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Ireland's ancient
monuments are majestic...
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..spiritual.
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Sacred sites that connect us
to our earliest ancestors.
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Well, at least that's
what I was always told.
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RECORD SCRATCH
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Our small island is full
of mysterious sites like this one.
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We think of them
as the sacred places,
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and I suppose they are.
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But the story I'm about
to discover is not exactly sacred.
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No, it's sacrilegious, if anything.
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In the 1930s,
just a few generations ago,
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the secrets found in places
like this were at the centre
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of an epic quest.
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Not a quest for gold or treasure,
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but to explain the very origins of
the earliest people in Ireland.
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A quest, no less,
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to find out who we are
and where we came from.
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It was a time when intrepid
explorers were digging for treasure
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around the world.
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For the next big find,
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all eyes were on Ireland.
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But partition was barely
ten years old.
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Northern Ireland and the
Irish Free State were busy forging
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new identities.
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In both states,
a feverish search began.
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One place to look
was the ancient past.
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And it all kicked off here
in the hallowed landscape
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of County Sligo.
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In 1931, an American professor
from Harvard University,
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he inspected these monuments,
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wondering if Ireland
would be the place
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for his next big dig.
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Needless to say, he was hooked.
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And why wouldn't he be?
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This moment triggered
an archaeological frenzy.
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Both north and south of the border,
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excavation teams raced
to unearth evidence of the
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00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,800
first Irish men and women.
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Unearthing THIS story will take me
to some unexpected places.
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This is literally
the end of the world.
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Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me
if we actually find some
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ancient Celts up here.
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I'll experience
some strange science...
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Oh, she's only reading
the instructions now.
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..uncover dark history...
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..and get a flavour of the footloose
world of early Irish archaeology.
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I mean, nowadays, we'd be thinking
serious health and safety headache!
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My own quest is to uncover
what they found
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and what it says about us...
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..and to figure out why
this story has been forgotten
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for so long.
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The one thing I was always sure
about growing up
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was my Irish identity.
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I was steeped in our myths and
legends as a child, and enthralled
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by our unique sports and music,
our native tongue,
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and not least my Celtic heritage.
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So when I stumbled upon this story,
I was fascinated, but also nervous.
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I mean, I hope I haven't
been deluding myself all these years
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about who we actually are.
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My own delusions aside,
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there's one thing
you need to understand
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about this story.
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In the 1930s, our mysterious
megaliths
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were even more mystical than today.
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North and south,
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many of these monuments
were simply called Celtic -
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because no-one really
knew who built them.
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But with the new border,
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these ancient sites
became, well, political.
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In the south, the idea of
a Celtic origin
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was central to Irish identity.
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But in Northern Ireland,
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some were questioning
these Celtic roots.
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This is tricky history,
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00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,120
so I'm hoping
Professor Diarmaid Ferriter
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can explain how Northern Ireland
was forging its own path.
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This is an illustration
of their own path.
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A very iconic image.
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Edward Carson outside
the Stormont parliament.
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They were an announcement
that Northern Ireland had arrived.
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The statue of Carson
is actually unveiled in 1933,
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when he's still alive,
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and he is the godfather
of modern Ulster Unionism.
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And the unveiling of the statue,
of course, was a reminder
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that this is where it started.
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FILM: ..through their ancestors'
loyalty to William of Orange,
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King of England.
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And it is about loyalty
to Empire, loyalty to Crown.
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Now, as in olden days,
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Orangemen turn out
in full regalia...
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South of the border,
there was a very different message,
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from a newly elected leader -
Eamon de Valera.
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The conquering hero arrives.
Mr Eamon de Valera.
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Full disclosure - Eamon de Valera
was a revered figure in my house.
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My father was a member of his party,
Fianna Fail.
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They even met, along with
my mother, aunt and granny.
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As you can see, it was a big deal.
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So I need a more objective view.
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The present government of the
Irish Free State has been elected...
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It really heralds the dawn
of a new political age in Ireland.
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De Valera, his new Fianna Fail
party have taken power in 1932.
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This programme aims at restoring
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the unity of this island
and creating
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an independent Ireland
living its own cultural,
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economic and national life.
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What we're seeing here
is also about De Valera
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setting out his stall.
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"I am going to make Ireland
self-sufficient."
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It's about political
self-sufficiency,
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economic self-sufficiency,
cultural self-sufficiency.
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"We are embarking on a mission
to make this a truly Irish Ireland."
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And, in a sense, like,
create an origin myth as well,
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harking back to
a glorious Celtic past.
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There's a deep, deep reverence
for the past, for Irish antiquity,
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for stressing we are unique,
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what we have brought to the world.
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And there really are two state
building projects going on
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on the one small island,
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and they're drawing on particular
traditions to reinforce that state.
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..trace their ancestry
to this little island
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with its long and tragic history.
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So one of the interesting
questions was whether
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the newly created border,
the physical border,
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from 1920 and 1921
actually reflected
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much deeper, more layered
and deep-rooted differences.
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And that was where the research
of the 1930s was going
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to throw very interesting
findings and conclusions.
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The archaeological world
was fascinated by Ireland,
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drawn to the promise
of discovering the origins
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of an ancient Celtic race.
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In 1932, an American archaeologist
- from Harvard, no less -
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brought his team to the country,
intent on digging up Celtic sites.
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They called it the
Harvard Mission to Ireland,
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and their command HQ
was here in Dublin.
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Dr Mairead Carew is one of
the few people who knows
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this forgotten story inside out.
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It seems to me that the whole
archaeology field at that time
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in Europe was a bit of
a macho pursuit.
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I mean, it reminds me of Raiders Of
The Lost Ark or something. Yeah.
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You know, these guys scrambling
all over Europe, trying to find
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something that would
explain our origins.
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At the time, Ireland was perceived
as having that pure Celtic heritage.
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There was loads of archaeological
sites, so there was great potential.
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Right.
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VOICEOVER: Sounds like the perfect
place to excavate.
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What were they trying
to prove about our origins?
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They wanted to find out
really who the Celts were,
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where they had come from,
and who their descendants were
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in the modern population.
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Ah, the Celts - my tribe,
my ancient ancestors.
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RECORD SCRATCH
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They believed that a lot
of the beautiful objects
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that they had were
made by the Celts.
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That there was an ancient
civilisation pre-Norman Invasion
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that we were descended from,
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and this suited the Irish Free State
at the time,
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to strike a distance between
Ireland and Britain.
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They were looking for connections
almost anywhere except Britain.
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They didn't want to be connected
to Britain on any level.
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Don't worry, this isn't another
story about England and Ireland.
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It's about Ireland
and the world in the 1930s.
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And in the south,
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that story had a central character -
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an Austrian archaeologist
named Adolf Mahr,
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who came to work here
at the museum in 1927.
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He was an expert
in Celtic archaeology.
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A few years later, then he was
promoted to the position
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of Director of the National Museum.
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He also pretty much hand-picked
the sites for the Harvard Mission.
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Now, I've been looking
into this Adolf Mahr.
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As an archaeologist,
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he'd worked on some of the most
important Celtic digs in Europe.
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In 1927 - the same year Bewley's
opened here on Grafton Street -
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the 40-year-old Mahr saw an advert
in an Austrian newspaper
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for the job here in Dublin.
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Now, the awkward thing
about Adolf Mahr
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00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,920
is that he'd become a Nazi -
card carrying and bona fide.
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In fact, he was the most prominent
Nazi in all of Ireland.
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But in 1927, he was just an
archaeologist with a single passion,
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an obsession, really,
for all things Celtic.
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Adolf Mahr's Celtic-facing history
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suited the Irish Free State
just fine.
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But across the border in
Northern Ireland, a different view
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of history was emerging.
