Strangford lough archaeology book scoops top award for environment agency

A Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) book on archaeology in Strangford Lough has won a prestigious book award.

‘Harnessing the Tides' by Thomas McErlean and Norman Crothers was honoured at the British Archaeological Awards in London.

The book charts the NIEA-funded excavation of two monastic tidal mills at Nendrum in Strangford Lough - one of which is the earliest dated tidal mill in the world.

A panel of judges decided the book was the winner of the Best Scholarly Archaeological Book category from a field of books published in the UK between 2006-08.

NIEA Director of Built Heritage Michael Coulter congratulated the authors on their awards success.

Mr Coulter said: “The biennial British Archaeological Awards are a showcase for the best in archaeology.

“We are delighted for the recognition this award gives to the quality of research and excellence of the publication.

“The criterion of ‘a publication which changes understanding of the past’ is aptly met in this excellent book which explores the history and archaeology of the monastery and makes a major contribution to research on early waterpower and early medieval monastic archaeology.”

The principal author of the publication, Thomas McErlean was honoured to have won the award.

He said: “I cannot quite believe the book has won considering the extremely high quality of the other publications on the short list, but I will not dispute the decision of the judges!”

The book was published for NIEA by The Stationery Office (TSO) Ireland.

Mr Dan Lavery, TSO Director of Operations for Ireland and Scotland also passed on his congratulations to the authors.

Mr Lavery said: “TSO Ireland and its local consortium partners were delighted to support NIEA in the production and delivery of such a detailed piece of work.

“It is rare to get the opportunity to work on such a high quality product and one so passionately and painstakingly researched. TSO Ireland is especially proud that the NIEA efforts have deservedly been recognised and rewarded by such a prestigious group of their peers.”

This is the second time in recent years an NIEA publication has won a major British Archaeological Award. In 2004 ‘Strangford Lough: An Archaeological Survey of the Maritime Cultural Landscape’ by Thomas McErlean, Rosemary McConkey and Wes Forsythe won the Keith Muckelroy award for maritime archaeology.

Notes to Editors:

1. Full details of publication: ‘Harnessing the Tides: The Early Medieval Tide Mills at Nendrum Monastery, Strangford Lough’ by Thomas McErlean and Norman Crothers. ISBN 9780337088773. Publisher TSO Ireland (for NIEA). Available from all good bookshops
2. Established in 1976, the British Archaeological Awards encompasses 12 awards covering every aspect of British Archaeology. Almost 100 judges have been involved in reading up on the people, projects and books nominated by the public and members of the heritage community for the 2008 awards.
3. For media enquiries please contact DOE Press Office 028 9054 0014 or out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned