, are extremely vulnerable. Unless you are told it is safe, climbing on top, or inside, puts both you and the monument at risk.

Do not interfere with monuments and take nothing but pictures

Please do not pick any wildflowers or interfere with local plants or animals when out and about. Even a small disturbance to a site can have a large negative impact on a delicate ecosystem. Make sure to leave all structures, stones, plants, mosses and lichens as you found them. Don’t try to clear off gravestones or to expose features. The moss that may obscure your view may be protecting the delicate lettering of the headstone. Once removed erosion from acid rain may wear away the inscription forever (for more on historic graveyards in particular, please see here). Likewise, do not attempt to cut, poison, or pull any ivy from monuments. Quite often, ivy is the only thing holding the structure together as the traditional mortar may have been washed away over the centuries. Without the advice of an expert conservation architect, and without the legally required permissions, it is both illegal and dangerous to try to interfere with a monument.

When visiting historic monuments, there is always the chance that you may encounter archaeological remains. You may encounter an interesting looking stone, or a seemingly insignificant piece of pottery. But these artefacts may have high significance. That interesting looking stone may be a Mesolithic tool that proves that hunter-gatherers dwelled there thousands of years ago, that piece of ‘insignificant’ pottery might be a small sherd of samian-ware that proves that there were Roman links to that part of Ireland. Taking objects is not only harmful, it is illegal. The National Monuments Act (Amendment) 1987 (further amended in 1994 and 2004) places a legal obligation upon a person who discovers an archaeological object to report such discoveries to the National Museum of Ireland within four days. The National Museum of Ireland is legally obliged to care for these artefacts or to delegate care of the artefact to a designated museum. And rewards may be paid to finders in respect of discoveries, so reporting is the right thing to do.

Do not engage in unlicensed metal detecting

Further to the above point, it is important to state that our monuments have strong legal protection. Be careful not to break the law. The illegal use of metal detectors causes serious damage to Ireland’s archaeological heritage and is subject to severe penalties. Unsupervised recovery of archaeological objects by untrained and unlicensed users of metal detectors can greatly diminish, or can entirely eliminate, any knowledge or research value that might be gained from a particular discovery. Archaeological objects must be excavated in a structured scientific manner, with careful recording of their association with other objects, structures, features and soil layers. Failure to expertly record the context from which an object has been removed results in an irreplaceable loss of knowledge of the past. Random searches with metal detectors cannot determine whether a find is of archaeological importance or if it is a recent discard. The result in either case is that the soil or setting is greatly disturbed and any non-metallic evidence and objects are likely to be destroyed. In addition, artefacts need specialist conservation, exposing them to the air can result in the destruction of the object. Using a metal detector on a national monument site, or even having it in your possession on the site, is illegal, and archaeological objects are the property of the State – ie, the property of all of us – and the appropriate guardian of archaeological objects is the National Museum of Ireland. For more information about the use of metal detectors in Ireland please see here.

If you see someone metal detecting on a monument, please inform the Duty Officer of the National Museum of Ireland (details here) and the local Garda station.

Do not use scramblers, quad bikes or mountain bikes in the vicinity of monuments

Great damage has been caused to a number of monuments by people unwittingly churning them up by driving scramblers or quad bikes over them. Even mountain bikes can have an impact. Their deeply treaded tyres are designed to grip into the ground, and when a particular route becomes popular this can lead to the erosion or damage of earthen features like the banks of a ringfort or enclosure.

Do not climb on monuments

As with the case above, it is easy to cause damage to a monument unwittingly. There are cases, particularly on stone walls or our hilltop cairns like Loughcrew, Knocknarea and Carrowkeel, where people climb on top of the stone mounds. This causes stones to become dislodged, or loosens the drystone structures. And it is a cumulative issue. If one person sees another climb to the top, they follow. Over time, this causes erosion by footfall and leads to the monument becoming damaged. It may even lead to the monument collapsing, dangerous for both the monument and the unlucky person caught in the rockfall.

Do not embellish or create your own ‘monuments’

There is a growing trend of people creating their own monuments in the form of small piles of stones, even copying the monument by making miniature dolmens at sites like Poulnabrone. This impacts the natural habitat of the environs of the monuments, and it detracts from the site itself. It may also be impacting smaller archaeological features that are being unknowingly quarried for their stone. Likewise do not add fairy doors to sites, as in the case I saw recently where someone had attached a fairy door to a 15th century tomb in Tipperary. This is a confected Victorian English view of fairies, not at all in line with traditional Irish beliefs about the Other Crowd, you wouldn’t want to catch Their attention. The site itself is enough, it does not need adornment.

Do not leave food or light fires

In recent years there has been a growing interest and appreciation for the spiritual aspect of our monuments, particularly our prehistoric sites. This is warmly welcomed, our monuments have so many meanings for many different people. This is especially true at key times of the year like the solstices. However problems may arise from spiritual practice at our heritage sites. Fire poses the greatest threat. Do not light fires directly on the ground on or immediately adjacent to a monument. It can cause great damage, and it also severely impacts many forms of non-intrusive survey like geophysics. Leaving food offerings is another thing that should be discouraged. It may attract animals (rats for example), making it unsafe for visitors due to threat of Weil’s disease.

Take care not to disturb wildlife

As well as keeping dogs under control, it is important that we try to disturb wildlife as little as possible. There have sadly been a number of cases in recent years where people have had a terrible impact by being thoughtless and valuing their photograph more than the wellbeing of the animal, like the disturbance to the seal colony on the Great Blasket Island. Seal Rescue Ireland have good information on the importance of minimising disturbance on their website. Visiting places like the Great Saltee Island is a wonderful way of getting closer to nature, but there have been times where people have tried to get too close and disturbed the nesting seabirds. Not only does this put people at risk from the likes of avian flu, this can lead to abandonment of nests and chicks, putting increased pressure on already critically vulnerable populations. In short, if you love wildlife, give it space.