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I grew up in County Monaghan,
along the border,
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so that makes me an Ulsterman.
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Oh, yes.
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And even though you mightn't
recognise the border
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as a geographical factor,
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politically it definitely
shapes you to some extent.
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When people hear you're from
Monaghan, from Ulster,
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00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,920
they assign you certain
characteristics.
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00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,880
They think of you as maybe dour
or deadpan or reserved.
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Watchful is the word I prefer.
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So it's fairly clear...
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..where you grew up
shapes your identity,
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00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,080
whether you like it or not.
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00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,520
So technically I'm an Ulsterman,
and now I'm headed to Belfast.
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In the wake of partition,
Northern Ireland began
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00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,840
to bolster its cultural
institutions.
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00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,920
In 1929, the Ulster Museum
opened,
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00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,800
and the state also brought in
some outside expertise.
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While Adolf Mahr was quickly
becoming the most important
206
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,560
archaeologist in
the Irish Free State,
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00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:08,120
another blow-in was settling
into a new life here in Belfast,
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00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,720
and he was to become the
most important archaeologist
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00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,280
north of the border,
and a rival to Herr Mahr.
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00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,920
So let's hear it for
Welshman Emyr Estyn Evans,
211
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,600
a famous professor
at Queen's University, Belfast.
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00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,160
All through Ireland,
213
00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,520
you have the remains of
circular enclosures
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00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,200
called raths or fairy forts.
215
00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,320
And round the corner
from the Ulster Museum is his home.
216
00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:39,880
Alun. Ardal. Hello.
217
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,720
Luckily, his son Alun
still lives here.
218
00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,760
I've come to have a good
nose through the old family archive.
219
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:51,080
And here...
220
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,280
For your interest. Thank you.
221
00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,480
Photographs from digs in the 1930s.
222
00:11:58,480 --> 00:11:59,960
Ah, lovely.
223
00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,760
Fast forward holiday snaps.
224
00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,520
Rather fetching old-fashioned
swimming costumes.
225
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:10,560
According to my mother,
he was very good looking,
226
00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:12,120
and I'm sure she was right.
227
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,520
Digging at Lyles Hill,
228
00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,360
which my father was excavating,
229
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:19,520
1937, '38.
230
00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,400
And this is Derry. Mm-hm.
231
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,400
And here we're here at Ach na Skia,
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00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,040
so obviously they were camping.
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00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,040
My mother as a young woman,
234
00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:30,840
my father as a young man.
235
00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,720
A Geographical Association
visit, 1933.
236
00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:38,680
And here we have Goward.
237
00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:41,520
This is in May 1932.
238
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,440
Was that the first time
he'd dug - in 1930?
239
00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,560
That's the first dig. Yes. Yeah.
240
00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:47,720
That took them six days.
241
00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,600
So it was a bit of a smash and grab,
by the sound of it. Yeah, yeah.
242
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:52,120
But...
243
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,280
So, Alun, how did your father
end up in Belfast?
244
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,800
He'd finished his basic degree
in Aberystwyth,
245
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,640
which was in anthropology
and geography,
246
00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,040
and a job came up.
247
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,200
He was interviewed
on his 23rd birthday
248
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,680
to set up a geography
department at Queen's,
249
00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:12,400
and was given the post.
250
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,960
He became interested
in archaeology
251
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,880
and basically started archaeology
252
00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,600
or revived archaeology
in the north of Ireland.
253
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,440
It must have been quite
an exciting time, I imagine,
254
00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,080
in Belfast - a relatively new state.
255
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,080
I guess people like your father
got a free run of things, really.
256
00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,040
Yeah, I think that is true.
257
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,040
It started off very much
on an amateur basis.
258
00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,240
The first dig at Goward,
his main helper was my mother,
259
00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:42,880
they'd been married a year,
260
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,480
and some more dedicated amateurs.
261
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,280
That was the start of it.
262
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:53,480
Estyn Evans wanted to trace
Ulster's early settlers by studying
263
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,880
the ancient megalithic court tombs
dotted around the landscape.
264
00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,600
And he had this particular interest
in these court graves
265
00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:02,400
or court tombs. Mm-hm.
266
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,600
What was his fascination there?
267
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:11,680
It was really an
intellectual challenge to decide
268
00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:14,120
what was their source.
269
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:19,400
Did they come across
from the east, across Scotland,
270
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,160
from northern Europe?
271
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,480
They were seen
to have a predominantly
272
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,760
northern distribution, and they were
interested in studying and finding
273
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:29,240
out all they could about them.
274
00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,200
And they... It probably took
an outsider to do that.
275
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:33,800
Yeah, I think it did.
276
00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:38,160
I believe it took an outsider
to really be interested
277
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,080
in the megalithic structures.
278
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:45,040
He seemed to discover
that the north-east of Ireland
279
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:49,720
had a special character that was
there long, long before partition.
280
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,200
A character all of its own.
281
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:56,320
Yeah. I mean, he did like
the north of this island.
282
00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,760
But it must have been incredibly
exciting, like, you know,
283
00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,360
stumbling upon a ruin
that was neglected.
284
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,680
Or wasn't even considered
to be a ruin.
285
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,440
It was just a pile of stones
in a field.
286
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,560
Probably nobody even knew
it was there.
287
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,280
And he comes across these sites
and he starts digging
288
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,200
with his friends and his wife,
289
00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:16,680
and he finds evidence
of prehistoric civilisation.
290
00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:22,000
The thing that drove him was just
an insatiable intellectual curiosity
291
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,800
to try and understand the past.
292
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:31,080
I think I need to see these piles
of stone for myself.
293
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:32,720
So I'm headed to County Down,
294
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,760
to the little town land of Goward.
295
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,640
This was the location
of Evans' very first dig.
296
00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,920
It would put Northern Ireland
firmly on the archaeological map.
297
00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:45,960
But for me, the Goward court tomb,
298
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,680
well, it's proving a bit
difficult to find.
299
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:51,600
So we take a left... Right here.
300
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,520
Where do we go? Left. Sorry.
301
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:54,560
Somewhere else?
302
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,280
Wrong way. Sorry. What?
303
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:07,520
This way.
304
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,760
Somewhere around here in 1932,
305
00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,840
Estyn Evans broke ground
on his first big dig,
306
00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,240
here in the foothills
of the Mourne Mountains.
307
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,800
I honestly don't think anyone
has been here since.
308
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:39,680
This is literally
the end of the world.
309
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,600
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me
if we actually find
310
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,520
some ancient Celts up here.
311
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,160
Now, Estyn Evans' digs may look
small and amateurish.
312
00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,360
Here at Goward, he had what
he described as meagre funding
313
00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,920
from the Belfast Natural History
and Philosophical Society.
314
00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:05,960
Big spenders.
315
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,960
But he made do, and did
valuable work with what he had.
316
00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:17,920
So Alun gave me this photograph -
317
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,920
it's his father and mother standing,
318
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:22,520
I think, exactly here.
319
00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,480
These stones once formed what's now
called a court tomb.
320
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,560
It's where Neolithic people
interred their dead
321
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,040
around 5,000 years ago.
322
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,480
Like myself, Estyn Evans
was fascinated by them.
323
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,120
This is a copy of the dig report.
324
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:45,600
It's just a few pages
describing the excavation.
325
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,360
Evans, he called this tomb
326
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:51,040
a horned cairn because the rocks
are laid out like devil's horns.
327
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:54,280
The report also lists
what Evans found -
328
00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,520
some pottery,
several quartzite pebbles,
329
00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,400
a good deal of charcoal,
an unworked burnt flint.
330
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:01,960
Hmm.
331
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:03,600
Pebbles and burnt flint.
332
00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,080
Not exactly Tutankhamun's tomb.
333
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,000
But interesting nonetheless.
