[Belfast Excavations: Objects from the ‘Post-Conflict’ City] Tutors: James Craig and Matthew Ozga-Lawn
MArch Stage 6 Architectural Portfolio Jed Wellington 2019-2020
Foreword Since 1922, 310 miles of fields, roads and oftentimes people’s gardens have come to define the democratically recognised frontier between the United Kingdom and that of the “Free State” – The Republic of Ireland. Except for when viewed on a map, the Irish border was never a line. This changed dramatically throughout the 1970’s, when heavy border enforcement was introduced by the British Army to prevent free movement of Republican forces in to and out of the region throughout the course of the Troubles. Over 140 “unapproved” border crossings were destroyed or blockaded, limiting movement between the two nations through a series of not-so-temporary checkpoints. Often subject to increasingly sophisticated IRA bombings, the scale and porous nature of the Irish frontier had begun to show its weaknesses and the checkpoints had demonstrated their ineffectiveness. Extensive and unchecked swathes of farmland provided the IRA with innumerable points of access from which attacks could be launched. The troubling situation in South Armagh, a Republican heartland, grew to the extent it was described as being an “all out insurgency, verging on limited war,” earning it the nickname ‘Bandit Country.’ Such was the threat posed by the IRA in South Armagh, that British forces were prohibited from travelling by road, where the threat of roadside IED’s, elaborate ambushes and IRA checkpoints was fierce. Army helicopters soon became a common sight in the skies over Armagh, their headquarters at Bessbrook Mill becoming the busiest heliport in Europe, with up to 40 helicopters taking off and landing on a daily basis.
more than targets for attacks, Frequent helicopter landings numbering in the thousands over the course of a few years panicked livestock, driving them into fences and off cliff edges. It had transformed the hitherto tranquil landscape of South Armagh, into one of contention, resentment and a zone of conflict whose highest casualties were the local sheep. The tower’s Super-Nikon binoculars coupled with MSTAR radars provided a complex network of surveillance and communications across wide-ranging visual arcs. Such was the scale of this observation, that rumours circulated around their capabilities. It was said that each tower could read the speedometer dials of the cars driving below, distinguish patterns on the wallpaper inside people’s homes, see what was eaten for breakfast and hear what was said over the breakfast table. The simple knowledge that one may unknowingly be the focus of this surveillance, no matter how innocent their actions, created an environment of paranoia and carefully managed behaviour within South Armagh, reinforcing a belief in which observation cultivates conformity. Michel Foucault famously theorised this as the ‘Panopticon Effect.’ But the ‘high Romeos’ were not the perfect Panopticon, however. There were no rings of circular cells beneath the towers, and the complex nature of a lived landscape posed natural obstacles to that surveillance. Never more in the history of the ‘high Romeos’ would the gaps in that surveillance become more apparent than in March 1989. Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were returning from an informal cross-border security conference in Dundalk, County Louth. Travelling unarmed and in plain clothes in Buchanan’s personal car, they crossed the border into Northern Ireland at 3:40pm through Border Checkpoint 10.At the top of a hill on a tree-lined section of the road just south of Jonesborough, armed members of the IRA waited to carry out an ambush. The site the IRA chose was in “dead ground”, meaning that they could not be seen by the nearby British Army observation post, Romeo Two One. The secluded back road was considered to be one of the most dangerous in South Armagh and as such, a “no-go area” for the security forces as it was regularly patrolled by the local IRA. As Buchanan reached the hilltop, he was flagged down by 2 armed IRA men standing in the middle of the road wearing Army battle fatigues and camouflage paint on their faces. Buchanan, assuming the men to be British soldiers, slowed down and stopped. At that moment, a stolen van, which had been following behind his car, overtook and pulled in front. 4 more armed IRA men wearing battle fatigues and balaclavas leapt out of the van. They approached the car and immediately began shooting, hitting the two officers. Buchanan was killed as he tried to reverse. Breen, despite his gunshot wounds, managed to stumble out of the car,
It soon became apparent that South Armagh required a different approach to those taken within the urban confines of Belfast and Derry. The proximity of the border aided and often facilitated IRA attacks, which were often launched from across the border under the knowledge that British forces could not return fire without fear of prompting diplomatic incidents. With the political climate of partitioned post-war Germany attracting global attention and Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ metaphor still reverberating across Europe, the option of a border wall was out of the question. It was decided then, that a series of 12 observation posts would be constructed across South Armagh to spot threats before they had materialised. 8 of these, nicknamed the ‘high Romeos,’ perched atop the rocky, inaccessible hilltops formed the outer boundary of a volcanic granite ring dyke dating back 60 million years, at its centre, Northern Ireland’s highest peak, shrouded in strong links with Irish mythology. Accessible only by helicopter, encircled by rows of barbed wire, mines and looming 30 metres tall, these solitary sentinels watched over the idyllic South Armagh countryside for 30 years. Constructed without land owner’s consent under the promise of an £89 annual rent fee, residents of South Armagh came to see them as nothing
[2]
waving a white handkerchief at the gunmen in an apparent gesture of surrender. He was ordered to lie on the ground, where he was subsequently executed.
‘watchful’ architecture, souterrains were in fact the single most defensive structure in the early Christian period and were constructed in great number across Ireland.
Breen and Buchanan would remain the highest-ranking RUC officers to be killed during the Troubles, and the identities of the IRA hit squad who had carefully orchestrated it to coincide with a known black spot would never be known. Despite the perceived capabilities of these passive forms of surveillance, observation was not ‘total.’ Amidst Army claims murder rates in South Armagh had plummeted, insisting the towers were working, the IRA had adapted, operating between the scopes of the towers and often with impunity.
It is therefore possible to see early frontiers emerging from the distribution map of souterrains. Additionally, a crannog, derived from both Irish and Scottish Gaelic origins, defines an ancient fortified dwelling constructed in a lake or marsh for the purpose of hunting, storage, or as a refuge or ‘hide.’ The characterisation of these ancient forms is intrinsically linked with human movement. A checkpoint or wall is inhibitive of movement. ‘Hides’ make humans invisible to movement. Watchtowers observe movement and crannogs detach themselves from movement.
Nowhere was the gap in surveillance so vast than it was at the summit of Slieve Gullion. Looming 573m over the lowerlying hillsides and often shrouded within the clouds, it carved unapologetically through the sophisticated system of watchtowers encircling it. Seeped in ancient folklore, communities have inhabited the region for over 6,000 years. Upon climbing to the mountain’s summit, enquirers stumble upon a Neolithic tomb. Said to be the house of the Calliagh Berra, a witch who once tricked Irish giant, Finn McCool into diving into the cursed Lake of Sorrow to retrieve her golden ring. Emerging from the water with the ring in his possession, Finn had aged beyond recognition, a frail old man with withered grey hair. No sooner had Finn returned her ring, the witch had leapt into the water and vanished, The tomb in which it is said the witch still resides bores deep into the mountainside, a series of subterranean chambers from within which she guards over her golden ring with a fierce jealousy. Following the witch’s well-trodden granite pathway north, the shores of the Lake of Sorrow emerge from the mist, its blood-red hue indicative of the curse which has been laid upon it by the Calliagh Berra, much to the misfortune of anyone who dares enter its bottomless, murky waters. It is here, surrounded by observation but yet unobserved, enveloped by the clouds flowing quickly at his feet, and in the presence of no one besides the Calliagh Berra, that the enquirer now stands,
It is this history of ‘watchful’ architecture throughout Ireland which secures it as having perhaps one of the longest unbroken traditions of defensive architecture anywhere in western Europe. A tradition which, following the removal of the final border tower in 2007, ended. In the modern context of the Troubles, what was a simple, ancient tactic of inhibiting movement whilst under the eye of the observer, became a means through which a sophisticated, inter-connected network of observation, was almost entirely undermined. At a time in which abject fear and paranoia was the norm, did the threat lie in being caught up in an IRA ambush, or being caught in the gaze of the watchtowers conversing with someone you shouldn’t? For the everyday person in South Armagh, it was hard to know who was your ‘enemy’ and who was your friend. Utilising a site which defended naturally against the wall of surveillance deployed across South Armagh allows a considered approach to its context. Surface features act as a pinwheel, directing observation initially inwards, towards the Lake of Sorrow and to the ‘hide’ concealed beneath it. Glimpses inwards from specific viewpoints extrapolated from swathes of landscape, force inquisition and a desire for discovery of this space. Upon its discovery, following the descent into the Calliagh Berra’s apartment beneath the lake, the observed find themselves located within a space of outward observation. However, upon inspection, it is found that this outward observation is not observation at all, but rather instead specific, cultivated glimpses toward where once guardant points of inward observation once loomed. Select sightlines which once cut inwards from atop their rocky hilltops, now reversed and emanating outwards, offering distant glimpses towards the turbulent memory each view once dominated. 8 apertures, fixed on the horizon, its interpretation cast crudely across the reflective channels and through narrow reticles.
