boyle local area plan 2012 - 2018 - Roscommon County Council

PART II: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR 2012 – 2018 & BEYOND Chapter 6: Built & Natural Heritage
The local archaeological heritage also includes any archaeological site that may not
yet have been recorded, as well as archaeological remains underwater or beneath the
ground surface. Such remains may only be uncovered during development work and
must be investigated and recorded in detail, as set out under the National Monuments
Acts.
Recorded Monuments & Places (RMP) is included as Appendix 3.
Very good stone walling around the Church of Ireland Church and the fair greens on Green
Street.
In Boyle, as in the rest of the county, ringforts are one of the most frequently found
monument sites. Ringforts or raths are roughly circular areas, some up to 25-50
metres across, defined by an earthen bank and external ditch or, in some cases, by a
wide stone wall. They would have enclosed the house and other buildings of a lord or
strong farmer in the early medieval period C. 500-1000AD. Earthen ringforts would
have been made more defensive by having a timber palisade on top of the bank and a
strong timber gate and would mostly have had post and wattle or timber structures
inside.
6.1.3 Built Heritage Strategy
Historic wrought iron gates and monolithic stone piers to the west.
6.1.2 Archaeological Heritage
Archaeology is the study of past societies through the material remains left by those
societies and the evidence of their environment, which includes anything made or
modified by people from earliest times up to 1700AD. Archaeology provides us with
a means of gaining understanding and knowledge of the past.
All known archaeological sites are identified and listed for protection by the National
Monuments Service of the DEHLG, in the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP),
a statutory inventory of sites protected under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to
2004. To date there has been over 4,400 known Recorded Monuments identified in
the County, all of which can be viewed on www.archaeology.ie. There are 38 such
sites presently identified in or very close to the LAP area (See Map 6c).
This Strategy aims to preserve and safeguard our architectural and archaeological
heritage, and to promote best practice in its conservation and management. It also
aims to raise awareness and appreciation of this heritage in order to protect it for
future generations.
Policies in relation to Built Heritage
Policy 51
Identify, protect and conserve structures (i.e. includes conservation, preservation, and
improvement compatible with maintaining the character and interest of the structure),
or parts of structures, which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological,
artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest or which contribute at a local
level to the character of the town on the grounds of preserving local character and of
sustainability.
Policy 52
Promote pride and awareness of the importance and value of Boyle’s architectural
heritage and manage any change to that heritage in such a way as to retain its
character and special interest.
Boyle Local Area Plan 2012-2018 Page 81