334
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,840
It may sound underwhelming,
335
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,760
but Estyn's dig here at Goward
336
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:19,160
was the first scientific excavation
on a court tomb ever.
337
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,880
It was important because it actually
tried to map out the site
338
00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:26,680
and compare it to others.
339
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,240
But for Estyn, it also marked
the beginning of a grand theory -
340
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,560
that these Ulster megaliths
were built by people
341
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,360
with roots in Britain.
342
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:38,920
Most likely Scotland.
343
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,440
A few weeks after
Estyn Evans left Goward,
344
00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,600
the Harvard Mission
arrived in Ireland,
345
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,960
led by the esteemed
Hugh O'Neill Hencken -
346
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,880
an American professor
with both Irish and German roots.
347
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,480
His first dig
was in Ballinderry Bog,
348
00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,600
in County Westmeath.
349
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,840
The excavation was
anything but meagre.
350
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,640
This is the dig report
for Ballinderry.
351
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,480
It's long - 80 pages long.
352
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,800
Don't worry, I'm not going
to read the whole thing.
353
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,640
But at the start,
there's a special credit.
354
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,520
"The expedition excavates
in Ireland in cooperation
355
00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,720
"with and under the auspices
of the National Museum of Ireland,
356
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,640
"which has very kindly granted
every facility in assistance,
357
00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:26,240
"both in excavation
and museum study,
358
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,840
"through the kindness
of the director, Dr Adolf Mahr.
359
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,080
"Dr Mahr is also
called upon officially
360
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,040
"to inspect the excavations."
361
00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:37,800
Sounds like Dr Mahr is
a bit of a control freak.
362
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,240
The dig at Ballinderry was on
what's called a crannog -
363
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,120
man-made islands
thought at the time to be Celtic.
364
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:52,800
It was, for one thing,
an ancient Irish custom
365
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,080
to live on lake islands
366
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,680
or crannogs or lake dwellings.
367
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,400
Crannogs were well known here,
368
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,320
but I wonder what the
Harvard Mission made of them.
369
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,600
The Americans had never come
across a crannog before, I presume.
370
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,400
Hugh O'Neill Hencken,
what he actually said was,
371
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,080
"I learned how to dig a crannog
by digging a crannog."
372
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,920
It was the first scientifically
excavated crannog,
373
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,880
and it worked.
374
00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,360
They found 650 artefacts -
375
00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:27,560
from swords to pins
to ornate hanging bowls.
376
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,080
But the star find
was a strange one -
377
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,360
an ancient gaming board.
378
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:35,000
What Hencken said,
and others said at the time,
379
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,040
was it was some sort of
little war game.
380
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,960
A bit like checkers, or battleships.
Something like that.
381
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,440
Because as far as Hencken
was concerned,
382
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,360
the Celts were into their games.
383
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,840
This gaming board lit up
the international press.
384
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:53,520
One Chicago newspaper reported
it as, "A carved backgammon board,
385
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,400
"which was used 1,000 years
before Saint Patrick came along."
386
00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,400
Then, noted dryly,
387
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,680
"A couple of smashed skulls
were unearthed alongside.
388
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:08,120
"This would seem to point
at some ancient debate over rules."
389
00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:11,160
This was just ten years
after Tutankhamun's tomb
390
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:16,240
had been opened in Egypt, kicking
off a global craze for archaeology.
391
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,240
Ballinderry put Ireland on that map.
392
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:20,880
RECORD SCRATCH
393
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,880
But it almost didn't happen
394
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,000
because the dig was
actually rejected
395
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,320
by the Ancient Monuments
Council of Ireland.
396
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,400
Adolf wrote to a friend
about this dig.
397
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:32,920
I'm not going to do the accent.
398
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,560
"As I knew the Americans would not
399
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,120
"abuse my confidence
and were very capable diggers,
400
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:40,040
"I got so annoyed about
the stupidity of my council,
401
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:41,480
"that I simply broke the law
402
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,520
"of which I am supposed
to be the main watchdog.
403
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,440
"I gave them the best crannog
to excavate of which I knew."
404
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,280
Well, as they say, it's better
to ask for forgiveness
405
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:52,440
than permission.
406
00:21:55,880 --> 00:22:00,000
Like Estyn Evans, Adolf Mahr
was working on a grand theory.
407
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,800
But instead of Scotland,
408
00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,560
he was convinced Ireland's ancestors
stemmed from the Celtic tribes
409
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,800
of Europe, and that crannogs
represented Celtic architecture.
410
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,720
His contention was that
there was some pan-European culture.
411
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,920
Exactly. Like he believed that,
yeah,
412
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,520
that there was sort of
a pan-Celtic culture across Europe.
413
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,360
And that Ireland was the last
vestiges of this. Exactly.
414
00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:29,240
And that you were more likely
to get evidence for your pure Celtic
415
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:30,840
race here in Ireland.
416
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,080
Mahr loved the idea
of a grand Celtic race,
417
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,480
and thought the world
would love it too -
418
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,680
especially Irish Americans,
who were gaining
419
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,160
more and more clout in the US.
420
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,960
In 1932, the Yanks
were busy preparing
421
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,160
for the Chicago World's Fair -
422
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,560
an event not lost on Adolf Mahr.
423
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,840
Usually the headlines were
"ancient Celtic glory",
424
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:02,400
which Adolf Mahr was behind,
because he did the press release.
425
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,000
It came to the Chicago World Fair.
426
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,760
There was an exhibition called
427
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,000
A Century of Progress
in Irish Archaeology,
428
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,080
and these three objects,
they were put in them...
429
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,200
As evidence of a great
pre-Anglo Norman civilisation.
430
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,080
Well, what they called it
was evidence of the genius
431
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,080
of the Celtic race.
432
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,040
This Chicago World Fair was
433
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,240
obviously a pretty important event,
434
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:26,680
and it kind of put Ireland
435
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,000
on the map a little bit.
436
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,520
The whole idea was to show Americans
437
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,360
who were related
to the Celts by blood
438
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:37,360
what the genius of the Celtic race
was. And it kind of worked.
439
00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:40,680
It gave Irish-Americans particularly
a lot of pride in their roots.
440
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,440
Absolutely. Yeah, it did.
441
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,720
Another depiction of
ancient Ireland also landed
442
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,320
at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933.
443
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,600
Images taken by an Irish-American
who'd come back to the old country.
444
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,520
Robert Flaherty's documentary,
Man of Aran,
445
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,040
would kind of take
the world by storm.
446
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,840
I remember seeing this first
as a sneering student
447
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,800
in the 1980s, but even then,
I found it quite stirring.
448
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,760
Robert Flaherty came from Michigan,
but had an Irish father.
449
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,440
He was a very well established
and successful film maker.
450
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,280
He had first visited
the Aran Islands in 1931.
451
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,960
He spent nearly two years
on Inishmore -
452
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:25,960
the largest of the Aran Islands.
453
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,880
He's drawn to this idea
of an ancient civilisation
454
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,320
on the fringes of Europe.
455
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,760
You couldn't find a more
isolated and remote community.
456
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,640
The timing of this was interesting.
457
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:47,640
It satisfied that need for
recognition of the Irish struggle
458
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,200
of the Irish traditional
way of life,
459
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,640
of the heroic self-reliance
and self determination -
460
00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,280
that we would triumph, that
we would succeed against the odds.
461
00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,680
But under the surface,
not everything in Man Of Aran
462
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,240
was as it appeared.
463
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,400
What he is depicting is a way
of life that has actually ceased.
464
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:10,360
For example, the most famous scene
in Man Of Aran, the shark hunt,
465
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:12,680
the attempt to try and get
the shark with the harpoon.
466
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,120
Keep your head up.
467
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,120
They had long stopped
hunting in that way.
