0:00:13 > 0:00:16There was a time when people thought Ireland's west coast
0:00:16 > 0:00:18was the edge of the world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26A vast ocean meets this lonely shore
0:00:26 > 0:00:30and mighty cliffs rise up to mark the boundary between land and sea.
0:00:33 > 0:00:39For millennia, people have stood here in awe of what lies beyond.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Now we are following in the footsteps of those who battled to survive
0:00:43 > 0:00:47and to thrive on this wild Atlantic shore.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51A voyage of discovery along Ireland's northwest coast.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19From the west coast of Wales,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22we've come to the west coast of Ireland
0:01:22 > 0:01:24for a 600-mile journey around these shores.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27It'll take us all the way up to Arranmore Island in Donegal.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31But our journey begins in Galway.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38The walled city of Galway.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42There's nothing between here and North America but sea.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44An ocean of sea.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51It dominates life on the Irish coast,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54yet the Atlantic remains full of mystery.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59We know more about Mars than we know about the oceans,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and the reason for that is, the vastness of the oceans.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04They take up most of the planet.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07They're really deep, huge bodies of water.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11I've joined James Ryan from Galway's Marine Institute,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14and we're out here to check on this.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21It's a scientific buoy, and it's processing
0:02:21 > 0:02:25a constant stream of information about the ocean.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Battered by the waves, occasionally,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29it requires a little loving attention.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Oh, there we go. It's a more physical life
0:02:34 > 0:02:37- than I imagined for most scientists. - It is. This is the bit I really like,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41when we get away from the desk and the computer.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Hanging below the buoy are data probes to monitor temperature,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49salt content, wave motion, nutrients,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52and even the dolphins' comings and goings.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Wow. Beautiful.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59So, what do you have to do now that we're out here?
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Well, I just want to raise up the sensors,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04- which are down at the bottom of this big pipe here.- Oh, I see.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06In order for us to check them, we have to haul them up.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12The underwater sensors need a clean to keep them working reliably.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17It means scientists can now study the Atlantic
0:03:17 > 0:03:18without ever leaving their desks.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23- So it's sending its information out? - Sending its information 24/7.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26It's sending data all the time.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29There are plans to install a network of these buoys
0:03:29 > 0:03:31to track the progress of global warming.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34This is one buoy here at the edge of Ireland.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37There are other equivalent buoys all around the world.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41All very new technology, and they are, I suppose,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43like the heart monitors on a patient.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46We're checking the physiology of the oceans here, and monitoring
0:03:46 > 0:03:49that physiology at a time when it's really vital for the planet.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53We are finally learning to cherish this precious ocean
0:03:53 > 0:03:57that previous generations saw as territory to be conquered.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21Past the Slyne Head lighthouse, our journey continues on to Clifden.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32The first people to see this view from the air
0:04:32 > 0:04:35were the pioneering aviators Alcock and Brown...
0:04:37 > 0:04:40..who completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight
0:04:40 > 0:04:42by landing here in 1919.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47But a few years before,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50this was home to another transatlantic breakthrough.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Dick Strawbridge is searching for its remains.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01In its day, this was the world's biggest communications hub.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The brainchild of an Italian entrepreneur.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Just over 100 years ago, this man, Guglielmo Marconi,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11the pioneer of radio, brought his men here
0:05:11 > 0:05:14to set up the world's first wireless telegram service.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18We want to discover how Marconi did it, and why did he come here,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21to this isolated peat bog on the Irish coast?
0:05:25 > 0:05:29When Marconi arrived, his challenge was immense.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Build the most powerful transmitter the world had ever seen.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36- Good to see you, sir.- I'm just going to swing around that way, yeah?
0:05:37 > 0:05:39I've assembled a team of experts
0:05:39 > 0:05:41who will try and generate a radio signal
0:05:41 > 0:05:45with the same technology that Marconi pioneered here in Ireland.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48You want to try and align those two insulators
0:05:48 > 0:05:50with these two vertical members here.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52We've got electronics engineers
0:05:52 > 0:05:54from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57supported by radio experts from the Irish Naval Service,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59and they're all here to unpick the puzzle
0:05:59 > 0:06:01that Marconi cracked in 1907.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Just to confirm, we have arrived at the Clifden site,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09and we're going to conduct the Marconi exercises. Over.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Clifden's one of the closest point between Ireland and North America.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18From here, Marconi planned to send and receive radio signals
0:06:18 > 0:06:23a staggering 1,900 miles across the Atlantic.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26He put the sister station at Glace Bay in Nova Scotia.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32This was years before it was possible to transmit voice messages,
0:06:32 > 0:06:34so he used Morse code,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37electronic pulses that correspond to letters of the alphabet.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio message
0:06:42 > 0:06:44from Poldhu at Land's End.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49But six years later, to set up as a business, he uprooted to Ireland.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Marconi proved the radio communications at Land's End, didn't he?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56So why did he come here? Why Ireland?
