The Institute of Maritime History has received a 5,000 euro grant from the Irish Heritage Council for its upcoming field season on Achill Island, Ireland. The Achill Island Maritime Archaeology Project, a joint effort with the College of William and Mary and the Achill Folklife Centre, has been focused on documenting the island’s rich maritime history since 2004. The title of the grant is “The Archaeological Investigation of Economic Relations on the Nineteenth Century Maritime Cultural Landscape of Achill Island, Co. Mayo.” The upcoming 2006 season will stage field investigations of a variety of maritime archaeological sites both above and below the water, including the ruins of commercial fishing and Coastguard stations, and the wrecks of the Neptune (English bark, 1860), the Jenny (Norwegian bark, 1894), and the Charles Stewart Parnell (Irish ketch, 1928).
Preserving our maritime heritage