468
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:19,960
Too high. Take it out.
469
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:24,000
The actors who performed that role,
they had to be trained
470
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,680
in how this used to be done.
471
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:33,160
They're hunting the shark
for oil for lamps,
472
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,880
but electricity had
already come to Inishmore.
473
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,280
So Flaherty is conveniently
leaving out the modern world.
474
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,080
He's just idealising and
romanticising this primitive
way of life.
475
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,800
There is an idealisation
of the primitive way of life.
476
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,080
The climax of Man Of Aran is
a big storm through which the
477
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,920
Aran Islanders are rowing
to get home.
478
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,880
As you do.
479
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,280
But amidst the tempest,
480
00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,560
a prominent
Austrian lay just off camera.
481
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,320
Adolf Mahr with Gustav, his son,
482
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,880
was watching it from
a small steamship,
483
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,120
which must have been difficult,
484
00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:13,080
when you realise
the scale of the tempest.
485
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,160
Flaherty would have consulted
with Adolf Mahr.
486
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,880
Flaherty had to get a very strong
sense of the history that lay
487
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,000
behind what he was taking on.
488
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,800
Did Irish people flock
to see it themselves?
489
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,680
When you look at the Irish premiere,
490
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,360
Eamon de Valera is there
as head of government.
491
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:38,760
WB Yeats, Ireland's greatest
living poet, Nobel laureate.
492
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,200
This is a big deal.
493
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,520
It's showcasing
Irish self-sufficiency.
494
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,600
Adolf Mahr was also
at the Dublin premiere.
495
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,720
What he saw was the perfect
portrayal of his notion
496
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:53,600
of the ancient Irish Celt.
497
00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,280
Estyn Evans, researching
up in Belfast,
498
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,280
was always more precise
and factual in his conclusions.
499
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,200
The purpose of this mound
has never been explained,
500
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,480
and its excavation offers
exciting possibilities.
501
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:14,320
I also learned the upstanding
Queen's professor was not one
502
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,360
for romanticising the past.
503
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,600
In one of Estyn Evans' books,
I came across a telling line.
504
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,560
"I am no supporter of those who,
indulging in sentimental regrets
505
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,720
"for a Celtic twilight
of doubtful authenticity,
506
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:33,280
"find in the past a golden age
to which they would have us return."
507
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:34,320
Ooh!
508
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,720
I think it's fair to say that
Evans would not have been impressed
509
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,120
by Mahr's fixed notion
of the ancient Irish Celt.
510
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,960
Adolf Mahr was the undisputed
champion of archaeology
511
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:50,720
in the Irish Free State.
512
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,320
Estyn Evans was the champion
of archaeology in Northern Ireland.
513
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,640
But their views on Irish pre-history
couldn't be more different.
514
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:03,880
So it may seem strange that in 1934,
515
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:09,280
Mahr asked Evans to excavate a
court tomb for him in County Louth.
516
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,680
But Mahr knew Evans was the best man
for the job,
517
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,320
and court tombs were his speciality.
518
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,480
The location at Aghnaskeagh,
as described by Evans,
519
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:24,760
is classic rural Ireland.
520
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,400
Cairn A lies on the land
of the late Owen Matthews,
521
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,920
now occupied by Mrs Gray.
522
00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,040
But access to it was obtained
through the property of Mrs Keenan.
523
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,320
Today, the two sites are tucked
behind an old mushroom farm,
524
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,560
which is where American-born
archaeologist Matthew Stout
525
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,520
is attempting to locate them for me.
526
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,560
One, two, three, and maybe
a fourth one over there.
527
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,840
You had a cairn, and you had access
into the cairn
528
00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,240
through these galleries.
529
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,480
These galleries
would have been covered and open,
530
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,520
so you could have accessed them
generation after generation
531
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,720
for the burials. That's why the
emphasis was on tomb -
532
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,480
court tomb, passage tomb.
533
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:16,680
For Evans, excavating another court
tomb gave him more data as he worked
534
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,360
out his theories on where
the megalith builders came from.
535
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,680
Well, the dig at Aghnaskeagh
was different.
536
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,320
Here, he had resources -
537
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,120
men commandeered under a new
unemployment scheme
538
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,280
created by Eamon de Valera.
539
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,000
One of the things that Estyn Evans
liked about this site
540
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,200
was that it was circular,
541
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:41,520
and there are circular-type
gallery graves in Scotland.
542
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:46,040
For Evans, this was evidence
that the Neolithic people who built
543
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,440
this megalith were from Scotland.
544
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:54,560
Behind me, you can see the mountain,
which marks the border
545
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,160
with Northern Ireland.
546
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,920
Over that mountain,
in that direction,
547
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,000
you have Carlingford Lough.
548
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,360
He believed that this was the entry
point for the Neolithic settlers
549
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:11,480
that came from Scotland
up into the northeast of Ireland.
550
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:15,560
In contrast, he thought
that Neolithic settlers in the south
551
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,160
came up the River Boyne.
552
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,680
His idea was that the boundary
stretched back to prehistoric times.
553
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,360
That was mirrored in the fact
554
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,680
that you had one type of prehistoric
culture in the north,
555
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,680
which was people who built
court tombs,
556
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,680
and the other type
of prehistoric culture in the south
557
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,320
were the people
who built passage tombs.
558
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:42,560
Estyn Evans saw court tombs
as distributed coast-to-coast
559
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,800
across the whole northern half
of the island.
560
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:48,960
But in Matthew Stout's opinion,
561
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:50,600
how others used his theories
562
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,480
was beyond Evans' control.
563
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:57,160
Now, Evans was a man of fierce
integrity, and there's no question
564
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:01,800
that he would have altered
his opinions to suit the needs
565
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,480
of the six-county government.
566
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,320
But it just so happened that the
theories that he genuinely held
567
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:12,280
suited the idea that the six
counties of Ireland were always
568
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:15,080
separate from the rest of Ireland.
569
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:20,320
However, Evans was also concerned
about the direction archaeology
570
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,200
was taking in the Irish Free State.
571
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,720
He was very conscious of the work
that was being done
572
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:32,680
in the Free State to focus all the
attention on the Celtic period.
573
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,160
He rejected the arguments
of racial purity.
574
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,760
He wasn't going to get involved
in the whole idea of the Celts
575
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,560
or the master races or anything
like that.
576
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,480
But that meant he never got
involved in the theories
577
00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:48,640
that maybe Adolf Mahr might have
been interested in pursuing
578
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,480
when he brought
the Harvard team over.
579
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,600
Racial purity?
580
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,440
Hmm.
581
00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:58,400
Just what was Adolf Mahr
and the Harvard Mission
582
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,760
getting up to on this island?
583
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,680
It doesn't sound much
like archaeology.
584
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,320
Here in Trinity College Dublin's
old anatomy building,
585
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,560
I have a feeling
I'm about to find out.
586
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:15,920
Hello. How are you, Ardal?
587
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:17,960
Nice to see you.
588
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,400
What is going on here?
589
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:23,080
Well, these are some instruments -
craniometers, or callipers -
590
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:28,960
and we have a small collection
from 1891 when the anthropometric
591
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,600
laboratory was set up.
592
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,400
The Dublin Anthropometric Laboratory
593
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,520
opened in the last decade
of the 19th century
594
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,960
to scientifically study
the Irish race,
595
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:42,840
whatever that means.
596
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,800
Like, what is anthropometry?
597
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:49,320
It is basically skull measuring
and body measuring.
598
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,320
Colour of your eye,
your hair colour,
599
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,640
cranial length, cranial breadth,
600
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:54,960
cranial height,
601
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:56,360
face length, face breadth,
602
00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:57,680
height, standing weight.
603
00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:58,840
But to what end?