0:06:56 > 0:06:58The Poldhu radio site, for Marconi,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00wasn't large enough for the type of antenna
0:07:00 > 0:07:03structure which he was experimenting with.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Marconi was building big.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Here at Clifden, there was room
0:07:10 > 0:07:14for a huge antenna suspended on poles 200 feet high.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19All that's left of the mighty structure are dozens
0:07:19 > 0:07:21of concrete anchor blocks for the masts.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26To get some sense of the scale,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29I've asked our guys from the Navy to act as markers.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33So, the far lad out there, he's only about a third of the way?
0:07:33 > 0:07:34Oh, absolutely.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36That guy you can see at the very top there on the hill,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39he's one third of the way up the entire antenna.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41This was a ginormous antenna.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44You could say the biggest in the world at that point in time.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Nothing like this had been seen before.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51An antenna over half a mile long.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It would need up to 300,000 watts of power to send messages
0:07:58 > 0:08:00all the way across the Atlantic.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03So Marconi had to generate lots of energy on site.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08That's why he built a power station in the middle of a bog.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12The 2m thick foundations are intact,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16but little remains of the hardware itself to tell us how it worked.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20He had a lake, which he needed for a water supply
0:08:20 > 0:08:23for his DC generators, which were right here beside us.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25That's the remnants of the DC generators over there.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Amazingly, the generators were driven by steam engines,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33which burned a traditional Irish fuel.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Everywhere you look, what do you see? Energy. Turf, peat.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- So they actually used peat for fuel? - Absolutely.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42He had six generators in here, three working
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and three on stand-by at all times.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50But Marconi still needed a way of storing the electrical
0:08:50 > 0:08:55energy from his peat-fuelled generators, and releasing it rapidly.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00The solution was to construct a capacitor, or condenser.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04We are trying to build one like Marconi did, from steel plates.
0:09:05 > 0:09:11Adding plates increases the electrical energy a capacitor can store.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Unlike a battery, it can be charged up quickly
0:09:14 > 0:09:15and discharged in a split second.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20This was the key component that enabled Morse code to be
0:09:20 > 0:09:23received loud and clear 1,900 miles away.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27This is huge!
0:09:27 > 0:09:31It may look huge today, but compared to Marconi, his condenser,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33this is minute. Look!
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Have a look at that picture.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38LAUGHTER Have you seen it?!
0:09:38 > 0:09:41- This is a man here. - We're talking about each one of these panels being, what?
0:09:41 > 0:09:46- 12 times bigger than that? - If we think the panels at the bottom were about 12 feet, which would be
0:09:46 > 0:09:51that three of these sheets wide, and about 30 feet tall, which is
0:09:51 > 0:09:54- between seven and eight times... - 25 times the size?
0:09:55 > 0:09:57- Absolutely.- How many did he have?
0:09:57 > 0:10:02You'll not believe this. He had 1,800 sheets.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06His condenser housing was 350 feet long and 75 feet wide.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12We've built a Marconi-style steel plate condenser,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17but what about generating the radio signal itself?
0:10:17 > 0:10:22The man with the biggest collection of early radio equipment in Britain is Bob Smallbone.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24He's arrived with a rare
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and crucial bit of kit that dates right back to Marconi's time.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- What's in here? Couldn't you get a new one?- That's cast iron.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Weighs a tonne. 1910 rotary spark gap. We're ready to go.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Get it connected. Good man!
0:10:38 > 0:10:43In 1907, powering up such a rotary spark gap was no mean feat.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Marconi's peat-powered steam engine drove his generators.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48We are using petrol power.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55We should be getting, what, about 230, 240?
