Achill-henge

Achill-henge is a concrete structure on Achill Island off the northwest coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The term henge is used colloquially only and does not indicate genuine structural or cultural similarity to prehistoric monuments found in Ireland.

Achill Henge exterior, June 2016

Structure

Achill-henge is over 4 metres (13 ft) high and 100 metres (330 ft) in circumference. It consists of a circle of 30 concrete columns topped by a ring of stone. No care was taken to replicate or reference genuine stone circles in the region or the country. The term Achill-henge can be interpreted as a reference to the cultural inaccuracy of the structure in local context as typically henges are simply referred to as stone circles in Ireland.

History
Achill Henge interior

Achill-henge was constructed over a weekend in November 2011 by Joe McNamara, a property developer and convicted criminal. A team of workers hauled the large concrete slabs up the hill and sank them in the bog.[1]

Mayo County Council requested a court order to force McNamara to remove the edifice as it had been built without planning permission. McNamara claimed that the structure was exempt from planning rules as an "ornamental garden".

Theresa McDonald, Director of the Achill Archaeological Field School, also raised objections on the grounds that the structure may be less than 500 m (1,600 ft) from a Bronze-Age archaeological site.[2]

The High Court required McNamara to cease further work on the site, and, as he was found to be in breach of this, he was jailed for three days for contempt of court. The Court referred the planning decision to An Bord Pleanala, which in July 2012 upheld the Council's decision.[3]

Some local people have expressed admiration for the work as a feat of engineering, and a newspaper poll found a majority of locals in support of keeping the structure.[1]

On 8 January 2012, it was featured as part of the Prime Time programme on RTÉ 1 in Ireland.[4]

Achill Henge is still standing as of December 2020.

Joe McNamara

Joe McNamara is noted in Ireland for a series of protests against Anglo-Irish Bank and the government's handling of the Irish financial crisis. In particular, he drove a concrete mixer truck into the gates of the Irish parliament building Leinster House, causing minor damage to the paintwork of the gateway.[1][5][6] He was found not guilty of criminal damage or dangerous driving.[5]

McNamara described Achill-henge as "a place of reflection".[3]

See also

In modern times a number of henge type monuments have been built, examples include:

References
  1. Kieran Cooke (16 February 2012). "Achill-henge: A monument that divides Ireland". BBC News. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  2. Cathy Hayes (13 January 2012). "Archaeologist objects - Achill-Henge may be built over prehistoric site - VIDEO". Irish Central. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  3. Caroline Crawford (24 July 2012). "Video: Developer Joe McNamara's 'Achill-henge' project refused by Bord Pleanala". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  4. "Prime Time - 8th January 2013". RTÉ News. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  5. Tuite, Tom (22 March 2011). "Anglo protester cleared after driving truck into Dail gates". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  7. "The Henge - maelmin.org.uk". www.maelmin.org.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. "The Arctic Henge". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. "Sark Henge | Sark Island Tourism". 19 January 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

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