Mitigation works ordered over rare Bronze Age valley

Kerry County Council has ordered mitigation works to be carried out on a rare Bronze Age valley in west Kerry where a donkey sanctuary is being constructed.

The sanctuary, which is to feature a shed and other works, was given the go-ahead after those behind the project, a Dutch group concerned with the welfare of donkeys, consulted with the council.

Because it was agricultural in nature, the works did not need permission. No archaeological survey was demanded and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht were not informed. However, the shed is close to a large fulacht fia, or cooking oven, one of 90 such monuments, and last November, amid an outcry by archaeologists and locals, a complaint was lodged with the Council of Europe.