Farmer fined €25,000 for destroying ring fort

Riamfada · 02-03-2012 4:53pm #1

A 64-year-old farmer has been fined €25,000 at the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee for destroying a 1,000-year-old ring fort which was a protected national monument.

In one of the first prosecutions of its kind to come before the courts, John O'Mahony pleaded guilty to carrying out work on the fort on his farm at Causeway in Co Kerry in February 2008, without notifying the National Monuments Service in advance.

Mr O'Mahony farms around 40 acres at Clashmealcon near Causeway in north Kerry.

A ring fort and series of souterrains or underground tunnels - which are thought to have been constructed over 1,000 years ago - were on the lands, and these are protected national monuments of historical significance.

In February 2008, Mr O'Mahony hired workers to demolish the majority of the ring fort.

The court was told that the material was used to fill in a pond which Mr O'Mahony believed was dangerous. Most of the ring fort was destroyed by heavy machinery.

The court was told Mr O'Mahony had not sought permission from the National Monuments Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht and restoration of the fort was not possible.

Mr O'Mahony knew of the existence of the ring fort, because he had previously objected to a planning application there on the grounds that the land contained "an historical ring fort".

He had only bought the lands two months before work on the ring fort was carried out.

His barrister, John O'Sullivan, said Mr O'Mahony apologised. He said his client did not know he had to seek permission for the work and did not understand the implications.

Judge Carroll Moran said ownership of property is a right, but this right was not "unfettered" and was qualified by the fact that property was held in trust for the culture of the country.

At a previous hearing he warned that "a marker" would have to be put down when it came to imposing sentence.

The maximum penalty which Mr O'Mahony faced was five years in prison and/or a fine of €50,000.

Source: RTE news

vicwatson · 02-03-2012 6:35pm

Is that all our heritage is worth - 25k?

Rubbish that he didn't know he had to seek permission, he thought, feck it I'll do it and sure no will ever care or know.

Grrrr:mad:

keithb93 · 02-03-2012 6:46pm

He should be getting the maximum fine and lose his land. Stupidity.

wayoutwest · 02-03-2012 10:25pm

Don't know about Kerry, but in my part of the world it would be considered extremely unlucky for a man to do such a thing. I would'nt be surprised if receiving this fine is not the end of his bad luck. How much of the site is left undamaged?. If it were to be be painstakingly reconstruced, what would it reallistically cost-more than or less than E25000?.

DeepSleeper · 03-03-2012 1:09am

wayoutwest wrote: »

If it were to be be painstakingly reconstruced, what would it reallistically cost-more than or less than E25000?.

It simply can't be reconstructed in any meaningful sense, regardless of cost - sure, you could get a few diggers in to create a circular bank with a ditch outside it, but it would be as real and as useful as a doughnut... in fact, you could at least eat the doughnut!

The true value of the site (not in monetary terms) was the archaeological strata within and around it - the layers of soil which accumulated over time in the ditch, the foundations of the houses within the fort, etc, etc - these are gone and cannot be re-created (since we don't know what they were like before they were bulldozed...) and re-creating the above-ground shape of the fort would therefore be meaningless.

Hogzy · 03-03-2012 1:11am

vicwatson wrote: »

Is that all our heritage is worth - 25k?

Rubbish that he didn't know he had to seek permission, he thought, feck it I'll do it and sure no will ever care or know.

Grrrr:mad:

What is the point in fining someone millions of euro if they cannot afford to pay it?

25K is a reasonable amount considering the mans profession.

goat2 · 03-03-2012 1:15am

were people buried on these ring forts,

nacimroc · 03-03-2012 1:15am

Hogzy wrote: »

What is the point in fining someone millions of euro if they cannot afford to pay it?

25K is a reasonable amount considering the mans profession.

He makes that in grants in 1 year! Take his land, 100k fine and community service fixing up old ruins until he learns!

Jogathon · 03-03-2012 1:21am

It's a total disgrace that he destroyed it. There are lots of ringforts throughout the country but souterrains are very rare. Awful. I remember in my local village a developer bought the old mill, applied to build apartments, was granted planning with agreement to keep the existing structure intact, and we woke up one morning and the mill was gone. I don't believe there was much of a fine, and a historical building was lost forever.

DeepSleeper · 03-03-2012 1:21am

goat2 wrote: »

were people buried on these ring forts,

Very rarely - these were rural settlement sites and burials usually happened in the vicinity of the parish church (which could be some distance away). In a certain percentage of cases, early medieval ringforts were later used (in the early modern period) for the burial of unbaptisied children (known as kyles, cillins, ceallunachs depending on which part of the country you are in), but these are not that common.

Ddad · 03-03-2012 1:22am

He's 64. If he doesn't know it now he never will. Described by his barrister as a modest farmer.:rolleyes:

It's been happening for years. At least they're starting to address these gob****es now.:mad:

losthorizon · 03-03-2012 1:25am

The company that carried out this work should also be fined.

goat2 · 03-03-2012 1:26am

are the locations of all ring forths known to the authorities. if so, should it be mandatory that they are informed that these forts should not be touched.

03-03-2012 1:32am

Whilst I agree he should've went through the proper channels, and I agree with punishing him financially for it (and wouldn't be outrightly against taking the land from him), I do think Irish people have some obscure fascination for heritage.

Chances are it was a mucky hill that no one ever went to see, or intended to. Make him pay whatever it'd cost to get a rollercoaster built in it's place. Maybe we might actually get a few tourists coming over then.

Cavehill Red · 03-03-2012 1:37am

25K is chickenfeed. There needs to be a much greater disincentive.

slowburner · 03-03-2012 10:25am

goat2 wrote: »

are the locations of all ring forths known to the authorities. if so, should it be mandatory that they are informed that these forts should not be touched.

Any that are known are listed in the register of National Monuments. When listed they are protected by law.
Without doubt, there are many yet to be discovered, and that's where we depend on the goodwill and conscience of landowners to make them known.

wayoutwest · 03-03-2012 11:12am

KKV - Having suffered such moronic destruction of OUR heritage, I don't think that your comment about building a fun ride is that amusing. Tourists come over here for the UNTOUCHED landscape, the amazing amount of VISABLE heritage, and the friendliness of its people - not to sit on some dumb, half-arsed fairground ride in the rain. It's a pity that Mr O'Mahony [and Mr Quinn] did'nt have, as you say - an "obscure facination for heritage". :mad:

Gilled · 03-03-2012 12:30pm

If one looks at rural Ireland on google maps the amount of forts visible is extraordinary. Very interesting to see. Ones with tunnels are rare - this guy knew that. He objected to previous planning purely because he wanted the land himself not because it had a historical ring fort. I hate these people, a wanton display of ignorance.

kerrygirl04 · 03-03-2012 1:57pm

I think all the other Farmers who knocked Forts should also be made pay up and there is a lot of them.........

vicwatson · 03-03-2012 2:19pm

Hogzy wrote: »

What is the point in fining someone millions of euro if they cannot afford to pay it?

25K is a reasonable amount considering the mans profession.

Should have went to jail and be fined the maximum 50,000.00 euro then, the arrogant so and so... he has land worth a minimum of 400,000.00 (at 10k an acre) - he can afford it, if not, take his goddamn land.

What the hell do you have to destruct in this country before getting the maximum 5 year/50k fine?

12 element · 28-03-2014 1:33am

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but think I found aerial imagery of this ring fort.

Farmer fined €25,000 for destroying ring fort

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