HISTORY OF LAND TENURE IN IRELAND

HISTORY OF LAND TENURE IN IRELAND

The Céide Fields

A farmer in North Mayo, when cutting turf on his bog, came across stone walls under the turf. Archeological exploration of the phenomenon in the 1990s discovered a network of stone walls under the bog. This land had been cultivated in stone-age times, 5000 years ago. Having been productive for two centuries, the land gradually became waterlogged and useless, and was abandoned. Sphagnum moss then spread over it leading to the growth of a blanket of bog over the stone-age fields. This is the only example in the world of stone age fields that have remained as the stone age people left them 5,000 years ago.

Stone Age to Iron Age	Celtic Ireland	The Brehon Laws
Brehon-law Land Tenure	Norse and Normans	English Land Law in Ireland
The Land War and Reforms	Land Regulation	Return to Killeens Home Page