Cliffs of Moher visitor’s centre, County Clare

In 2005 Clare County Council wished to demolish the existing visitor’s centre and develop a new visitor’s centre and surrounded amenities at the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare.

An Environmental Impact Statement was commissioned and the archaeological component highlighted the high archaeological potential of the site and recommended archaeological monitoring of groundworks.

Accordingly, a desk-based assessment of the development area was completed by TVAS. This assessment noted that, on the basis of documentary and cartographic research coupled with a visual site-inspection, an undated earth mound (Recorded Monument CL014-002) is present at the north of the development and that this mound was surmounted in the 1830s by an observation tower (O’Brien’s Tower). The archaeological potential across other parts of the site was variable and dependant on the degree of damage caused by existing facilities and pedestrian erosion. The assessment report recommended that targeted archaeological monitoring take place during groundworks.

Following correspondence between Clare County Council and the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, it was agreed that licensed archaeological monitoring of the area in the immediate vicinity of the mound and tower would be appropriate. No archaeological deposits were found during monitoring.

A report describing the results archaeological monitoring is available here.