RECOGNISING OUR GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE
2008 has been designated as ‘International Year of Planet Earth’ by the United Nations. Among the aims for the year is to “increase interest in the Earth sciences in society at large”. County Donegal possesses a unique, varied and complex geology. The three major categories of rock types display distinctive geographical distributions in the county: metamorphic rocks underlie much of the county from northeast to southwest however there is a significant concentration of igneous rocks in the west of the county and an enclave of sedimentary rocks in south Donegal. Under the Heritage Act (1995), geology is considered part of our national heritage.
“Geology isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when we think of heritage,” admits Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer. “Nevertheless, our underlying bedrock and the forces that shape it provide the foundation of our landscape. An understanding of our geological heritage informs our understanding of the development of our physical landscape including processes such as glaciation. Our geological heritage also contributes to the character of our cultural landscape. The extensive granite rock outcrops and erratics in west Donegal (in areas such as Bloody Foreland) posed many challenges for farming in that area and meant that field enclosure resulted in the removal of stones from the fields and contributed to the emergence of the unique rundale system of agriculture. The promotion of County Donegal’s spectacular geological and geomorphological features is an important aspect of tourism in the county and of the county’s image. The imagery of geological and geomorphological features have also been used to identify people’s sense of place or people’s interaction with their environment such as the waterfall and erratic near Crolly featured on the iconic Clannad ‘Sirius’ album cover (1987) and the same glacial erratic at Crolly featured on postcards and on the recent ‘Cártaí Poist’ television programme. Local geology is also reflected in our traditional architecture.”
At present, only thirteen geological sites are afforded protection under Policy BNH 4 in the Donegal County Development Plan (2006-2012) that seeks to preserve and maintain the conservation value of important features of geological interest within the county. This is surprising as County Donegal’s geological diversity, its reputation for distinctive landforms and its natural, picturesque and ‘wild’ beauty would suggest that this is not representative of the county’s geological heritage. The Irish Geological Heritage Programme of the Geological Survey of Ireland is undertaking the identification and documentation of Ireland’s geological and geomorphological heritage sites of importance. The Geological Survey of Ireland has preliminary data on about 130 geological sites in County Donegal. One of the actions in the County Donegal Heritage Plan, adopted unanimously by Donegal County Council on December 10, 2007, is to “identify landforms of significance (geological and geomorphological) in County Donegal and promote their natural heritage values” over the next five years.
The Heritage Council has produced a booklet entitled “Ireland’s Coastal Geology”. Copies of this booklet are available free-of-charge from the County Donegal Heritage Office, Donegal County Council in Lifford on (074) 917 2576 or by e-mail at: heritage@donegalcoco.ie