But the dawn of watchful architecture in Northern Ireland did not begin at the outset of the Troubles. It was not the first time defensive structures were employed to observe human movement. As long as people have inhabited the region, defensive structures existed to mark the extents of tribal boundaries, define land upon which livestock was kept and in slightly more modern contexts, taxation. In the age of early Christianity, rampant slavery became commonplace. Souterrains, derived from the French ‘under earth,’ were constructed as ‘hides’ from within which refuge could be sought from invading marauders. Whilst perhaps not considered
[3]
01 - Contents At their juncture, atop an unreachable pedestal, the Calliagh Berra’s golden ring. Guarded within the palace of fortitude by the tumbling forces of the cascading lake, which encompass it now in a cascading fury.
02 - Context Belfast’s ‘troubled’ urban landscape Defensive architecture Misdirection and misinformation
6-7 8-9 10-11
It is here, in the souterrain beneath The Lake of Sorrow that the conditions of the site are reversed. The enquirer, formerly the observed, situated within this space of anti-surveillance, adopts the role of the observer.
03 - Troubles Archive Town, Country and People Winter Landscape South Armagh
12 13
04 - Trauma Say nothing
14-17
05 -
[4]
The Power of 10
18-19
06 - South Armagh The hardest border Locating lost relics A mapped landscape Mapping the Troubles Bandit Country Visibility is a trap The Panopticon Effect British Watchtowers
20-25 26-27 28-29 30-31 32-39 40-41 42-43 44-47
07 - Precedents Roden Crater
48-51
08 - The site The ascent The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn Mythology and Landscape
52-53 54-55 56-59
09 - The concept Changing attitudes Only the dead see the end of war
60-61 62-87
10 - Slieve Gullion - a mythology The Calliagh Berra’s House Inward observation The enquirer Blur building
88-100 101-102 103 104-105
11 - Observation cultivation Martian spacecraft
108-125
[5]
02 - Context [Belfast’s ‘troubled’ urban landscape] Throughout the violence which erupted in Northern Ireland in the latter half of the 20th century, over 3,500 would lose their lives. In a period which has since become known as the ‘Troubles,’ decades of conflict has left its mark on the people who endured it daily. Paranoia, distrust and general dislike towards those from the ‘other’ community helped fuel tensions between both Catholics and Protestants. The nation found itself embroiled in a violent conflict which was soon to spiral out of control and would define the nation’s coming 30 years. Residents of Belfast became confined by a patchwork of ‘temporary’ peacelines constructed to keep the warring communities apart, in an effort to instil peace by the British Armed Forces.’ 1 With tensions between the opposing communities steadily rising, the British Army’s MO quickly deteriorated from general peacekeeping in 1969, to engaging in ferocious guerilla warfare against a heavily armed and well funded organisation within the space of just 2 years.
Peace walls in Belfast, 2019.
On patrol in Little Patrick Street, Belfast, 1973.
Members of the Provisional IRA Derry Brigade, 1980’s.
Image 1.
Image 2.
Image 3.
Ultimately, over 250,000 soldiers would be deployed to Northern Ireland to counter the unrest.2 Violence soon escaped the urban confines of Belfast and Londonderry, spreading to border regions where highly trained local cells launched deadly bombing campaigns and ambushes against British forces, the most dangerous of which was in South Armagh. Between 1970 and 1977, 165 British Security Force personnel and 75 civilians were killed in South Armagh, amongst a recorded total of 1,255 bombings and 1,158 shootings.3 This earned it the nickname ‘Bandit Country.’
Hammer, J. (2009) In Northern Ireland, Getting Past the Troubles British Army (2006) Operation Banner 3 Harnden, T (1999) Bandit Country. London: Hodder & Stoughton 1
2
[6]
What would usually be considered quite alien interventions in most major cities has come to define a very way of life for residents of both communities in Belfast. As a result, Belfast’s peacewalls have generated international recognition of the turbulent times Northern Ireland endured, and now act as a canvas for commissioned art pieces in support of peace from all over the globe. ‘Troubles Tourism’ has now become as engrained within Belfast’s culture as the peacewalls themselves and now serve as an instrument for education. In reality however, the necessity for the peacewalls to help maintain calm between communities is one they are often reminded of. IRA offshoots continue operating on a more limited scale throughout Ireland and sectarian attacks, whilst no longer a common occurrence, do still occur. Peacewalls are therefore continuously up-kept and installed - the most recent addition appearing in 2014.
[8]
Image 4.
These studies began an in-depth approach into the deployment of defensive forms of architecture, initially throughout Belfast, before eventually tracing its usage in the border regions. What had intended as only being temporary forms of population control, grew to become engrained in the very fabric of Northern Ireland. Defensive, watchful architecture had become relied upon throughout both communities.
Model mapping the locations of Belfast’s peace walls. Shown in red, the Falls and Shankill Roads.
[Defensive architecture]
Contextually, the way in which the Troubles were perceived plays an important role in how those who experienced it lived and continue to live their lives. Occasionally, new information comes to the surface, shining a light on the turbulent 3 decades which gripped the country.
[10]
Obscuring key details from the public eye, providing only a choreographed glimpse meant the truth was often obscured.
The unique set of experiences occurring within Northern Ireland throughout the period of the Troubles meant certain events were obscured within the public eye. An individual’s outlook over the series of events varied greatly, often dependent on your political or religious stance. Biased reporting furthered the divide and obscured reality. Many cover ups were employed by both sides throughout the Troubles to minimise the exposure of more controversial events to the public. Even today, there remains many unanswered questions surrounding certain events and what is known does not provide the full story.
Image 5.
[Misdirection and misinformation]
03 - Troubles Archive [Town, Country and People]
[Winter Landscape South Armagh]
“Consisting of three imposing cones each bearing a different, curving, tapering image – one is of a group of people, in the same place and heading in the same direction, but with no suggestion of cohesion; one is of a rural landscape; the third shows an urban scene. The colours are of a bluey-grey that blurs the scenes. At the apex of each cone is a model helicopter, and so each cone becomes a searchlight, with every part of the country being observed in this murky glare, with no corner untouched or untainted.” 4
Nowhere was this surveillance more palpable in Northern Ireland than it was in South Armagh. 12 inaccessible hilltop towers, draped across the rolling hillsides, manned by unidentified figures ferried in and out by helicopter, keeping close watch on the everyday lives of those below, enforcing the concept that observation cultivates conformity.
