Ireland’s Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH)

Ireland’s underwater cultural heritage (UCH) offers a fascinating perspective on history and identity. Submerged sites — located within rivers, lakes and coastal waters, and on the seabed — tell the stories of people who visited, traded, raided and settled in Ireland over millennia. The history of Ireland is contained within submerged prehistoric landscapes and ancient settlements, shipwrecks, logboats, fish-traps, weirs, early bridges, and human and faunal remains. Associated objects of stone, bone and metal, as well as ceramics; wood, leather and textiles, also offer invaluable insights into Ireland’s past and its people.

With some 900,000 square kilometres of seabed and 7,000 kilometres of coastline, thousands of kilometres of rivers, more than 12,000 lakes, as well as wetlands, bogs and reclaimed lands, the potential for underwater cultural heritage evidence is extremely high in Ireland.

The earliest evidence we currently have dates to the early Mesolithic period, some 9000 years ago, in the form of logboats and stone tools. Advances in underwater mapping and remote sensing are revealing even older and more extensive underwater landscapes, suggesting that Ireland’s deep marine environments may contain evidence of very early human settlement.

One of the most recognised underwater cultural resources are shipwrecks. With approximately 18,000 documented wrecks  across  marine, river and lake environments — from logboats to the remains of historic sailing ships, ocean liners and vessels lost during conflict, they tell their own story of loss, tragedy, transport and trade.

UCH is not just about the tangible, however. It is also intrinsically interwoven with intangible heritage –— the traditions, stories, memories, folklore and mythologies associated with sites and objects. Wrecks can have meaning in song, in poetry, or in ancestral seafaring traditions, while objects recovered from underwater can relate to mythological tales of ancient battles, spiritual beliefs or ritual deposition.

Legislative protections for UCH

The National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 provide the following legal protections for our underwater cultural heritage:

• All wrecks over 100 years old and all underwater archaeological objects are comprehensively protected, and appropriate licences and consents are legally required to survey, dive on or interfere with (including excavate) a protected wreck site or an underwater archaeological object.
• The discovery of wrecks more than 100 years old must be reported to the National Monuments Service or a member of An Garda Síochána within 4 days of the find.
• The discovery of archaeological objects must be reported to the National Museum of Ireland or other legally designated persons within 4 days of discovery.
• In addition to the general protection of wrecks over 100 years old, Underwater Heritage Orders can also be made, including in relation to wrecks less than 100 years old or to areas where UCH is thought to lie.
• Use of a detection device (e.g. metal detector) to search for archaeological objects anywhere (including underwater) requires a consent.
• Marine salvage operations, many of which specifically target historic wrecks, may also fall within the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014, and the necessary licences must be obtained from the National Monuments Service in advance of any such operations.
• The alteration or export of archaeological objects requires a licence from the Board of the National Museum of Ireland. Please note that parts of the structure of a wreck as well as objects found within or around a wreck may be archaeological objects.

Applications for licences to excavate, survey or dive, or for detection consents, should be made to the National Monuments Service; applications for licences to alter or to export archaeological objects should be made to the National Museum of Ireland.

HAHMP Act 2023

The Historic and Archaeological Heritage and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (HAHMP Act) was enacted in 2023 and makes provision to extend and strengthen legal protection for Ireland’s UCH, once all elements of the Act are fully commenced. UCH will be included within the Prescribed Monuments system and the new Register of Monuments (which will include the integration of wrecks), and monument protection and regulation will be extended to archaeological sites generally underwater.

Threats, risks and pressure

Ireland’s UCH is under pressure and at risk. Coastal erosion and climate change, alongside human activities such as unregulated salvage, treasure hunting and certain marine development, all present challenges to be managed.

Part of the remit of the National Monuments Service (NMS) is to manage, protect, and promote Ireland’s UCH. Through its Underwater Archaeology Unit (UCH), NMS conducts fieldwork, assessments, investigations, and rescue operations related to underwater archaeological sites and objects.

A National Strategy on Underwater Cultural Heritage, which is nearing final development, will lay out a vision and roadmap for the next decade. The strategy aligns with the HAHMP Act 2023, which enabled Ireland to ratify the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage in March 2026, thereby facilitating international cooperation beyond Ireland’s territorial waters to protect submerged sites.