The national legal statutes and guidelines relevant to this assessment include: − National Monuments Act (1930) (and amendments in 1954, 1987, 1994 and 2004); − Heritage Act (1995); − National Cultural Institutions Act (1997); − Architectural Heritage (National Inventory) and Historic Monuments (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (1999); − Planning and Development Act (2000); − Architectural Heritage Protection: Guidelines for Planning Authorities , Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht (2011); and − Framework and Principles for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage , Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, 1999. Archaeological Heritage The administration of national policy in relation to archaeological heritage management is the responsibility of the National Monuments Service (NMS) which is currently based in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Historic and Archaeological Heritage and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 was signed into law on October 13 th , 2023 1 . The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage circulated a guidance document in relation to this Act in November 2023 which provides an overview of its current status, and this is summarised hereafter. While the Act is now law most of its prov isions will not enter into force until the Minister has made one or more “Commencement Orders”. This means that Section 7 of the Act (which provides for the repeal of the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 and related legislation) has not entered into force. Accordingly, the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 and other legislation which section 7 of the Act will, when it comes into force, repeal, remain fully in force as they stood on 13 th October and will continue to do so for the time being. The Act contains transitional provisions which will, if necessary, enable certain aspects of the existing National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 to continue in operation notwithstanding their repeal post-commencement of the Act while successor provisions are being brought fully into operation. This includes provisions enabling the Record of Monuments and Places to continue to have effect pending the establishment of the new Register of Monuments (see section 48 of the Act). The National Monuments Act of 1930, and its Amendments, therefore, remain the primary means of ensuring the satisfactory protection of the archaeological resource and include a number of provisions that are applied to secure the protection of archaeological monuments. These include the designations of nationally significant sites as National Monuments, the Register of Historic Monuments (RHM), the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP), the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR), and the placing of Preservation Orders and Temporary Preservation Orders on endangered sites. There is one Preservation Order within the study area and this relates to Skiddy’s Almshouse (C O074-105----) / P.0. no.: 2/1968 . Section 2 of the National Monuments Act, 1930 defines a National Monument as ‘a monument or the remains of a monument, the preservation of which is a matter of national importance’ . The State may acquire or assume guardianship of examples through agreement with landowners or under compulsory orders. Archaeological sites within the ownership of local authorities are also deemed to be National Monuments. There are no National Monuments in the ownership or
1 https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/act/2023/26/eng/enacted/a2623.pdf
Integrated Urban Strategy, Shandon, Cork Baseline archaeological assessment
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