The neolithic passage tomb landscape of Co Sligo, the Transatlantic Cable in Valentia, Co Kerry, and royal sites of Ireland, like the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary, have moved one step closer to being considered UNESCO World Heritage sites.
They are included in the new World Heritage Tentative List for Ireland, announced by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Tentative List is an inventory of natural and cultural heritage sites that can demonstrate outstanding universal value considered suitable for nomination to the World Heritage List.
Six applications were received by the June 2021 deadline and an expert evaluation process resulted in three sets of sites being included on the new tentative list.
The Neolithic Passage Tomb Landscape of Co Sligo represents the most westerly and one of the most dramatic expressions of the construction of ritual monuments across Europe between five and six millennia ago.
The Transatlantic Cable Ensemble: Valentia-Heart's Content is a transnational serial site comprising the two shore-end termini (cable stations) of the world’s first permanent trans-oceanic submarine electric telegraph.
The successful submarine connection of the cable between Europe and North America in the 1860s marked the emergence of Ireland’s modern global telecommunications era.
The laying of copper cable at the time was an "extraordinary accomplishment", Leonard Hobbs, Chair of the Valentia Transatlantic Cable Foundation said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Hobbs said the feat equated to "putting a man on the moon at the time".
The third nomination - Royal Sites of Ireland - is comprised of up to six sites.
From the eighth century BC, Navan Fort, Dún Ailinne, the Rock of Cashel, and Rathcroghan, have been the traditional royal centres of the four provinces, together with Tara, the seat of the High Kings, and the Hill of Uisneach, the symbolic central point of Ireland, which demonstrate the development of power, ceremony and religion in a Celtic society minimally influenced by the Romans.
The three sets of sites on the new tentative list will now develop their nomination bids for submission to the World Heritage Centre in Paris, with support from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the OPW.
The remaining three applications which were not added to the list included the Cultural Landscape of the Burren Uplands, Co Clare, Iniscealtra (Inis Cealtra), Co Clare, and Glendalough Valley, Co Wicklow.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien paid tribute to all the applicants.
"This has been an exhaustive process over many months of evaluation that UNESCO ambition demands. I commend all applicants for that ambition," he said.
"To the three applicants, which have met the necessary criteria, know we will support you as best we can to match the local drive for full World Heritage nomination in the years ahead.
"It will be a challenging road, but one you have shown you are willing to travel and we will journey it with you."
It is a pre-condition for nomination that a site must be on the tentative list for at least a year before work can formally begin on a nomination dossier.
Nomination does not necessarily result in the inscription of a site on the World Heritage List.
A site can be inscribed on the World Heritage List only if the World Heritage Committee determines it is of "Outstanding Universal Value for all of humanity".
Ireland has currently two properties on the UNESCO World Heritage List - Brú na Bóinne in Co Meath, and Sceilg Mhichíl off the Co Kerry coast, both inscribed in the 1990s.
"We will work with the applicants in years ahead in building the necessary nomination documentation and establishing the management structures to ensure they can take their place in the pantheon of globally important World Heritage Properties," Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan has said.
Minister of State Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) Patrick O'Donovan said: "We in OPW who care for many of the component elements of these applications, will work alongside you and the Department throughout, to bring our expertise to the nomination process and the future management of what we hope will be additional World Heritage Properties in the years to come."
Europe and North America from Foilhomurrum Bay, Co Kerry
Once submitted to UNESCO, this new Tentative List will replace the existing 2010 Tentative List.
The three sets of sites on the new Tentative List will now develop their nomination bids for submission to the World Heritage Centre in Paris, with support from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the OPW.
A draft World Heritage Strategy for Ireland is due to be published soon that will provide a framework for World Heritage management in Ireland and the inscription of additional properties to Ireland’s World Heritage List over the next decade.