604
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:02,280
To what end...
605
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,880
..is to find out
the variations in people.
606
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,320
By the 1930s, when the Harvard
mission arrived,
607
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,600
anthropometry was no longer
an emerging theory.
608
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,680
It was seen as established science.
609
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,800
And so, fast forward a few decades,
and then the Harvard Mission came
610
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,360
over and they were ostensibly
archaeologists.
611
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:26,880
But what were they up to?
612
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,280
Did they kind of introduce a
bit of this anthropometry as well?
613
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,680
Yeah. So there was three strands
to the Harvard Mission,
614
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:34,760
and this was the physical
anthropology strand.
615
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,360
And at the top of that strand
is Earnest Hooton,
616
00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,080
who's a Harvard anthropologist.
He sets up a research team.
617
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:41,920
There's two people in it -
618
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,160
Helen Dawson and
Clarence Wesley Dupertuis.
619
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,560
They come over in 1934 and 1936,
620
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,080
and what they arrive to do
is sample,
621
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,000
as best they could, the entire
population of Ireland.
622
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,240
The Harvard Mission's Anthropometric
Survey took place in every county
623
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,320
in the Irish Free State
and Northern Ireland.
624
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,480
It meant quite a lot of travelling.
625
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:08,600
Clarence Dupertuis covered 45,000
miles by car, and Helen Dawson,
626
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:12,480
she travels the countryside by bike
and she surveys 1,800 females.
627
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,159
Altogether surveyed almost
12,000 people.
628
00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:18,000
Not sure how I'd convince
someone to take part
629
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,920
in a skull-measuring survey.
630
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:24,040
His method is to find what he calls
his "rounders up and whippers in".
631
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,679
So he relies on a kind of informal
network of Garda Siochana,
632
00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:29,360
of parish priests.
633
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,800
They'll be expected to go
round up local men.
634
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,400
I think they probably turn up
because it sounds like it's a bit
635
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,639
of craic or it's a novelty.
Weren't paid?
636
00:34:37,639 --> 00:34:40,920
No, they're not paid.
Not even a pint? No!
637
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:42,560
WHEELS CREAK
638
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:43,840
BELL RINGS
639
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:47,480
Helen Dawson realises that a rumour
has gone around
640
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,920
that she's a Hollywood agent
scouting for new talent,
641
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,960
and all of a sudden, loads of young
Irish girls appear
642
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,639
and are quite happy to have their
head measured.
643
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,880
OK, Siobhan, I can't put
it off any longer.
644
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:02,640
I need to know who I am.
645
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,360
I know there's some instructions
on the back of this sheet.
646
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,320
Oh, she's only reading
the instructions now!
647
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,680
The Harvard Mission undertook
their surveys in many
648
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,520
towns and villages.
649
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,760
They even took photographs
of the local specimens,
650
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:20,600
which looked strangely criminal.
651
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:23,760
Not sure how I feel about all this.
652
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,680
We have to do a little calculation,
155,
653
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:30,080
multiply by 100
and then divided by 200.
654
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,440
We come up with a cephalic index
of 77.5.
655
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,680
So you are a middle classification,
which is probably great
656
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:38,880
just to think that you're normal.
Yeah.
657
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,240
So I'm average, right in the middle.
658
00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:45,360
Maybe because I grew up
on the border.
659
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,520
But what about the conclusions
of the Harvard Mission -
660
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,920
that all this data says
something about us
661
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:52,960
as a so-called "Celtic race"?
662
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,360
And did they find anything? They
recorded everybody's measurements.
663
00:35:56,360 --> 00:36:00,480
So what we have is, you know, boxes
and boxes of forms, just like this.
664
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:03,080
You know, 12,000 of them.
What use are they to us?
665
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:05,800
If we want to know what the physical
measurements of people
666
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,680
were in the 1930s, they're great.
667
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,560
If we want to know what makes them
distinctively racially Irish,
668
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:11,880
they're not worth anything.
669
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,720
Like, were the intentions
noble at the time?
670
00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:20,000
I mean, it sounds suspiciously
like what we now know as eugenics.
671
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,280
Eugenics is... Really the idea
behind it is that there's a sort
672
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:25,880
of a hierarchy of races.
673
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,840
So at the top were Aryan
populations, Nordic populations,
674
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,560
white populations... Tied up
with notions of nationalism...
675
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,640
Absolutely, yeah. ..race.
676
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,440
So it justified a sort of racialist
thinking that sort of advocated
677
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,200
that there were superior
humans and inferior humans.
678
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:43,960
I mean, it's creepy stuff.
679
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,000
It's very dubious, isn't it?
Sinister.
680
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,200
And ultimately, I suppose Nazi
genocide is the ultimate outcome.
681
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,320
It's the end of the spectrum.
682
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,000
Let me just remind you -
683
00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,400
the Harvard Mission's visit...
684
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:00,560
DRAMATIC MUSIC
685
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,040
..took place in the 1930s.
686
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,040
MUSSOLINI SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
687
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,000
PATRIOTIC MUSIC PLAYS
688
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,800
Benito Mussolini's brand of fascism
had already been rooted in Italy
689
00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,000
for over a decade.
690
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,800
And in 1934,
691
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,360
the often angry and alarmingly
popular Adolf Hitler,
692
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,040
swept along
by his now infamous rallies,
693
00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,000
was named Fuhrer in Germany.
694
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:30,200
Extreme nationalist governments
were on the rise.
695
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,040
So what was happening here?
696
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,000
1934 was a good year for Ireland,
697
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,160
well, at least for Adolf Mahr.
698
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,000
The Harvard Mission was furiously
digging up sites
699
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,560
right across the island.
700
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:45,920
Man of Aran won the Mussolini Cup
for Best Foreign Film
701
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:47,840
at the Venice Film Festival.
702
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,800
And, oh, a Nazi Party
was founded in Ireland
703
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,120
with Adolf Mahr as its first
Ortsgruppenleiter,
704
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:57,120
or branch leader.
705
00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:01,200
Ireland's Nazi Party, like others
around the world,
706
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,320
was made up of Austrian
and German expats,
707
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,360
many of whom held powerful
positions like Adolf Mahr.
708
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,400
They'd meet together at the German
Social Club or at a German-owned
709
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,560
hotel in County Wicklow.
710
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,520
Nothing to be alarmed about.
711
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:20,360
Here's how the Irish press covered
an Irish Nazi youth camp.
712
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:24,080
"Hitler Youth.
County Dublin holiday camp ends.
713
00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,200
"A party of Hitler Youth
who had been in camp for a fortnight
714
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:30,080
"at Hampton Hall between Skerries
and Balbriggan, County Dublin,
715
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,520
"dispersed yesterday when the German
legation officials
716
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:35,680
"paid them a farewell visit.
717
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,400
"The party numbered about 25 boys
and girls, most of them children
718
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,720
"of Germans living in Dublin, some
from England and a few from Germany.
719
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,800
"A portrait of Hitler
hung inside the house,
720
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:51,000
"while over the porch, crossed flags
of Germany and the Hitler Youth
721
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,160
"were entwined with palms."
722
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:58,800
"As part of the programme, Adolf
Mahr himself, he had taken the youth
723
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,200
"on a cultural tour of Ireland
visiting historic sites such as
724
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,440
"Newgrange, where they looked
at the passage tomb."
725
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,200
Yeah. Sounds like your typical
week at summer camp!
726
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,080
So, as far as the media
was concerned,
727
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,160
the Hitler Youth
was all a bit of fun.
