When thinking of Ireland some of the images that come to mind are lush, green landscapes and a country that tends to have quite a bit of rain.  After all, Ireland is called the Emerald Isle.  On average the island receives between 750mm-2,000mm of rainfall annually depending on the region.  However, the summer of 2018 was an unusually dry year for the country with over 40 days without rainfall.  Drought turned the once green vistas to a crispy yellow.  And while many farmers were worried and citizens complained about the weather, this drought led to some amazing discoveries.

Anthony Murphy is a journalist and photographer who established and runs the website MythicalIreland.com.  As the website states, it is dedicated to “a journey into the ancient past, and attempts to cast new light on a sometimes obscure period of the early history of Ireland.”  One of the tools that Mr. Murphy uses to conduct research is through taking photographs with his drone.  Anthony is often using his drone to get a bird’s eye view of the ancient landscape he calls home.  During the drought he decided to fly his drone out over a field he’d filmed many times before and what he saw took his breath away.

Anthony discovered an ancient henge buried beneath the field.  A henge is a large circular, earthen structure.  Made from stone or timber they could have been used for ritual practices, burial grounds, or perhaps a gathering place.  Flying his drone above the archeological landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site, Brú na Bóinne, Mr. Murphy along with a friend could clearly see the outline of a set of rings in the field.  Because of the timber and materials used to construct the henge the soil encapsulating it was able to retain moisture while the rest of the field suffered the effects of the drought.

A farmer walking through the same field would have noticed some areas of soil that still held moisture.  But because of the large size of the henge, when looking at the darkened soil from ground level it would have just looked like and abnormality, not a structure.  Only with the point of view provided by the drone was a full picture of what was lying dormant in the field able to be seen.  Archeologists are estimating that the henge Anthony discovered dates back 5,000 years.  Anthony’s discovery went on to lead to more finds as well.

Matthew Kelly is the chief technology officer for DroneSAR in Lahinch, Co Clare.  He said, “I was inspired by Anthony Murphy’s find by drone at Newgrange due to the very dry weather, and so the very next day I went to Dundalk to see if I could also find any sign of a long lost monument discovered by antiquarian Thomas Wright in 1748 which he described as Ireland’s Stonehenge.  But by 1907 historian Henry Morris could not find any remains of the monument, it had disappeared. I (also) read about this monument in Anthony’s mythical Ireland blog a few years ago.”  Mr. Kelly launched his drone and was just as fortunate as Mr. Murphy.  Matthew went on to describe his experience, “I found two large circular enclosures facing each other separated by a road and then at the other location where I thought there was just one circular enclosure there was actually eight in the same field. I remember the moment as the drone took off over the field and the many circles became visible. Between the two locations I found 10 previously unknown monuments.”

The area has been considered important to archeologists for a long time now, which is why UNESCO deemed it a World Heritage Site.  But with the implementation of drone technology, new light is being shone on the region.  A total of 66 new discoveries were made since Mr. Murphy reported what he spotted with his drone.  It is a very exciting time for archeology in Ireland right now.  With the continual advancement of technologies like drones who knows what kinds of ancient treasures will be unearthed.