Locky Morris
Paddy McCann
“British watchtowers in South Armagh are landmarks in the thirtyyear Northern Ireland war; they define a front-line, are a sign of a site of conflict, which, like the Maze Prison or the gable-end murals of Belfast and Derry, have become a visual shorthand for the Troubles... It was said that the powerful instruments through which the landscape and its people were closely watched, could read the speedometer dials of cars driving below, distinguish patterns on the wallpaper inside houses, see what was eaten for breakfast and hear what was said over the breakfast table.” 6
Town, Country and People by Locky Morris, 1988.
“During the 1980s and 1990s Morris became known for producing work that referred and reacted explicitly to the Troubles. His piece Town, Country, People references the constant surveillance that was carried out by the security forces during the conflict. Beams of light from police and army helicopter spotlights would sweep over the landscape watching for terrorist activity.” 5
Kearney, D. (2019) ‘Absorbing’ Troubles Art exhibition reflects decades of tension and turmoil 5 Hamill, M. (2019) Troubles Art Lunchtime Talk: Locky Morris
Winter Landscape South Armagh by Paddy McCann, 1998.
Helicopters were a common sight during the Troubles with many air bases located across the country. A high level of surveillance was maintained during this period to monitor the activities of civilians and terrorists.
4
Once a ‘target’ was identified, a helicopter-borne snatch squad would be dispatched from the nearby Bessbrook Mill to confront and if necessary, eliminate it. Between the 1970’s and early 2000’s these solitary structures stood guard throughout South Armagh, a constant reminder of the presence of heavily armed ‘foreign’ forces whose expansion across the region was highly opposed by many.
Image 7.
6
Image 6.
[12]
Its mounted dual lens, or ‘electro-optical head,’ had the appearance of a simple search light, but offers both a wide and narrow field of view, the former provides an orientating survey of the landscape, and the latter is used for distinguishing distant targets to examine them at high magnification.
Purbrick, L. (2007) British Watchtowers. Germany: Steidl.
[13]
04 - Trauma [Say nothing] A stark reminder of the impact of the Troubles on the generations it affected soon became very clear. Personal accounts of soldiers who had served there were often published under pseudonyms by authors whose intentions were thoroughly scrutinised. Anyone who had not shared their experiences were viewed with suspicion and often not welcome. Fear of repercussions either from militants or through governments eager to pursue historic allegations and a general distrust of ‘outsiders’ has created a culture of silence amongst veterans. Many veterans, whilst not necessarily ashamed of their service history, called into question the validity of British involvement in Northern Ireland. This culture of silence extends beyond the ranks of former soldiers. With the threat of violence still permeating throughout Northern Ireland to this day, those who still inhabit its fractured spaces are now also coming to terms with their experiences. For these people, the Troubles affected and defined their very way of life for 3 decades, the fabric and dynamic of their communities was altered dramatically and would never be the same again.
[14]
Image 8.
The scene of an IRA bombing, Belfast, 1972.
The scale of trauma was such that the impact on individuals is still being felt today. As our collective understanding of the impacts of trauma increases, so too do the numbers of those whose lives were affected by the Troubles come forward seeking help.
The situation is now such that more people have taken their own lives in Northern Ireland since 1999 than were killed by violence during the 29 years of the Troubles. Northern Ireland is in the throws of an epidemic which has seen suicide rates soar in recent years. Suicide rates have increased by 3.8% since 2014 in Britain. Northern Ireland’s suicide rate increased by 18.5%.7 Broader understanding of PTSD and greater psychological research in recent years has unearthed a further worrying trend in the impact trauma has on its victims. Trans-generational trauma refers to trauma passing between generations, often from a parent to their child, who can in turn pass it on to theirs.8 This project intends to respond to these growing trends, aiming to provide a space in which PTSD sufferers may seek more alternative, pioneering methods of treatment. The overall aim would be to curb the increasing suicide rates amongst those who have experienced trauma during the Troubles and beyond, limiting the chances of trans-generational PTSD to develop. Additionally, to encourage those who endured under a policy of ‘say nothing’ to open up about their experiences, reflect on them and mediate on their differences.
Wallen, J. (2018) Northern Ireland is facing a suicide epidemic - but continues to be ignored in UK mental health funding 8 Page, C. (2019) Troubles trauma - the hidden legacy of trauma
A child stands by a burning car outside the Divis Estate, Belfast, 1988.
As with any conflict came enduring hardship which continues to plague many on both sides of the divide. 21 years on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, in an era of increased understanding of the implications of trauma, a new danger has emerged. PTSD relating to the impact of the Troubles on those from both communities, from civilians to soldiers, is an increasing concern. Many of those who endured decades of violence are now approaching retirement age, and it is becoming clearer that time does not always heal all wounds, with swathes now coming forward seeking support.
[16]
Image 9.
7
05 [The Power of 10]
Ray and Charles Eames “Powers of Ten illustrates the universe as an arena of both continuity and change, of everyday picnics and cosmic mystery.” 9
9 Eames, C. and Eames, R. (1977) Powers of Ten and the relative size of things in the universe
[18]
Image 10.
3 scales within the Eames’ Power of 10.
Utilising Eames’ 1977 film employing exponential powers to visualise the importance of scale, increasing degrees of scale serves a dual purpose. Firstly to illustrate the notion that analysis as an ‘outsider’ on the Troubles shall be conducted simply as just that. And secondly to provide a greater and broader depth of detailed study within the specified region of interest. Contextual analysis forms the basis from which certain processes respond and develop. In turn, as the process develops, a more intimate level of detail is uncovered and explored.
06 - South Armagh [The hardest border] In much the same way defensive forms of architecture were beginning to emerge in urban settings such as Belfast and Derry to counter the growing IRA threat, similar structures began emerging on the border. In order to manage the flow of people into and out of Northern Ireland, over 140 ‘unapproved crossings’ were blocked or destroyed by the Army. These lanes were essential to allow farmers access to their land, and so their removal by locals was swift, often within just a few hours.
[21]
Image 11.
[20]
Over 140 ‘unapproved crossings’ were blockaded by the British Army.
These makeshift blockades would continue to act as a point of contention between both locals and the Army throughout the duration of the Troubles. However were seen as an important measure in preventing the illegal smuggling of IRA weaponry into and out of Northern Ireland.
What remained of the ‘approved crossings’ into Northern Ireland existed thereafter as a series of increasingly militarised checkpoints. Much the same way defensive forms of architecture had begun to emerge in cities across Northern Ireland, what straddled the border emphasised far more clearly how seriously the conflict had come to be taken by the British.
However it was not until 1992 that the sophisticated lengths with which the IRA were willing to go emerged. Utilising the main railway line running adjacent to the busy roadway, a van laden with a 1 ton bomb and fitted with railway wheels was lowered onto the tracks by a stolen excavator. Connected to a mile-long command wire, the van was driven along the track and the bomb detonated beside the checkpoint. 1 soldier was killed instantly, whilst the checkpoint’s 10-ton sangar was lifted from its foundations and thrown 12 metres away. IRA attacks of this nature had begun to increase, and the threat they had begun to pose to forces in the region became evident. It was attacks such as the one at Cloghogue which prompted the construction of the hilltop towers. To those who felt safer in the presence of the Army, they were known as ‘watchtowers.’ But to those who didn’t, they were ‘spy posts.’
[22]
Image 12.
Situated along the Dublin to Belfast road, it was Northern Ireland’s main point of access. This ensured it was also a major IRA target. Scores of people were killed in the vicinity of this checkpoint, Lord Justice Gibson, perhaps the most prominent, was killed alongside his wife by a remote-controlled car bomb in 1987. Famed for his aquittal of the British soldier responsible for the killing of a 12 yearold schoolgirl, Majella O’Hare, Gibson became a prime target for the IRA. His death highlighted the ability of the IRA to operate within the scope of the Army with apparent impunity.
