From Mesolithic sites on Coney Island to monastic settlements at Ardboe and Antrim, the shores of Lough Neagh is home to a wide and wondrous amount of archaeological and cultural heritage. The lowering of the Lough over the years has left a new shoreline with archaeological heritage to be explored & recorded. (Photo from l-r: Moira O'Rourke, LNP Heritage Officer; Hon. Shane O'Neill, Chairman, LNP; Angela Lavin, Heritage Lottery Fund)

In an ambitious project to record the Lough’s rich heritage and discover new sites and artefacts the Lough Neagh Partnership’s Heritage Officer, Moira O’Rourke has been working around the shores of Lough Neagh over the past year. Moira carried out a desk based survey of all heritage sites and artefacts within the 81 townlands that touch the shores of Lough Neagh; these sites range from archaeological sites, to industrial heritage and defence heritage sites. She also identified new sites through field-walking the shoreline from Toomebridge to the mouth of the Moyola as well as researching local folklore/legends and more recent history. Moira actively engaged with the local people and communities around the Lough who provided invaluable leads and sources of information towards the project. Four new heritage sites were identified at Traad Point, Maghery, Oxford Island and Ram’s Island through such local engagement.

The project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, facilitated important work on recording and archiving the archaeological and cultural heritage of Lough Neagh, which has now culminated in the development of a Lough Neagh heritage website: www.loughneaghheritage.com. The website was officially launched at Ballyronan Marina Centre on Tuesday 22nd June where attendees were given a commentary of the website by Moira O’Rourke.

Speaking at the launch, Angela Lavin from the Heritage Lottery Fund said: “We are delighted to be involved in this project which had explored, uncovered and recorded the diverse heritage of Lough Neagh. The launch of the website is an excellent conclusion to this work and will enable many more people to learn about this important and significant heritage.”

Lough Neagh Partnership has already started planning further heritage based work to develop a full Lough Neagh Heritage programme, and further support is being sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to fund this work. In looking to the future, the manager of the Lough Neagh Partnership, Gerry Darby said “We are really excited about the heritage website that’s been created and it is only the first stage in un-tapping this rich heritage resource of our biggest Lough”.