Discovery Programme

🌊 New Open Data on Ireland’s Coastal Heritage!
Exciting news, our new data paper is now published in Internet Archaeology:

👉 https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue71/12/index.html
🔗 https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.12

The CHERISH Project has released a major collection of 3D datasets showing coastal heritage sites across Ireland that are threatened by climate change.
Using cutting-edge tech like laser scanning and drone-based photogrammetry, we’ve documented more than:
✅ 30 heritage sites
✅ 20,000+ digital files
✅ Locations in Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, and Kerry
📂 Best of all? It’s all free, open, and reusable for research, education, and creative projects.

Whether you're interested in history, climate change, or 3D modelling, there’s something here for you to explore!

🇪🇺 The CHERISH Project was a 6½ year project funded through the Ireland-Wales Programme 2014-2020, part of the Europe Regional Development Fund and supported by The Heritage Council.

🤝The project brought together four partners across two nations: the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Discovery Programme, AU Geography & Earth Sciences and Geological Survey Ireland

National Monuments Service - Archaeology

FAIR and Open CHERISH: data and outputs from terrestrial laser scanning and uncrewed aerial vehicle digital photogrammetry surveys of coastal heritage sites in Ireland (Data paper) This data paper introduces the CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) Project collection in the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI). The collection is composed of several datasets from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) digital ph...

Delighted to share this excellent interview with Dr.Susan Curran on RTÉ Radio One’s News at One, where she discusses the Woodstown excavation and its significance for understanding early medieval Ireland.

The interview begins at 35:16 and is well worth a listen for anyone interested in archaeology, heritage research, or Ireland’s early medieval past.

🎧 Listen here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/news-at-one/episodes/11801910/

A great spotlight on the ongoing importance of archaeological research and the expertise driving it forward

This project is a collaboration between Irish and Norwegian archaeologists, with Abarta Heritage, The Discovery Programme, Arkeologisk museum, Universitetet i Stavanger, and it is supported by The Royal Irish Academy, National Monuments Service - Archaeology, Waterford City and County Council & The Heritage Council

News At One News, sport, business and interviews presented by Gavin Jennings.

Meet the team! 👋
We’re delighted to introduce Discovery Programme team who will be excavating at the Woodstown Viking Site over the next couple of weeks: Edward Pollard (Ted), David Stone, Cian Hogan and Susan Curran.

Today marked Ted’s last day on site — a big thank you to Ted for all his work! We look forward to welcoming Eimear Meegan to the team next week as the excavation continues.

This project is a collaboration between Irish and Norwegian archaeologists, with Abarta Heritage, The Discovery Programme, Arkeologisk-museum Universitetet i Stavanger and it is supported by The Royal Irish Academy (RIA), National Monuments Service - Archaeology, Waterford City and County Council and The Heritage Council.

Stay tuned for more updates from Woodstown!