The permanent checkpoint at Cloghogue was the largest in Northern Ireland.
The checkpoint at Cloghogue was the largest.
Image 13.
The attack on Cloghogue checkpoint emphasised the sophisticated nature that IRA attacks had begun to demonstrate.
[Locating lost relics] Forensic Architecture “Contemporary conflicts and human rights violations increasingly take place in urban areas, amongst homes and civilian neighbourhoods. The nature of urban war is such that parties in conflict wilfully blur the line between civilians and combatants. However, such cases can be complex, and understanding what has taken place can be challenging.� 10 Despite the duration for which the watchtowers dominated the expansive landscape of South Armagh, their memory has become largely forgotten or remains closely guarded by the MoD. Employing various investigative methods, their former locations have been determined and carefully mapped [right].
10
South Armagh.
Forensic Architecture (2020)
[26]
[27]
Image 13.
Image 14.
12 watchtowers provided an arc of surveillance over South Armagh.
From the very outset, the watchtowers represented an unwanted occupation of the land and were often subject to violent attacks. IRA bombs killed 6 during the construction of G30 and scores more were injured in subsequent co-ordinated attacks in the decades which followed.
[A mapped landscape] With troop movement throughout South Armagh limited to the air, due to the threats the IRA posed on the ground, military helicopters became a frequent sight over the land below, resupplying the isolated watchtowers or ferrying troops to remote areas to conduct covert operations. The land below became a series of waypoints for the pilots who became familiar with low-level flying missions. A large oak tree. An irregularly shaped field. A distinctive farm house. The words ‘BOYCOTT PROVISIONAL’ painted on the roof of a terraced house.
[28]
Image 14.
This form of landscape surveyal has been a widespread form of navigation for pilots for decades and helps to define key features within the landscape from which to manoeuvre. It alters the way in which the landscape is perceived and therefore interpreted.
Much of how South Armagh was viewed was from the air.
The landscape became an extension of the conflict. Viewed not as a lived environment, but rather as a series of map markers, a 1:1 scale replica of the detailed military maps hanging on the walls at Bessbrook Mill, leading pilots and the troops they carried over the deceptively dangerous land beneath.
[Mapping the Troubles]
Image 15.
Incident map charting IRA attacks on British Army bases.
South Armagh gained a notorious reputation amongst British forces for the intensity and ingenuity of IRA attacks which took place here. Such was the danger of roadside bombs and ambushes that troops were only permitted to travel by helicopter, however even these were often subject to attack, with 23 such incidents recorded prior to the early 1990’s, after which helicopters were armed.
[Bandit Country] Tom Paulin “These structures are like martian spacecraft, one breaks the terraced mainstreet of what looks like a country town and shows that the irenic structures of ordinary architecture must give way to these armed gods, meshed objects that represent the failure of politics and civil liberties.” 11 Borucki Sanger, constructed in 1976 in the staunchly Republican border village of Crossmaglen became perhaps one of the most recognisable images from the Troubles. Consisting of an upwardsloping lower section to deflect blasts and viewing platform with bullet proof glass, it was encaged in a 8m high fence topped with anti-climb spikes, surveillance cameras and communication aerials. Its abnormal presence in what could have been any British village typified the uncharacteristic nature of the conflict. Constructed to observe the village square which at its centre stands an IRA memorial, it faced frequent sophisticated attacks. It was within this square that 6 Security Force personnel were killed by the IRA in separate attacks. Following numerous attacks and a decreasing level of threat, it was removed in August 2000 prior to the wider scaling down of British Security Forces in the region.
Image 16. 11
‘Borucki Sanger,’ Crossmaglen, South Armagh before and after its removal.
Image 17.
Mortar attack, 1989.
Image 18.
Paulin, T. (1999) Heritage Under Pressure
[32]
[33]
Improvised flame thrower attack, 1994.
Image 19.
The watchtowers varied in design and setting but commanded powerful views over the landscape. These images were captured, compiled and published in Donovan Wylie’s 2007 book ‘British Watchtowers’ prior to their demolition.
[34]
[35]
Image 20.
Golf Four Zero
Romeo One Three A
Romeo Two Three
Romeo One Three
The commencing series of images provides a glimpse into the past. The remnants of rows of tangled barbed wire which once secured each tower’s boundary is preserved as denotable features within the landscape. Trenches and flattened grass are now the only existing evidence of what once stood here.
[36]
[37]
Romeo Two One
Romeo One One
Romeo One Six
Romeo One Two
[38]
[39]
[Visibility is a trap] Michel Foucault “Observation seems an intangible force. It is not possible to touch sightlines but they do not float free. The power of vision is dependent upon architecture. It requires an architectural system that elevates the viewer into a position of command from where he or she can see without obstruction or challenge, unseen from below and able to report any findings.” 6 Detailed studies into the visual range of each of the watchtowers based upon their elevation within the landscape culminated in a taxonomy of 12 visual arcs through which a wall of surveillance was deployed. This wall of surveillance bears close resemblance to methods employed in Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, in which a clear and constant view over a population enforces an ‘anonymous’ and ‘unverifiable’ reign of vision. Behavioural conformity is thus enforced under the knowledge that one may always be under watch. Theoretically, an inter-connected network of advanced surveillance towers posses the ability to counter any threat before it can be mobilised. However South Armagh was not a perfect Panopticon, there were no rings of circular cells beneath the towers and the complex nature of a lived landscape posed natural obstacles to that surveillance.6 One such obstacle dates back 60 million years and penetrates unapologetically through the otherwise interlocked fields of vision. A volcanic mountain peak encircled by 8 lower-lying towers forms a glaring black spot through which any and all activities remained unobserved. The mountain’s strong links to mythology and the presence of two neolithic tombs at its summit ensured it was kept free from rows of barbed wire, mines, corrugated steel and most importantly, observation. This study will focus on those 8 towers, nicknamed the ‘high Romeos.’
Image 21. 6
12 watchtowers covered the border region with a wall of surveillance. The ‘high Romeos’ [marked above] dominated the eastern region of South Armagh around the Ring of Gullion.
Purbrick, L. (2007) British Watchtowers. Germany: Steidl.
[40]
[41]
[The Panopticon Effect] Michel Foucault “At the periphery, an annular building; at the centre, a tower; this tower is pierced with wide windows that open onto the inner side of the ring; the peripheric building is divided into cells, each of which extends the whole width of the building; they have two windows, one on the inside, corresponding to the windows of the tower; the other, on the outside, allows the light to cross the cell from one end to the other. All that is needed, then, is to place a supervisor in a central tower and to shut up in each cell a madman, a patient, a condemned man, a worker or a schoolboy. By the effect of backlighting, one can observe from the tower, standing out precisely against the light, the small captive shadows in the cells of the periphery. ... He is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication. ...
... He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection.” 12
12
Foucault, M. (1995) Discipline and Punish - The Birth of The Prison.
[42]
[43]
Image 22.
The Presidio Modelo Panopticon, Cuba, circa 1920.
The inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so. In order to make the presence or absence of the inspector unverifiable, so that the prisoners, in their cells, cannot even see a shadow …
[British Watchtowers] Louise Purbrick
“Watchtowers are an ancient architectural form, as old as war itself. Temporary fortifications will always have some kind of lookout post and watchtowers are a recurring structure within all permanent works, both old and new. The construction of watchtowers can be traced to the very earliest large-scale border defences, the most famous example of which is the Great Wall of China, and they have become integral to the security regimes of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries... To fortify is to strengthen. More specifically, in military engineering, it is to ‘strengthen ground on which it has been decided to await an attack.’ Fortification entails intervening in a landscape, altering it to establish and maintain a hierarchy of one place over the rest; it means building as a long term strategy of war... The battlefield logic that leads to the construction of watchtowers assumes that the landscapes beneath them are spaces containing only combatants or potential combatants rather than, as they always are, lived environments, places where people try to complete the routines of living. It is not simply that the siting of watchtowers on hilltops upsets the ordinary scenes of life below, or spoils the view, which in the case of South Armagh is understood to be one of rural beauty, but that fortification alters the condition of being in such a landscape. Without land changing hands, ownership of the space is lessened or lost to those who command the view.” 6 The 12 watchtowers situated throughout South Armagh commanded wide-ranging views over the landscape for over 30 years. Initially little more than rudimentary canvas emplacements, their construction evolved in response to the increasing Republican threat, culminating in heavily armed and fortified towers standing over 20 metres tall, only accessible by helicopter. Following the Good Friday Agreement, the final tower was dismantled in 2007 in exchange for disarmament, their legacy gradually fading into obscurity. However with increased focus on border conditions between Northern Ireland and the Republic dominating post-Brexit politics, are we currently in the throws of their return?
Image 23. 6
British Army hilltop watchtowers, South Armagh.
Purbrick, L. (2007) British Watchtowers. Germany: Steidl.
[44]
[45]
Image 24.
The 12 views once again draped over the landscape they once surveyed, Slieve Gullion pierces through their arc of vision.
07 - Precedents [Roden Crater] James Turrell Elements of this project will largely be inspired by James Turrell’s Roden Crater project. Having acquired the dormant volcanic crater in 1977, Turrell has dedicated many years towards transforming it “into a site containing tunnels and apertures that open onto pristine skies, capturing light directly from the sun in daylight hours, and the planets and stars at night. “Representing the culmination of the artist’s lifelong research in the field of human visual and psychological perception, Roden Crater is a controlled environment for the experiencing and contemplation of light.” 13 Since the vast majority of the works on the Roden Crater are situated below ground, it is minimally invasive to the natural landscape. Meanwhile the internals are specifically engineered to offer a space wherein celestial and geologic cycles may be experienced. The illusive use of forced perspective controls and alters user perception of the space, culminating an immersive atmosphere within a tightly controlled atmosphere.
13
Turrell, J. (2020) Roden Crater.
[48]
Image 25.
The following two pages contain further precedents demonstrating certain features, atmospheres and spaces aimed an inspiring such elements within my design work.
James Turrell’s Roden Crater, Arizona, USA.
-
Image 26.
Series of precedent images.
08 - The site [The ascent]
Dipping behind large mounds of peat provides a brief respite from the deafening winds snapping coldly against the face. In the distance, a stream trickles invisibly beneath the tangle of heath, carving and tumbling between the granite. The mist, blinding white and soaking looms heavily in the air. The next peat mound, mimicking the lumbering hulk of a resting bear, looms barely visible in the distance - the next waypoint. Beyond this the shores of the mountaintop lake comes into view. Its distant edge obscured by mist, it appears to stretch on forever. The water, lapping at its edges in the wind, splashes occasionally against the granite rocks adorning its periphery, giving a sense that something lives within it. Landforms and man-made markers provide elements with which a direction can be ascertained. Much like a pilot, landscape surveyal becomes one of importance. Moving across this hostile landscape becomes one of discovery.
[52]
Image 26.
Nearing the summit, the landscape gives way to one of baron expanse. Ahead, a large man-made relic provides a glimpse back in time. Constructed during the Neolithic Age, its tiny portal entrance cuts inwards towards a large subterranean chamber constructed of meticulously stacked granite blocks. The passageway ahead, its framing still visible, long-since collapsed and inaccessible.
Various stages throughout the climb to Slieve Gullion’s summit.
Climbing the steep slopes of Slieve Gullion elevates the enquirer almost 600m above the landscape beneath. Before long, cloud cover encompasses everything and visibility is reduced to nothing. Strong winds whips plumes of mist quickly through the rocky heathlands which dominate much of its surface. The environment very quickly moves from one of colourful green serenity to that of bleak harshness. Large granite boulders lay strewn across the mountainside, a reminder of the site’s volcanic past. Waypoints in the mist become landmarks with which the enquirer aims to navigate, however the winding pathway snaps back and forth, disorienting the enquirer and providing only 1 means of reference through which navigation of this landscape can be relied - upwards.
[The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn] Third century AD
Bran and Sceolan came up to him then, but they did not know him, and they went on round the lake, searching after their master.
“Finn was one time out on the green of Almhuin, and he saw what had the appearance of a grey fawn running across the plain. He called and whistled to his hounds then, but neither hound nor man heard him or came to him, but only [the hounds] Bran and Sceolan. He set them after the fawn, and near as they kept to her, he himself kept nearer to them, till at last they reached Slieve Cuilinn, in the province of Ulster. But they were no sooner at the hill than the fawn vanished from them, and they did not know where she was gone, and Finn went looking for her eastward, and the two hounds went towards the west.
Caoilte and the rest of the chief men of the Fianna set out then looking for Finn, and they got word of him; and at last they came to Slieve Cuilinn, and there they saw a withered old man sitting beside the lake, and they thought him to be a fisherman. ‘Tell us, old man,’ said Caolite, ‘did you see a fawn go by, and two hounds after her, and a tall fair-faced man along with them?’ Then Finn told them the whole story; and when the seven battalions of the Fianna heard him, and knew it was Finn that was in it, they gave three loud sorrowful cries. And to the lake they gave the name of Loch Doghra, the Lake of Sorrow.
It was not long till Finn came to a lake, and there was sitting on the brink of it a young girl, the most beautiful he had ever seen, having hair of the colour of gold, and a skin as white as lime, and eyes like the stars in time of frost; but she seemed to be some way sorrowful and downhearted. Finn asked her did she see his hounds pass that way. ‘I did not see them,’ she said; ‘and it is little I am thinking of your hounds or your hunting, but the cause of my own trouble.’ ‘What is it ails you, woman of the white hands?’ said Finn; ‘and is there any help I can give you?’ he said. ‘It is what I am fretting after,’ she said, ‘a ring of red gold I lost off my finger in the lake. And I put you under bonds, Finn of the Fianna,’ she said, ‘to bring it back to me out of the lake.’
The Fianna dig into the passage tomb [Calliagh Berra’s House] and take the antidote from the fearsome hag. ... And no sooner did Finn drink what was in the vessel than his own shape and his appearance came back to him. But only his hair, that used to be so fair and so beautiful, like the hair of a woman, never got its own colour again...” 14 Image 20 [right] identifies the 4 main features of Slieve Gullion, from left to right: Northern cairn The Lake of Sorrow [Calliagh Berra’s Loch)] The connecting beaten granite pathway Southern cairn [Calliagh Berra’s House]
With that Finn stripped off his clothes and went into the lake at the bidding of the woman, and he went three times round the whole lake and did not leave any part of it without searching, till he brought back the ring. He handed it up to her then out of the water, and no sooner had he done that then she gave a leap into the water and vanished. And when Finn came up on the bank of the lake, he could not so much as reach to where his clothes were; for on the moment he, the head and leader of the Fianna of Ireland, was but a grey old man, weak and withered.
Image 27. 14
[54]
The north and south cairns situated either side of the Lake of Sorrow, linked clearly by the welltrodden granite pathway of the Calliagh Berra.
Voices from the Dawn (undated) Slieve Gullion, Meith, Co. Armagh.
[55]
[Mythology and Landscape] Slieve Gullion
Slieve Gullion sits at the heart of Irish mythology and legend for the communities which have inhabited the land around it for over 6,000 years. Named within The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn [Gullion] is the Calliagh Berra’s House. This Neolithic Passage Tomb is the highest intact passage tomb in the UK and is located on the mountain’s southern end. It is still thought to this day that the Calliagh Berra resides here, deep beneath the surface in a subterranean ‘apartment.’
