Crossing Borders in the 21st Century

Author(s): Ros Ó Maoldúin

Source: Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Winter, 2008), pp. 26-29
Published by: Wordwell Ltd.
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CROSSING BOR

IN THE 21 ST CE

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 Ros ? Maold?in experiences
archaeology on the border

RS

TURY

Introduction
Last year I took up employment with ADS Ltd and was offered a job excavating on the Al as it passes
Newry. In these times of relative peace between the communities of Ireland, the ongoing enlargement of

the A/Nl linking both capitals seemed particularly significant. Furthermore, forme, it represented an
opportunity to work in the North and that was a prospect I relished, despite the commuting distance.
Having directed excavations in both England and Ireland, I was particularly interested to compare the
archaeological modus operand! of the North, and to see what relevance archaeology might have to the
current geopolitical situation with the progress of peace. Additionally, despite having lived on this island
for most of my life and having occasionally visited the North, my practical experience of its landscape and

people, like that of most people from the South, remains somewhat limited. With these issues and

questions converging inmy mind, I set off fromDublin in a shiny new green ADS jeep, covered inCeltic
insignia.

The physical border today

The first thing one notices when the Ulster/Leinster border is the dramatic in
approaching change
is dominated a contrast
topography. The South Ulster landscape by mountains and drumlins, startling
when arriving from the flat, low-lying lands of Louth. Indeed, the limited number of routes throughwhich
this difficult terrain can be easily traversedhas led theNewry valley to be named the 'Gap of the North'.
Just over the border the next one notices is road from metric to imperial. The road
change signage, quality
also but not, as in previous decades, from a half-maintained southern track to a well-tarred
changes,
northern road. Now when the South one arrives on a recently constructed motorway that a few
leaving
miles over the border narrows to a single carriage. Also their absence, border control and
conspicuous by
military personnel no longer police the border. Significantly, the site of the old Britishmilitary post above
Cloghmore roundabout now lies empty and is being truncated the new route of the Al.
partially by

The border in antiquity

So what of the origins and antiquity of this border? Paul Logue (1999, 7), in introducing a fascinating
collection of personal reflections on the border, out that 'to have significant memories of living in
points
Ireland without a Border one would have to be 100 years old\ While thismay be true of the modern
division, a provincial border?or, more the concept of a border?has existed
political perhaps importantly,
within this region for far longer, at least into the later prehistoric period. It is evident in the place-names,

territorial divisions and structures, and even densities. The of a border is further
population concept
embedded within the legends of Cuchulainn and the T?in B? Cuailnge, and is physically manifested in
spectacular Iron Age linear earthworks such as the Black Pig's Dyke and the Dorsey. Both have been dated
to the first two centuries BC, a period with considerable at Navan Fort. The Black
neatly coinciding activity
Pig's Dyke, once continuous, still extends all the way from south to
perhaps intermittently Monaghan
Sligo. Where excavated, itwas found to comprise a double ditch and double bank, with the northernmost
bank the highest and a palisade trench. The manpower and resources necessary to complete
supporting
such an endeavour across the entire breadth of the country are staggering and attest to an Iron Age political

organisation with the clear concept of and need to express a physically marked border, and the ability to

carry it out.

Fig. 1?A memorial to the hunger strikers of 1981.

27
 Moving into the Early Christian period
and the advent of history, the is
picture
somewhat more complex. Of course, this is

in a reflection of the increase in

part
available information. What emerges is a

complex cultural landscape populated by a

variety of tribal groupings with spheres of

control, borders and definite ideas of

differing ethnicity, long before the arrival

of the Normans or the
Vikings,

seventeenth-century plantations.

The power of symbol

once one crosses the border,
Today,

physical reminders of more recent history

and some discontent are evident.
Fig. 2?Republican graffiti. persisting
west of Newry, ten white crosses
Passing
remember the 1981 hunger strikers and

estate walls the road are

facing peppered
with graffiti, mainly of a Republican tone,

denouncing the police force and informers

and demanding 'action anois'.

one sign reads 'acht anois'. At
Interestingly,
firstI thought itwas a spellingmistake, but
later noticed that itwas penned with what

looked like a dot in place of the h?a

seimhi?? If anyone can explain, please let
me know (r omaolduin(gadsireland.ie). At

the last roundabout, to the north of Newry,

pavements are painted red, white and blue,

Union Jacks hang from the lampposts and
the Red Hand the entrance to
guards
estates. The first time I encountered the
Fig. 3?Republican graffiti.
Red Hand was on my grandparents' wall.

