Mayo’s Céide Fields makes World Heritage tentative list

Céide Fields make World Heritage tentative list


Anton McNulty

ONE of Mayo’s most famous sites has been included in a list of Irish sites which has been forwarded to UNESCO to consider being included on the World Heritage List.
The Céide Fields and North West Mayo Boglands have been included among Ireland’s nominees to the World Heritage List submitted to UNESCO with a view to presentation to the World Heritage Committee meeting scheduled to take place in August in Brazil.
The tentative list was announced by he Minister for Environment, John Gormley who said that inclusion on the tentative list was a particular badge of honour.
“We must remember our unique culture and heritage is one of our most valuable assets which deserves to be shared internationally. Inscription on the World Heritage List allows us to showcase this asset. Inscription can also have its own reward and this can be by way of  increased tourist numbers and the financial spin-offs associated with this,” he said.
Ireland currently only has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Skellig Michael in Kerry and Brú na Bóinne in Meath - and the other nominees include the Burren, Clonmacnoise, the Historical City of Dublin, the Royal Sites of Ireland, the Early Medieval Monastic Sites and the Western Stone Forts.
Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny welcomed the inclusion of the Céide Fields and said it will create tourism prospects for the region.
“If it is successful, it may help improve the tourism prospects of the area and help contribute to the local economies of North Mayo as well as providing much needed jobs. I will be monitoring the progress of the application to ensure that the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government continue to support the submission,” he said.
The Céide Fields and North West Mayo Boglands comprises a Neolithic landscape consisting of megalithic burial monuments, dwelling houses and enclosures within an integrated system of stone walls defining fields, which are spread over 12 km of north Mayo.
Many of the features are preserved intact beneath blanket peat that is over 4m deep in places.