This site’s rich and vast history goes some way to explaining away the reasons for why the British Army never constructed any hilltop observation posts at its summit. Its centrality within the region and its peak sitting at an elevation of 573m meant dozens of British Army helicopters would pass beneath it daily. For any sophisticated and ingenuitive guerilla force in the vicinity, it offered the ideal opportunity to launch ambushes against the machines passing through the valleys below, ferrying troops and supplies around the remote landscape. Not only was it beyond the penetrating scope of the powerful cameras scanning the landscape from atop the lower-lying hillsides, but also occasional low cloud cover blankets its steep slopes, providing additional obscurity from any pilot who dared break the relative safety low altitude flying brings.
“‘She is said to be still in existence, and her house is pointed out under the Cairn on the mountain, from the door of which is always seen a beaten path to the edge of the lake.” 15
It may then be surprising that no such attack was ever launched from the slopes of Slieve Gullion. Perhaps its importance within deep-rooted Irish mythology was respected by both sides, and thus it was allowed to maintain its importance as such, rather than as a target. Untouched by the violent conflict enveloping it, Slieve Gullion stands as an ancient relic standing tall against conflict and observation.
Image 28.
Slieve Gullion’s south cairn is the highest surviving Passage Tomb in the UK and is one of two cairns situated atop the mountain.
O’ Daly, J. (1858) The Chase of Sliabh Guileann Transactions of the Ossianic Society. 15
[56]
[57]
Images 29 & 30.
The fractured granite pathway said to be the well-trodden path of the Calliagh Berra.
Image 31.
The south cairn remains the highest surviving passage tomb in the UK. Its entrance aligns with the winter solstice and it is said the Calliagh Berra still resides here.
Image 32.
Internal 3D scan of the first chamber inside the south cairn. Ahead is a blocked entrance to what is assumed to be the Calliagh Berra’s home, which sinks deep into the mountainside.
Images 33 & 34.
Image 29
Image 30
Image 31
Image 32
Image 33
Image 34
External drone scans of the north cairn, south cairn and the Lake of Sorrow. Visible is the granite pathway shown in images 21 and 22.
[58]
[59]
09 - The concept [Changing attitudes]
“I’d like to do something to help them to repair their lives. To any Derry Catholics reading - I’m sorry for having been so ignorant to you all and unleashing my frustration upon you all. Someday it’s going to be different.” - Peter, Cheshire Regiment 16 “The 1994 ceasefire will be with me for the rest of my life. It was great to see the delight in peoples’ faces at the prospect of no more killings.” - Colin, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 17 Despite the apparent peace which is supposed to have befallen Northern Ireland, many soldiers are still hesitant in coming forward with their experiences. They live under a widely accepted culture of ‘say nothing’ through fear of reprisals. 21 years on and in an age of changing perceptions, it is time those discussions are had.
16 17
Peter (1998) Brits Speak Out. Guildhall Press: Londonderry. Colin (1998) Brits Speak Out. Guildhall Press: Londonderry.
[60]
Image 35.
Despite the differing sentiments felt towards the conflict at its end, all 14 accounts had one thing in common at its outset - a negative perception of one or both communities they’d been sent to maintain the peace between. These perceptions had faded with time, to be replaced with understanding and hope for peace.
Royal Marines of 40 Commando watching over Belfast from Artillery Flats, 1972.
Published in 1998, John Lindsay’s book titled ‘Brits Speak Out’ provides the accounts of 14 members of the British Armed forces who served one or more tours of duty in Northern Ireland. Many of the accounts shared the pride towards what they’d achieved in Northern Ireland, fondly citing their tours there as some of the best years of their lives. Others felt lied to or let down by the Armed Forces, either for the reasons they were given for being there in the first place or because of the lack of support they were given when the conflict came to an end. Four of the accounts came from soldiers serving life in prison, citing the trauma they’d experienced as being an inhibiting factor of re-adjusting to civilian life.
[Only the dead have seen the end of war] Plato Within the context of The Hunt of Cuilinn, the golden ring becomes the crux of the legend. Having been tricked into diving into the Bottomless Lake to retrieve it by the Calliagh Berra. Finn, a giant said to be behind the creation of the Isle of Man and the Giant’s Causeway, is cursed. Reduced from a legendary figure to that of a withered old man in search of his youth. Thus earning the lake the name ‘The Lake of Sorrow.’ The ring therefore becomes a symbol of time and ageing. Time serves to change attitudes. To reveal ignorant prejudice and preconception. It matures thoughts and provides clarity. Time allows differences to be recognised and settled, the hatchet to be buried and for peace to be sought by those whose youth was stolen by conflicts they never truly understood. As time since the end of hostilities in Northern Ireland passes, so too does the negative association of the people previously considered the ‘enemy.’ The ring, a symbol of time, also becomes a symbol of peace.
The Lake of Sorrow now becomes the focus of this study as the location at which the Calliagh Berra tricked Finn. The lake serves as the catalyst for Finn’s ailment, occupying the prominent expanse of land between both cairns, it carries a blood-red hue, reinforcing fears of its curse to this day.
[62]
Image 36.
The ring, representing time and peace, becomes the sky... intangible and unreachable, beyond the grasp even of those who have lived, experienced and grown tired of conflict.
The Lake of Sorrow is said to still be cursed.
However, time is a benefit very few have been gifted, and so the mistakes of the past will continue to be made.
Image 37.
Hand drawn map of the Ring of Gullion.
Image 38.
[64]
Perspex model combining all 12 visual arcs of each watchtower within South Armagh. The blind spot Slieve Gullion casts through their surveillance is vast.
[65]
Image 39.
The Ring of Gullion - the granite remnants of a dormant volcano whose 60 million year old domed remains loom over the region.
[66]
Image 40.
Slieve Gullion punctures through the vision arcs of its 8 encircling watchtowers, forming a vast, unobserved black spot at its summit. Identified within the black spot sits the ‘Lake of Sorrow.’ This forms the basis of the proposal.
[67]
Image 41.
Mapped sightlines from the 8 ‘high Romeos.’ Extracting each of the projected view ranges forming the foundation of Slieve Gullion creates a taxonomy of individual terrain contours.
[68]
Image 42.
Using the Lake of Sorrow as the feature upon which the 8 sightlines are focused and providing glimpses outwards towards each watchtower, I am able to reverse the conditions of the site. Rather than the site acting as a black spot for surveillance, it acts as a platform from which outward observation is curated and encouraged.
[69]
In the spirit of the Eames’ Power of 10 and much like the powerful lenses through which the landscape was formerly surveyed, a progressively increasing degree of study has refined a wide area of study into one of minute detail. This has meant the site has effectively defined itself.
Image 43.
Isometric view of the Ring of Gullion showing the 8 ‘high Romeos’ and the ‘wall’ created in their vision by Slieve Gullion and the subsequent blind spot at its summit
[71]
Crannog /ˈkranəɡ/
Souterrain /ˈsuːtəreɪn/
Noun Noun: crannog; plural noun: crannogs An ancient fortified dwelling constructed in a lake or marsh in Scotland or Ireland.
Noun ARCHAEOLOGY Noun: souterrain; plural noun: souterrains An underground chamber or passage.
Early 17th century: from Irish crannóg, Scottish Gaelic crannag ‘timber structure’, from crann ‘tree, beam’.
Mid 18th century: from French, from sous ‘under’ + terre ‘earth’.
Image 44.
[72]
Sightlines from the 8 ‘high Romeos’ converging on the Lake of Sorrow.
[73]
Image . 45
Terrain model linking all 8 ‘high Romeos’ with Slieve Gullion.
