Heritage
GSI as the national earth science agency naturally attempts to support the appreciation of geological heritage within Irish society. These pages display just how we approach this and the breadth of the work carried out within this area.
Perhaps the most important piece of work undertaken in this area is the Irish Geological Heritage Programme. This involves the identification and protection of Ireland's great wealth of geological heritage.
However this programme area has a whole host of other duties and responsibilities. These include liaison with county councils in the preparation of their county development plans and heritage plans. The area of outreach is important too. The programme actively provides geological input into National Heritage Week and has produced several exhibitions which explain geology in simple terms. These exhibitions are available for display in museums, libraries and similar buildings throughout the country.
For sales or product enquires or those relating to GSI Memoirs, GSI Publications and GSI Unpublished (Grey Cover) Reports, please contact the Customer Centre directly.
For specific enquiries relating to the Irish Geological Heritage Programme please contact Sophie Préteseille (sophie.preteseille@gsi.ie)
Programme staff and their areas of expertise are as follows. For their contact details please see Staff Details in the left navigation bar.
John Morris, Principal Geologist
General programme management, strategic development, liaison with external bodies and project development. Contributor to specific site selection themes, in particular Lower Palaeozoic and Mine heritage, and ProGEO general and Northern Working Groups. Project Manager for Irish participation in several European Interreg funded projects and involvement in the European Geoparks Network; Mining Journal 1835-1920: a digital archive in collaboration with National Libraries of Ireland and Wales, the Welsh Mines Society and the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland. Queries relating to the MHTI may be addressed to John.
Sarah Gatley, Senior Geologist
Sarah is currently working on geological heritage site and theme data to progress geological Natural Heritage Area (NHA) designations through National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS), and ensure their ongoing recognition as County Geological Sites (CGS) in the planning system. She is GSI representative on several Heritage Fora and project manages county geological site audits and heritage reports (which have been carried out for 7 local authorities to date, most recently for Fingal, Meath and Kilkenny).
Sarah is the national representative for ProGEO (conservation of geological heritage) and participant in their Northern European Working Group. She is the GSI geological representative for the Copper Coast Geopark (see below) and contributes to Irish Geopark projects and European Interreg funded projects. She also works in partnership with the Irish Concrete Federation (ICF) in addressing geological heritage in the extractive industry.
Sophie Preteseille, Geologist
Sophie evaluates Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) with regard to Irish geological heritage sites and would encourage to be consulted at the scoping stage of EIA and SEA for the same. She provides information for County Development Plans and Heritage Plans. Sophie is also involved with Geoparks in Ireland and European Interreg funded projects.
All general EIS and queries for EIA, SEA should be addressed to Ronnie Creighton (Geotechnical Programme, ronnie.creighton@gsi.ie) and any specific geological heritage enquiry should be addressed to Sophie at sophie.preteseille@gsi.ie. Please note that enquiries are queued and that there is normally a 1 to 2 week turnaround.
Petra Coffey, Scientific Visitor*
Petra, who is interested in the history of science and millstones, may be available to answer some Archive-related enquiries.The Archives, which are part of the National Archives of Ireland, include papers leading up to the foundation of the Geological Survey of Ireland and many maps and drawings produced by the early geologist George Victor du Noyer (1817-1869).
Matthew Parkes, Scientific Visitor*
Matthew Parkes has now left the IGH Programme, to work permanently in the Natural History Museum in Dublin, as Assistant Keeper dealing with Earth Sciences. To contact Matthew directly you may email mparkes@museum.ie or ring the Museum switchboard on 01-6777444. Matthew will still be assisting with GSI's fossil and rock collections and enquiries regarding them will be dealt with. MHTI enquiries may also be addressed to Matthew.
* SCIENTIFIC VISITOR is an honorary position granted to certain individuals, enabling them to continue their work through access to GSI facilities, though not on a full-time basis.
Copper Coast Geopark Project
The Copper Coast Geopark is located in Co. Waterford and roughly extends from Dungarvan to Tramore. In recognition of its outstanding volcanic geology and copper mining heritage, the area was designated European Geopark in 2001. The aims of the geopark is to develop awareness and understanding of geology and all the other facets of the local heritage, as well as developing geotourism and sustainable economic activity in this rural area.