728
00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:21,800
While Mahr was busy building
his Irish Nazi Party,
729
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:25,160
the Director of the Harvard
mission, Hugh O'Neill Hencken,
730
00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,760
and his Indiana Jones-styled
assistant, Hallam Movius,
731
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,280
began a new search. An attempt
to bring them face-to-face
732
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,960
with the earliest inhabitants
on the island,
733
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:39,280
men and women who they believed
lived around 10,000 years ago
734
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:41,080
in the Palaeolithic era.
735
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,560
Kilgreany Cave in County Waterford
736
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:51,480
had been excavated in 1928,
making headlines across the country
737
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:55,040
because, well, they found
Palaeolithic human bones.
738
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,640
Or at least they thought they did.
739
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:01,080
The Harvard Mission went
back to make sure.
740
00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:06,680
So Hallam L Movius, who is the
Palaeolithic archaeologist,
741
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:12,000
went there in 1934 to see if he
could recover more material.
742
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,960
The rugged Hallam Movius
743
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,720
and the Harvard Mission arrived with
an army of excavators
744
00:40:18,720 --> 00:40:20,960
from de Valera's
unemployment scheme.
745
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:25,400
Very quickly, he started suspecting
the 1928 archaeologists
746
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:27,640
weren't up to the task.
747
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:31,200
Now, he wasn't very happy
with the previous excavator,
748
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:34,000
EK Tratman, because he was a dentist
749
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,760
and he was one of these, you know...
750
00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:38,400
He was just looking for teeth!
751
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:39,880
He... No!
752
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:41,720
Like, he was with
Bristol University,
753
00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:45,120
but he wasn't a trained
archaeologist. More of a dabbler.
754
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,880
Yeah. And you would have had a lot
of people like that in the '20s
755
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:52,240
and '30s where they'd have
an interest in archaeology,
756
00:40:52,240 --> 00:40:54,960
but they wouldn't have the training
to back it up.
757
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,920
Movius was very unhappy,
so he did a much more scientific
758
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:03,000
excavation and found that
the Palaeolithic man turned out
759
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,040
to be a Neolithic man.
760
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:09,800
That is, the bones were around
5,000 years younger than thought.
761
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,040
Once again, the results made
headline news,
762
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:14,880
but not in a good way.
763
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:17,920
So they didn't find the earliest
Irishman in the Kilgreany...
764
00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:18,960
Damn it!
765
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,840
Hallam L Movius
and the Harvard Mission
766
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:26,840
now had to reframe their search.
767
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,240
It meant that the oldest evidence
for people on the island
768
00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,240
was in Northern Ireland.
769
00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:35,400
Objects formed by humans
were found in their thousands.
770
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:39,680
Flints, tiny flints - just like
the ones I passed in there
771
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:41,640
without giving them a second glance.
772
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:49,320
So the Harvard Mission headed north
to Cushendun in County Antrim.
773
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:52,360
Because while flint sounds
boring to me,
774
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:56,400
for those studying the Stone Age,
they're pure gold.
775
00:41:56,400 --> 00:42:01,160
Where you find flints, you find
the people who used them as tools.
776
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,520
So the handsome Hallam Movius began
a series of digs
777
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,120
where flints
are practically lying around.
778
00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:10,440
There were quite a lot of
779
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:14,080
middle-Stone Age flint tools
found in this bay
780
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:15,480
and the surrounding area.
781
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,800
And, of course, all along
the East Antrim coast.
782
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,560
There might be just a chance I might
pick one up as we walk along here,
783
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,600
but so far I haven't seen anything.
784
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:27,320
Cormac McSparron is an archaeologist
from Queen's University, Belfast.
785
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:31,240
He's excavated at Cushendun before,
so he knows what to look for.
786
00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:33,760
Upriver from the beach
787
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,120
is where Hallam Movius dug -
788
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:39,960
a long grown-over site Cormac is
attempting to find
789
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:41,960
using the dig report.
790
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,080
It's reasonably clear.
791
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:47,960
We've got the Dun River
on this side of us.
792
00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:52,400
Movius's site is located at about
100 feet or 30 metres,
793
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,560
roughly, from the point down there.
794
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,240
What Movius had stumbled upon by
accident, really,
795
00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:03,040
was something which was really quite
well stratified.
796
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:07,640
The uppermost strata is going
to be the most recent, and the
797
00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:10,240
lowermost one is going to be
the most ancient.
798
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:13,800
And Movius was able to dig
into this bank
799
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:17,320
and get the stratification
going down.
800
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:20,920
Several thousand years,
actually, of stratification.
801
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:23,280
Through silts and sands
802
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,680
and another layer of salt,
and then finally
803
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:27,280
a layer of postglacial peat,
804
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,360
five or six metres
of open excavation.
805
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:34,320
Huge amount of work done manually,
of course, but nowadays
806
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,280
we'd be thinking serious
health and safety headache!
807
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:40,040
Ah, health and safety gone mad!
808
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:42,680
Looks to me like a bit of craic!
809
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:46,280
But what Movius found in the strata
at Cushendun
810
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,160
was like striking gold.
811
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,800
Most of what he found
was flint tools -
812
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:54,280
large, broad-bladed, flint points.
813
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:59,000
You can sort of see they've been
trimmed here to fit onto a shaft.
814
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:03,440
They're very sharp even after,
you know, 6,000, 7,000 years spent
815
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:05,080
on the ground before it was found.
816
00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:08,360
This is still really, really sharp,
still a very effective tool
817
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:11,960
or weapon, or most likely, probably
for hunting, to be honest with you.
818
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:15,960
And fishing - you could spear
things of all sorts with this.
819
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:20,240
Having discovered his cache of
flints, Movius began to work out
820
00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:22,600
where the people that use
them came from.
821
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:24,480
His money was on Scotland.
822
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:27,760
He called it the "Larnian Culture".
823
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,640
And this Larnian Culture had
similarities, he thought,
824
00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:34,800
to some Mesolithic material
in the west of Scotland.
825
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:39,800
And he thought that it was likely
that they were related in some way.
826
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:43,960
So the Larnian Culture, named
after the good town of Larne,
827
00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:47,400
were the first settlers in Ireland,
and they came from Scotland,
828
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,600
according to
Harvard's Hallam Movius.
829
00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:54,840
Down in Dublin, Adolf Mahr
didn't agree.
830
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:57,160
Adolf Mahr had a sort of
competing theory.
831
00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:01,000
He believed that it was possible
to link early Irish pre-history
832
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:03,240
with wider European archaeology.
833
00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:08,840
His model stood in stark contrast
to the model of Hallam Movius.
834
00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:11,800
Estyn Evans' theories, though
working in a different era,
835
00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:14,560
supported Hallam Movius.
836
00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:19,800
He very much also tended to tie
Ireland, generally, into a sort of
837
00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:23,000
a more Irish and British milieu,
838
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,840
rather than a continental milieu.
839
00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,720
Hmm... Britain or Europe.
Who to believe?
840
00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:30,120
Who to trust?
841
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:31,960
What do you think, Cormac?
842
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,880
The nation, the origin
is a tenuous concept, at best.
843
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,240
It's extremely difficult to tie
down, but it doesn't mean
844
00:45:39,240 --> 00:45:43,520
that sometimes archaeologists
have not got drawn into that.
845
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:46,920
By 1935,
846
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:49,960
time was running out
for the Harvard Mission.
847
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:54,320
Their five-year plan was nearly
over, but not before they'd
848
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:56,320
excavated nearly 20 sites
849
00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:59,160
from County Cork to County Antrim
850
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:00,800
and everywhere in between.
851
00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:04,360
So the Harvard Mission had done
its job,
852
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:06,920
filling the museum in Dublin
full of artefacts
853
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,280
and impressing the
archaeological world
854
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:12,040
with new theories
and incredible discoveries.
855
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:14,400
But they'd never carried out
a dig here in County Sligo,
856
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,200
where Hugh O'Neill Hencken
first fallen for the mysteries
857
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:19,080
of Irish archaeology.