Knowing even as a child that it was

associated with northern Unionism, I was

puzzled. The reason it was on my

grandparents' wall is because my

grandmother was a Ni N?ill (the U? N?ill)

and the Red Hand is part of the family
crest. It became the symbol of Ulster in the

seventeenth century, when, following the

flight of O'Neill, James I 'intentionally

chose this symbol to represent the natural
to own
and inalienable right of Protestants
and control the region' (Brighton 2004,
155). From there, although still an O'Neill
heraldic symbol, the Hand has gradually
become synonymous with the Unionist
cause and its defence of the Six Counties.

An outward-facing hand is also, of course,

a forcefuland easily recognised symbol of

blocking another's path.
I spent my first few weeks on the Al
monitoring, and interestingly, but not
Fig. 4?The Red Hand guards the entrance to an estate.
one of the first pipe bowls I
unusually,

28 Archaeology Ireland Winter 2008

 BORDERS

found had a harp emblazoned on its side. of a shared borderland within Europe and a
Talking to one of the northern directors, I part of humanity's shared past? Whatever
found that pipe bowls with the Red Hand way it is presented, one thing we can be
were also common in the area. More sure of is that theway we view heritage will
recently,Loyalist murals have depicted the never be fully separated fromhow we view
Red Hand along with Cuchulainn as ourselves and the politics of today. As
defending Ulster for2,000 years. archaeologists and sometime historians we
The attempted control or must be cognisant of the material we

reappropriation of powerful symbols is of supply as grist to the mills of the media,

course not unique. The best-known and
politicians, developers, supporters
example is probably the swastika, an Indo protestors.
European symbol common in India, where Ithas long been recognised that border
it is even expressed in city plans, surviving areas are of economic
typically regions
in Ireland as the St Brigid's Cross, and of stagnation and that the border counties of
course later appropriated by the Nazi Ireland are a prime
example. This stems

regime?not randomly, but to add cultural from born of a centralised view

neglect,
validity and weight to their right to rule. focused on capitals and probably natural in
all systems of government. During the

Politics, the future and eight months of my time working on the

archaeological remains Al/Nl, however, our
respective leaders
The Al/Nl remains, part of Northern were zipping up and down this
Ireland's heritage, were excavated a Bertie Ahern went north to
by thoroughfare.
multinational crew of archaeologists from assist Dr Paisley in officially relaunching
Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the lavishly refurbished Galgorm Resort
Poland, England, Lithuania, Germany, and on the outskirts of Ballymena. Last
Spa
Portugal, the United States, Hungary, February,Dr Paisley was joined by Deputy
Scotland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, First Minister Martin McGuinness in
Sweden and Slovakia. But what of Fig. 5 (above)?A clay pipe bowl stamped Dundalk, a town once known as El Paso, to
Northern and what role should with a harp. hold the second plenary session of the
Ireland,

heritage play in the politics of its future? North-South Ministerial Council. Perhaps
How should the remains uncovered on the even more Bertie and
Fig. 6 (below)?A Loyalist mural, including significantly, Big Ian,
Al/Nl be presented to our politicians and Cuchulainn and the Red Hand. as
they were affectionately known, on the
the general public? Coldly, factually, lastdays of their respective leadershipsmet
dispassionately and detachedly,
or as part at Oldbridge, a core site on the Battle of the
Boyne landscape, to celebrate their

progress towards peace. These symbolic

gestures should not be underestimated; like
the reappropriation of symbols, they tap
into a power of influence which those in
:ip public life and government hold over the
general populace. While cynics may sneer,
this increased focus on the border in
region
reaction to its unhappy past may be the
key to its future success.
VN ULS1^ ULbTffl
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References
Brighton, S. 2004 Symbols, myth-making,
U.D.A 3
CUCHULA and identity: the Red Hand of Ulster in
ANCIENT DEFENDER late nineteenth-century Paterson, New
- OF ULSTER -
FROMIRISH ATTACI Jersey.International JournalofHistorical
OVER 2000v*sAGO. ^?**5 Archaeology8 (2), 149-64.
Logue, P. (ed.) 1999 The Border: personal
\
reflectionsfromIreland,North and South.
Queen's University, Belfast.

Archaeology Ireland Winter 2008 29