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Protecting and promoting archaeological sites: Best practice for sustainable tourism along the Wild Atlantic Way
 

Researcher: Stefanie White
Supervisor: Dr Fiona Beglane, Dr Conor McTiernan and Sam Moore

The Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) is a tourism brand developed by Fáilte Ireland that extends along c. 2500km of coastline from Co. Cork to Co. Donegal. There are over 138,000 recorded archaeological sites in Ireland (NMS, 2019) and of these, c.89,000 are in counties covered by the Wild Atlantic Way (NMS, 2019), although some are situated further inland than the official 15km-wide coastal strip. These range from earthworks lying within private farmland, to internationally renowned visitor attractions such as the Céide Fields, a site that is visited by over 32,000 people per year (OPW, 2016). This research proposes to develop best practice guidelines for archaeological heritage management along the Wild Atlantic Way that reflect all stakeholders’ perspectives.

Funded by: ATU Research Bursary