858
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:20,960
Now was his chance.
859
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,600
Hencken chose a court tomb
860
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:26,080
located on Sligo's western shore,
861
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:27,880
a site named Creevykeel.
862
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:33,960
The tomb was similar to the one
Estyn Evans had dug in County Down.
863
00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:39,520
But while Goward looked like a set
of 1930s teeth with a few missing,
864
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:43,720
Creevykeel was an American-style
set of dentures -
865
00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:47,360
intact, perfectly preserved,
gleaming.
866
00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:53,040
Local expert Martin Byrne
has come to give me the grand tour.
867
00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:56,080
It really survived unmolested
and un-dug, suppose,
868
00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:58,120
until the Harvard Mission arrived
in 1935.
869
00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,280
So that may be one of the reasons
why they picked it,
870
00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:03,880
was because it was in such good
condition and it hadn't been
871
00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:06,680
dug by treasure hunters.
872
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:12,200
In July 1935, Hencken and his men
began digging at Creevykeel.
873
00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:18,040
When they started, the tallest stone
stood barely a metre above ground.
874
00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:22,920
Within days, gigantic boulders
rose from the earth.
875
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:25,560
As it emerged, Hugh O'Neill Hencken
876
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:28,560
tried to make sense of the
court tomb as best he could.
877
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:30,040
There's an interesting story
878
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,800
about the capstone leading into
the chamber. Three local brothers
879
00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,240
were bored one day, and they
came and they pushed it over.
880
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:38,920
And the locals all told Hencken
that it used to stand upright,
881
00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:41,000
but he didn't believe
it ever stood upright
882
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:42,880
so he put it back lying flat.
883
00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:45,360
And it's actually the most dangerous
thing on the site here,
884
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:48,360
because everybody who goes into that
chamber cracks their head off it.
885
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,840
Will we put it back the way it was?
886
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:55,920
No. I don't think so, not today.
887
00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:02,440
I'm still unclear about
who actually built these megaliths.
888
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:06,480
Are we talking about the Celts?
I mean, are these people Celts?
889
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:07,680
RECORD SCRATCH
890
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:10,880
When I studied archaeology,
we were told, "There's no such
thing as the Celts."
891
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:13,560
And when you're a tour guide, you
have to be very careful talking to
892
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:16,200
people, particularly from America.
Some people get very upset.
893
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:18,960
No, these people were way, way
before what we would have considered
894
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:20,520
to be the Celts even.
895
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:23,880
The Corcoran people are thought
to have migrated through the Balkans
896
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,240
and followed the line of the Danube,
and ended up in France.
897
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:31,160
Then you have lots of people
going up the east coast of England,
898
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:33,920
and you have people coming up
the Irish Sea and you have people
899
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:36,480
coming up around the west coast
of Ireland as well.
900
00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:43,200
So these are German-French court
tombs. But what about Scotland?
901
00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:45,760
Evans was right. There were people
who came over from Scotland
902
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:47,280
and build those kind of monuments,
903
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:49,080
and people who came
from France as well.
904
00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:52,720
The people who came from Scotland
originally came from France anyway.
905
00:48:52,720 --> 00:48:54,640
So...everyone's right.
906
00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:57,720
Estyn Evans in Northern Ireland,
907
00:48:57,720 --> 00:48:59,520
Adolf Mahr in Dublin,
908
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:02,800
the Americans
with the Harvard Mission.
909
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:04,680
I visited these sites.
910
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,320
I've read the reports.
911
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:09,720
I've tried to get my head around
exactly what these places are
912
00:49:09,720 --> 00:49:15,720
and how they relate to my identity
as an Irishman and an Ulsterman.
913
00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:19,120
But I need more to go on.
I need a geneticist.
914
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:24,320
So, essentially,
you study old bones.
915
00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:27,080
Yes. To summarise, yes. Sorry!
916
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:31,720
Dr Lara Cassidy
is an expert in ancient DNA.
917
00:49:31,720 --> 00:49:33,680
If anyone can help me, she can.
918
00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:36,200
Would you like some gloves?
If you want to hold a sample.
919
00:49:36,200 --> 00:49:38,920
I suppose I should, really,
shouldn't I? OK.
920
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:42,280
So this is a petrous bone.
921
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:45,400
So can you see how this might
fit on your skull?
922
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:47,840
I'm hoping Lara can tell me
who I am
923
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:51,240
and how I relate
to my ancient ancestors.
924
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:54,520
We've been studying at the Harvard
Mission to Ireland in the 1930s,
925
00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:57,240
and then there was a guy up in
Northern Ireland called Estyn Evans
926
00:49:57,240 --> 00:50:00,600
who was racing around different
historic monuments
927
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:03,680
to try and find out, you know,
who our ancestors were. Mm.
928
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:05,160
So who do you think built them?
929
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,280
Like, who built Creevykeel,
for example?
930
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:10,360
Some very talented, uh...
Stonemasons.
931
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:12,640
Well, and a community, I think.
932
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:16,400
How did they relate to us
living on the island today?
933
00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:18,320
SHE CHUCKLES
934
00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:23,640
Distantly. The idea that the Irish
population has existed in some type
935
00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:29,120
of crystalline state going back
into the deep and distant past is...
936
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:32,280
Really? Yeah.
Very disappointing, Lara.
937
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:36,000
So our sacred sites weren't built
by the Irish at all,
938
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,320
at least genetically speaking.
939
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:41,920
So what about me? Am I Irish?
940
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:46,440
The modern-day Irish population
can trace its origins probably back
941
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:49,840
to a foundational event that
happened in the early Bronze Age.
942
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:55,720
Give me a date.
4,000 to 4,500 years ago.
943
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,120
And it's a movement of populations
944
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:04,400
from the Steppe region
of modern-day Russia.
945
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:08,480
If you're looking for an "origin"
for the modern Irish gene pool,
946
00:51:08,480 --> 00:51:10,400
that's your foundation point.
Really?
947
00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:12,480
VOICEOVER: So I'm Russian?
948
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:15,240
Like, if you were to compare
our DNA with the DNA of someone
949
00:51:15,240 --> 00:51:18,160
from the Steppes now... Yeah.
..would there be similarities?
950
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:21,000
No. Because you can't think
that the Steppe region of Russia
951
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,680
has stayed the same either.
Because many of us were brought up
952
00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:25,560
with this, like, very strong idea
953
00:51:25,560 --> 00:51:28,000
that we were descended
from the Celts.
954
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:31,120
But you have to be so careful
in studies of archaeology,
955
00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:33,880
anything about the human past
and genetics,
956
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:37,480
and researchers definitely
have the tendency
957
00:51:37,480 --> 00:51:39,840
to bring their own subjectivities
into it.
958
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,640
Well, they did in the 1930s.
959
00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:45,320
And it's a dangerous game,
this whole, like, you know,
960
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:48,480
where nationalism played a
huge part.
961
00:51:48,480 --> 00:51:50,640
What are your findings about race,
generally?
962
00:51:53,280 --> 00:51:56,800
Race is not a genetic concept.
It's not a biological concept.
963
00:51:56,800 --> 00:51:59,520
It is a social construct.
964
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:04,280
People sometimes think that genes
or genetics are a more fixed anchor
965
00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:06,480
of identity than, say,
a culture or a language.
966
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,840
We know culture and language
changes all the time,
967
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:11,120
but so do genetic populations.
968
00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:13,440
They're ephemeral,
they're fluid, they're changing,
969
00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:16,160
their boundaries are fuzzy.
And people are always moving,
970
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:19,040
they're migrating,
meeting and mixing.
971
00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:25,080
As a species, we have an incredibly
recent shared evolutionary history.
972
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:28,080
We all trace our homeland
back to Africa.