Image 46.
Each image within the taxonomy provides an individual segment of the ‘wall’ forming part of the black spot atop Slieve Gullion, placing whatever is behind it out of view and in constant ‘shadow.’ It is behind these walls, within their shadow that I intend to develop a rationalised response to the anti-surveillance nature of the site.
[76]
[77]
Image 47.
Stepping in once more brings us in to ground level, viewing the landscape 20 metres above ground level as if stood within each of the watchtowers. An increasingly intimate and personal experience begins to emerge, breaking down barriers which viewing areas from an aerial and more militaristic perspective prevents.
[78]
Within the individual beams of vision emanating from each watchtower, the landscape between each hilltop and Slieve Gullion has been reinterpreted as if viewed through a thermal imaging lens. Distances of up to 4 miles are condensed into a series of denotable features such as roads, fields and buildings, offering a means of wayfinding amongst the monotonous nature of the landscape.
[79]
Golf Four Zero
Romeo Two Three
[80]
[81]
Romeo Two One
Romeo One Six
[82]
[83]
Romeo One Three A
Romeo One Three
[84]
[85]
Romeo One One
Romeo One Two
[86]
[87]
10 - Slieve Gullion - a mythology [The Calliagh Berra’s House] These tales suggest that the Calliagh Berra’s house and the Lake of Sorrow are connected through a series of subterranean tunnels.
“The cairn which renders it so celebrated, instead of being a mere rude heap of stones . . . contained a circular chamber, with which a passage under long flat stones communicated, but of what length this passage has originally been, it is now difficult to ascertain, as it is filled up with earth and stones, which obstruct any further progress to what is supposed to be a large apartment. The entrance, now filled up with rubbish, appears to have been covered with a roof of large stones, capable of supporting a great weight. The cairn of stones which has covered the chamber is nearly 40 feet in diameter at the base. A little lower down the hill and in front of this cairn is a flat stone supported by massy uprights. This is what is now popularly called the Cailleach Biorar’s house, with which reminiscences of many an awful catastrophe are connected.” 15
Following the trajectory of the existing granite pathway shown in images 34 and 35, this project will propose the ‘reopening’ of this passageway, culminating in an expansive chamber beneath the surface of the lake. This chamber will represent the Calliagh Berra’s otherworld dwelling, where time stands still and the golden ring [representing time and peace] rests as the unobtainable ‘goal.’
By reversing the conditions of the site, it is turned from one of unobservance, into that of the [semi] observer. The perfect panopticon.
The cairn is not considered to be the resting place or tomb of the Calliagh Berra, it is rather represented as her otherworld dwelling. Irish mythology often associates the ‘otherworld’ as that of a happy place, where people did not age and where feasting took place. 19 Image 34 [right] is an interpretation of the southern cairn utilising detailed descriptions provided in the Allen, C. et al. report. The entranceway and inner chamber remain accessible, whilst the remainder is hypothesised and inspired by tales of its layout. This section is described as going “down an’ down an’ down” towards a bottom chamber. Murphy quotes an unnamed ‘informant’ who further describes the subterranean layout of the cairn by saying “the fían, in digging through the house of the Cailleach, were about to break through to the lake, when she emerged and shouted at them to stop or the lake would flood through the hole and drown Ireland.” 20
O’ Daly, J. (1858) The Chase of Sliabh Guileann Transactions of the Ossianic Society. 18 Paterson, T.F. (1975) Harvest home, the last sheaf. Armagh County Museum. 19 Allen, C. et al. (2015) Slieve Gullion County Armagh, Mythology and Landscape. 15
20
[88]
Murphy, M.J. (1940) At Slieve Gullion’s Foot. Dundalk: Dundalgan Press
Image 48.
“Her house goes down an’ down and in the bottom chamber sits the Cally Berry herself till this very day. Ay and will till the end of time. But where Finn is I know not, or if I do I disremember.” 18
Isometric section of the south cairn and point of entry underground.
This chamber also represents the ‘focus’ of the 8 High Remeos. Their vision arcs will converge here, carving through the slops of Slieve Gullion and providing glimpses outwards towards where they once stood.
Image 49. Image 50.
Interpreted 1:150 plan of the north cairn containing 2 inaccessible burial mounds. Interpreted 1:150 plan of the south cairn, its central chamber remains accessible, however the entrance to the Calliagh Berra’s home is obstructed. Under the scope of proposals, the hypothesised chambers within the inaccessible section of the tomb would be opened to provide access [right].
[90]
[91]
Image 51.
1:150 Initial plan of the lake chamber. This chamber will focus as the site’s ‘core.’ It will be here the 8 sightlines converge, reversing the conditions of the site [right].
[92]
Image 52.
1:150 The 8 sightlines converge on the centre of the chamber. Represented by the thick line, the passageway running north-south between both cairns. This passageway follows the aboveground trajectory of the granite pathway.
[93]
Image 53.
1:150 The 8 sightlines are expressed as accessible passageways in which observation towards each former watchtower location is cultivated.
[94]
Image 54.
1:150 Developed into a functioning building plan, rather than being accessible passageways, the 8 sightline channels now act as apertures. Each channel, lined with mirrored glass provides an interpreted view across the landscape.
[95]
[Facilitation] Anechoic chambers utilise engineered foam as a means of isolating and absorbing most forms of acoustic reverberation, making them, to the human ear, totally devoid of sound. Due to constant external sound sources in everyday life, most humans never experience absolute silence and so the experience can be very unsettling, often mimicking the effects of PTSD. Disorientation, paranoia and an increased sense of self awareness are commonly experienced. However, to existing sufferers of PTSD and other common forms of mental combat injuries, the environments within anechoic chambers can offer solace from an external reality which many often struggle with.
1:150 Situated beneath the northern cairn and matching its footprint, accessed via the lake chamber, this northern annexe contains 4 anechoic chambers. These provide space for either solo or 1-1 reflection and mediation.
[96]
Image 56.
Image 55.
Interior view of an anechoic chamber.
4 anechoic chambers situated beneath the extents of the north cairn provide the opportunity for trauma sufferers to seek private moments of solace. By removing themselves temporarily from all external influence and allowing for a reflection on past trauma at their own pace builds on the pioneering Comprehensive Resource Model form of PTSD treatment. Each chamber allows for either individuals or pairs to mediate and come to terms with any past trauma or shared experiences either from within the same religious community, or two ‘opposing’ communities. By confronting the damaging ‘say nothing’ policy people endured and continue to today, this peaceful approach to discussion aims to reduce the soaring rates of PTSD and PTSD-linked suicides in Northern Ireland. It encourages people to recognise each other’s differences within an environment without judgement or prejudice. Where experiences may be shared and discussed, or merely thought over, simply allowing oneself to accept the turbulent period which once dominated Northern Ireland is a step towards positivity.
[97]
Image 57. Image 58.
1:500 The central chamber within the wider context of the Lake of Sorrow. Encircling the lake and securing itself as its new boundary, the outer ring becomes the pinwheel, directing the enquirer towards it.
[98]
[99]
[Inward observation] Reintroducing the extracted views from the 8 ‘high Romeos’ into the site allowed for a system in which the wider contextual views were reinterpreted at a more intimate scale. Isolating the dense core components from within each arc formed key extrusions, reinterpreting the two-dimensional landscape as a 3-dimensional feature of observation. As with the outward subterranean views, these extrapolated components converge on the lake chamber, offering inward glimpses from a circular viewing platform on the mountain’s surface.
