Drones and metal detectors 'strictly prohibited' at Irish heritage sites

The Office of Public Works (OPW) is reminding people not to use drones or metal detectors on the grounds of Irish heritage sites.

The OPW posted on social media on December 27 to remind people of the strict prohibition of UAVs/drones or metal detectors on all sites in their care.

It is currently illegal under the National Monuments Acts to use a detection device to search for archaeological objects anywhere within the State or its territorial seas without the prior written consent of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Penalties for such use include imprisonment and/or fines.

According to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), the unregulated and inappropriate use of metal detectors causes "serious damage to Ireland’s archaeological heritage".

An NMI website post explaining reasoning behind the ban states: Unsupervised recovery of archaeological objects by untrained and unlicensed users of metal detectors can greatly diminish, or can entirely eliminate any knowledge or research value that might be gained from a particular discovery.

"Archaeological objects must be excavated in a structured scientific manner, with careful recording of their association with other objects, structures, features and soil layers. Failure to expertly record the context from which an object has been removed results in an irreplaceable loss of knowledge of the past.

"Random searches with metal detectors cannot determine whether a find is of archaeological importance or if it is a recent discard. The result in either case is that the soil or setting is greatly disturbed and any non-metallic evidence and objects are likely to be destroyed."

Anyone who does find an archaeological object must report it to NMI or a designated local museum within 96 hours.