973
00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:36,600
VOICEOVER: Hmm. Russian, French,
Scottish, Irish and African.
974
00:52:38,120 --> 00:52:41,360
And where do you think we come from?
It's a different answer
975
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:44,920
whatever sort of lens you put on it.
Like, where do I come from?
976
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:48,160
Where did my parents come from?
Yeah. My great-grandparents?
977
00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:50,680
500 years ago?
978
00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:53,840
5 million years ago?
979
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:56,200
I suppose you can think
whatever you want to think.
980
00:52:56,200 --> 00:52:59,200
That's the wonderful thing
about human identity, isn't it?
981
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:01,040
We can we can make our own
982
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:03,920
and we can make our own
as a society as well.
983
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:06,520
But the thing that unites
them isn't their genes,
984
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:08,720
isn't their culture,
isn't even their language.
985
00:53:08,720 --> 00:53:11,680
It's calling this island home.
986
00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:14,040
If you're talking about looking
for anchors of identity,
987
00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:16,400
that's a really nice one.
988
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:25,560
The 1930s, however, didn't
have the data from Lara's work
989
00:53:25,560 --> 00:53:29,280
on ancient DNA, nor did it
have her open-mindedness.
990
00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:35,160
In September 1939,
war was declared on Nazi Germany,
991
00:53:35,160 --> 00:53:40,120
starting a conflict that would shake
most people's faith in humanity.
992
00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:43,880
Adolf Hitler's actions,
particularly the Holocaust,
993
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:49,240
shattered any notions of a
scientifically studied pure race.
994
00:53:49,240 --> 00:53:54,120
In Ireland, the idea of a pure
Celtic race sort of slipped away.
995
00:53:56,600 --> 00:53:58,600
As did Adolf Mahr.
996
00:53:59,960 --> 00:54:05,400
In July 1939, Mahr travelled to
Germany for an academic conference
997
00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:09,120
and to attend a Nazi rally
in Nuremberg.
998
00:54:09,120 --> 00:54:10,720
He stayed in Germany.
999
00:54:10,720 --> 00:54:13,840
At one point, he made Nazi
propaganda radio programmes
1000
00:54:13,840 --> 00:54:16,240
targeting British
and Irish audiences.
1001
00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:19,840
A job that didn't exactly
bolster his reputation.
1002
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:27,440
After the war, Adolf Mahr tried
to get back into Ireland,
1003
00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:29,080
to take up his old job.
1004
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:31,360
He wrote begging letters
to everybody he knew,
1005
00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:35,680
including this one
to Eamon de Valera in 1947.
1006
00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:39,640
"It is now well over two years
since the cessation of hostilities,
1007
00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:43,240
"half the duration of the shooting
war, and I am still here.
1008
00:54:43,240 --> 00:54:46,480
"I have ever since frantically tried
to enlist the support of the Dublin
1009
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:50,000
"authorities in my endeavours
to get back to my unfinished work,
1010
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:52,760
"which I consider to be
the vocation of my life.
1011
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:55,880
"So far, I have met with no success.
1012
00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:58,680
"I can naturally understand
that my past political sympathies
1013
00:54:58,680 --> 00:55:02,400
"and the general situation
render my case somewhat delicate.
1014
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:04,920
"But I beg Your Excellency
to consider also
1015
00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:06,920
"the extenuating factors.
1016
00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:10,800
"I do not and I cannot deny
that I thought it my patriotic duty
1017
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:13,880
"to join the Party, and that
I honestly believe that it stood
1018
00:55:13,880 --> 00:55:15,960
"for the common good of all Europe.
1019
00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:19,160
"This was an error of judgment,
but it was not in contradiction
1020
00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:22,800
"to the loyalty and love which
I felt equally for your country,
1021
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:26,920
"which had given me hospitality and
an honoured scientific position."
1022
00:55:28,080 --> 00:55:31,960
But by this time, Adolf Mahr
had become a figure to forget.
1023
00:55:31,960 --> 00:55:35,600
No-one would touch him,
not least Eamon de Valera.
1024
00:55:36,600 --> 00:55:42,120
Mahr died in Germany in 1951. He was
still hoping to get back to Ireland.
1025
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:49,000
Estyn Evans spent the war
in Northern Ireland
1026
00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:51,000
teaching at Queen's.
1027
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:54,000
He also wrote popular books
about Ireland's heritage
1028
00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:57,320
and eventually helped found
the Ulster Folk Park.
1029
00:55:57,320 --> 00:56:01,800
He even did the odd spot
of presenting for the BBC.
1030
00:56:03,080 --> 00:56:06,320
This structure is what
archaeologists call a souterrain.
1031
00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:08,840
One thing I wondered, though -
1032
00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:12,320
did Estyn Evans
ever mention Adolf Mahr?
1033
00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:14,680
So I asked his son, Alun.
1034
00:56:14,680 --> 00:56:17,000
It's well known
that Mahr was a Nazi.
1035
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:21,720
My father noticed Mahr's interest
in airfields and coastal regions...
1036
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:23,040
HE LAUGHS
1037
00:56:23,040 --> 00:56:25,400
So they had a relationship,
of sorts. Yes.
1038
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,160
And they respected each other
1039
00:56:27,160 --> 00:56:29,680
because Mahr was a trained
archaeologist. Mm-hm.
1040
00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:32,560
He was about 20 years old,
my father.
1041
00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:37,680
But they were both very interested
in developing the techniques.
1042
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:42,520
But Alun also told me a story
that suggests
1043
00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:45,480
things could have been
very different had Adolf Mahr
1044
00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:48,640
and Adolf Hitler
gotten their way.
1045
00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:53,000
My father was very surprised when
a senior archaeologist in Dublin
1046
00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:54,840
told him that Mahr had commented
1047
00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:57,880
that Estyn would make
an excellent Gauleiter,
1048
00:56:57,880 --> 00:57:03,560
for a mayor for the north
of Ireland when the great day came.
1049
00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:06,360
But the great day didn't come.
Thankfully.
1050
00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:16,520
Instead, Estyn Evans had a long
and illustrious career,
1051
00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:19,160
becoming a household name
in Northern Ireland.
1052
00:57:19,160 --> 00:57:22,480
And he never went back to Wales.
1053
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:28,720
It makes for a strange sort of Irish
story without any Irish characters.
1054
00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:31,080
Adolf Mahr, Estyn Evans,
1055
00:57:31,080 --> 00:57:34,080
Hugh O'Neill Hencken, Hallam Movius.
1056
00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:38,280
They dug up this island,
excavated a warehouse of treasures,
1057
00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:43,360
and went some way to decoding
our mysterious megaliths.
1058
00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:45,440
Yet, it's a forgotten tale
1059
00:57:45,440 --> 00:57:50,640
because it happened in the 1930s.
A dark chapter of history.
1060
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:53,240
But we should remember
1061
00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:58,520
they pioneered archaeology
on this island as we know it today.
1062
00:58:02,680 --> 00:58:05,400
But I have to admit,
I'm slightly disappointed
1063
00:58:05,400 --> 00:58:08,640
that there's no definitive evidence
of an ancient and pure
1064
00:58:08,640 --> 00:58:11,920
Celtic culture from which
I might be descended.
1065
00:58:11,920 --> 00:58:15,280
Of course, I'm not going
to be swayed by mere science.
1066
00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:19,600
No. Like most people north
and south, I prefer stories.
1067
00:58:19,600 --> 00:58:22,520
Stories rooted in the landscape
of the mind.
1068
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:26,320
Because that's where these
comforting origin myths arise,
1069
00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:29,200
in the sometimes absurd
and often baffling tales
1070
00:58:29,200 --> 00:58:33,040
that we tell ourselves about
who we are and where we came from.