[101]
[100]
[101]
[The enquirer] This series of plan developments showcase design iterations from the existing cairn plans to those developed as part of the intervention. Using detailed specifications provided within the Allen, C. et al. report, care has been given towards developing each cairn plan within the boundaries of the existing tombs. Influenced heavily too by the important symbolism of the ring throughout the Hunt of Cuilinn, circular forms inscribe this symbolism into the very foundation of the intervention. This symbolism is represented both within the subterranean structure of the space, as well as the above-ground features at the lakeside. Utilising a site which defended naturally against the wall of surveillance deployed across South Armagh allows a considered approach to its context. Surface features act as a pinwheel, directing observation initially inwards, towards the Lake of Sorrow and to the chamber hidden within it. Glimpses inwards from specific viewpoints force inquisition and a desire for discovery of this space. Upon its discovery, the observed finds himself located within a space of outward observation, towards where once guardant points of inward observation once loomed. However, upon inspection, it is found that this outward observation is not observation at all, but rather instead specific, cultivated glimpses toward a distant memory of observation. The space itself acts as an instrument of curated observation, framing and immortalising that particular point of Irish history. The space becomes a camera obscura. Select sightlines which once cut inwards from atop their rocky hilltops, now reversed and emanating outwards, offering distant glimpses towards the turbulent memory each view once dominated. It is here, in the souterrain beneath The Lake of Sorrow that the conditions of the site are reversed. The , formerly the observed, situated within this space of anti-surveillance, takes up the role of the observer,
Image 59.
1:500 Development form plans of the north cairn [left], lake cairn [centre] and south cairn [right].
[102]
[103]
[Blur building] Diller Scofidio
“The Blur Building is an architecture of atmosphere—a fog mass resulting from natural and manmade forces. Water is pumped from Lake Neuchâtel, filtered, and shot as a fine mist through 35,000 high-pressure nozzles. A smart weather system reads the shifting climatic conditions of temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and regulates water pressure at a variety of zones. Upon entering Blur, visual and acoustic references are erased. There is only an optical “white-out” and the “white-noise” of pulsing nozzles. Contrary to immersive environments that strive for visual fidelity in high-definition with ever-greater technical virtuosity, Blur is decidedly low-definition. In this exposition pavilion there is nothing to see but our dependence on vision itself. It is an experiment in de-emphasis on an environmental scale. Movement within is unregulated.” 21 Much like Scofidio’s Blue building, mist generators will be located at the intersection of each of the 8 outward sightline channels with the surface of the mountain. These vertical structures, using water filtered from the lake, take their form from the same extrapolated landscape features which provide the sightlines into the lake chamber. Acting as surface features, they will enshroud Slieve Gullion’s summit in mist, providing an added layer to the sight’s existing nature of anti-surveillance, contributing additionally to the sense of discovery across its landscape. Their location and scale within the landscape provide a means from which former tower locations can be identified. The unique structure of each tower will aid in this form of wayfinding.
Image 60. 21
Diller Scofidio’s Blur building for the 2002 Swiss Expo generated a curtain of mist to envelope the building.
Scofidio, D. (2002) Blur Building Swiss Expo 2002
[104]
[105]
11 - Observation cultivation
Image 61.
The extrapolated and extruded elements from within each scope of vision now provides obscurity to that aspect. Upended, each totem is unique in its appearance and varies in its accessibility within the terrain.
[106]
These totems vent mist generated from the lake onto the surrounding mountainside, shrouding it in a permanent haze and adding an additional layer to the already antisurveillance nature of the site.
[107]
[Martian spacecraft] Fusing key elements from the Hunt of Cuilinn and how they’re portrayed within Irish legend with the post-conflict context of the site, sets out a framework from which design decisions can begin to be made. The 3 dominant features of the site [North cairn, Lake of Sorrow and South cairn] provide a basis from which a form can begin to be derived. A combination of both surface and subterranean sightlines foster both inward and outward observation of this space. Linking these features more literally in consideration of their history offers a quite unique opportunity to overlay studies into how the landscape was experienced throughout the Troubles, with that of its ancient heritage. Viewing the site as one of great importance within the wider history of Ireland, as well as its geographical prominence, naturally provides it as being one with a great deal of influence. This works in favour of portraying the intervention as itself being of importance to both the site and to that of Ireland. Much the same way both belligerents surrendered to the ancient importance of the site, with neither one attempting to use it to any military advantage, so too will the intervention make way to this.
Site plan - 1:2500 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
North cairn [anechoic chambers] Sightline channels [outward observation] Surface gantry Extended lake boundary Lake cairn [Calliagh Berra’s Otherworld dwelling] Extrapolated inward sightlines [inward observation] Calliagh Berra’s granite pathway South cairn [entrance to the Calliagh Berra’s Otherworld dwelling] Mist towers
[108]
Isometric site section - 1:750 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
North cairn [anechoic chambers] Sightline channels [outward observation] Surface gantry Extended lake boundary Lake cairn [Calliagh Berra’s Otherworld dwelling] Extrapolated inward sightlines [inward observation] Calliagh Berra’s granite pathway South cairn [entrance to the Calliagh Berra’s Otherworld dwelling] Mist towers
Key plan - 1:500
Key plan - 1:500
Site section - 1:750 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
North cairn [anechoic chambers] Sightline channels [outward observation] Surface gantry Extended lake boundary Lake cairn [Calliagh Berra’s Otherworld dwelling] Extrapolated inward sightlines [inward observation] Calliagh Berra’s granite pathway
[114]
1:750
Key plan - 1:500
Aperture detail section - 1:200 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9.
Sightline channels [outward observation] Surface gantry Extended lake boundary Lake cairn [Calliagh Berra’s Otherworld dwelling] Extrapolated inward sightlines [inward observation] Calliagh Berra’s granite pathway Mist towers
Image 62.
From within the valley of the Ring of Gullion, glinting in the sunlight from beneath the mist at its summit, one of the 8 mirrored channels catches the eye of the enquirer.
[118]
Image 63.
Hiking up its western flank, the terrain steepens, gravel pathways begin to merge with the harsher terrain nearing its summit. Granite boulders act as stepping stones through the heath. Mist, inhibiting the enquirers vision turns the granite to glass. Up ahead, the hulk of the summit begins to emerge.
[119]
Image 64.
Glimpsing through the mist atop the mountain, the 8 mist towers act as totems, casting outward observation towards the lower-lying hillsides where the ‘high Romeos’ once stood, drawing the enquirer’s desire for discovery of these megaliths. Above, the hillside R13 and R13A formerly dominated sits obscured on the horizon.
[120]
Image 65.
Clambering down the mountainside through the dense heath thicket, the enquirer stumbles upon the reticles of observation. Narrow slits gouging through the mountainside, their mirrored externals reflecting back the landscape below. Towering 20 metres at their juncture with the earth, the upended cones of vision puncture the serenity with a brutal honesty, spewing a heavy mist which lingers in the air, obscuring the circular lake gantry on the hilltop above.
[121]
Image 66.
The Lake of Sorrow, confined within its new boundary. At its centre, the portal, eclipsed in gold and penetrating downwards into the chamber beneath. The souterrain. The Calliagh Berra’s otherworld dwelling. Inward sightlines catch the enquirer’s gaze.
[122]
Image 67.
The Calliagh Berra’s trodden granite pathway descends beneath the lake. Surface water trickles down the dark, jagged surface, the stream forming beside the stairway flowing downwards and into the mist. Ahead, the arched portal into her otherworld dwelling.
[123]
Image 66.
8 apertures, their narrow openings create an awkward outward view. The exterior landscape, distorted, inverted and projecting inwards, providing a refracted interpretation of what lies beyond.
[124]
Image 67.
The building itself acts as the device from which the illusion of observation is carefully prescribed. It is here, in the crannog beneath the lake, that the conditions of the site are reversed. The inquisitor, formerly the observed, situated within this space of anti-surveillance, adopts the role of the observer.
[125]