0:10:58 > 0:11:04- But our generator's output is too low.- I should have expected 220.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Yeah.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11A century ago, Marconi overcame much bigger problems than this.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Out here, it's a bit of an unknown quantity.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Marconi's men had to be inventive as they struggled to turn
0:11:19 > 0:11:23transatlantic radio messages from an experiment into a business.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27After some tweaking, it's all systems go.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31I shall top this one. Yes, that's it. 220 that's good. 220.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33- So, we're happy with that.- Yeah.- OK.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Just one more part of the circuit to complete.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Bob's bought along a Morse key. An absolute replica.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41So that's exactly what these 100 years ago?
0:11:41 > 0:11:44- Exactly what they would have used. - Here in Clifden?- Here in Clifden.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47- Wow.- There you go. No expense spared today!
0:11:47 > 0:11:49- Let's get it wired up.- Perfect.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Marconi was an astute entrepreneur.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55He wanted to make communications by wireless telegraph more
0:11:55 > 0:11:59accessible, and create a big market for his ground-breaking service.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04- Here's an advert of the time.- The "Marconigram"!
0:12:04 > 0:12:08By making messages more compact, they'd use up less airtime,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10and so it'd be a lot cheaper.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Marconi's Wireless Telegraphic Code book.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19You just use one word, and he gives you a whole sentence.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- And those unreal words, are they? - No, they're not.- "Abrotanoid."
0:12:22 > 0:12:26- "Abrotanoid." - What a cracking word. "Bankrupt's stock will realise large amount.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29"Assets good." That's a very long sentence for one word, isn't it?
0:12:29 > 0:12:31- It is.- That would cost me eight pence.- 8p.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37We're getting a feel for the challenges Marconi faced here in 1907,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41trying to generate his revolutionary transatlantic radio messages.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Now, the ultimate test.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Frank has now got a live feed. Is anybody else worried?
0:12:48 > 0:12:50If you touched the steel plates now,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54you'd become part of a 6,000 volt circuit, and almost certainly die.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57The condenser's all wired up, which means we're going to be able
0:12:57 > 0:13:00to store lots of energy, so all we need to do is get everybody safe,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04flip the switch, and we'll be sending Morse a long way using our condenser.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06Do you want to do a quick safety check?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Clear the danger area, please.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12- GM IT, can you confirm the danger area is clear?- Yes, it is cleared.
0:13:12 > 0:13:13Thank you. On my mark...
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Five, four, three, two, one.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20- Mark.- You're in control.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24ELECTRICAL CRACKLING
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- Wow! We like that. We like that. - We're looking good.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31CRACKLING
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- That is awesome.- Is that good?
0:13:34 > 0:13:38That's really good. Hold on, I saw the big smile coming out there.
0:13:38 > 0:13:44The high-voltage sparks are jumping across a tiny air gap between the stud contacts.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48When these rotating contacts line up and the Morse key is pressed,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50the spark creates a signal.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Marconi's rotary spark gap was five feet in diameter,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and the sound of the sparks could be heard over half a mile away.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02As well as making audible sound waves,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05the sparks were also creating invisible radio waves.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Even without connecting our scaled-down model to an antenna,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13it's so powerful, it's actually transmitting through the air.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16- This is a radio that will pick it up? - A conventional radio.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Set to longwave. We should be able to pick it up.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22What we're going to do, if we head off, can you send us a message of some description,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25- and we'll see how far we go? - Yes, I can indeed. Excuse us.
0:14:25 > 0:14:26ELECTRICAL SPARKING CONTINUES
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Listen to that. Isn't that a beautiful, clean spark?
0:14:32 > 0:14:33We've got 100 watts in there.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36- This is still going. - And there's no antenna!
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Marconi had something like 100,000 watts.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Our signal could be picked up almost half a mile away.
0:14:51 > 0:14:52Over a century ago,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55when Marangoni launched his transatlantic wireless telegraph
0:14:55 > 0:15:01service, it heralded the dawn of a new era of high-speed communications.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05A big idea that made the world seem a little smaller.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29On our journey along Ireland's north-west coast,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31we've reached Cleggan.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40Its bustling harbour is the point of departure
0:15:40 > 0:15:43for islanders and travellers.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45The local pub is run by Noreen Higgins,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47who is Cleggan born and bred.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51The busiest times tend to coincide with the boats.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56There's a service going to Inishbofin all year round, weather permitting.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Fine weather brings them out from under the stones.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03You know, a good day like this, people come to Cleggan.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06If they come to Cleggan, they want to eat the crab,
0:16:06 > 0:16:07they want to eat the lobster, you know?
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Particularly in summertime, you can be jam-packed.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17And then the boat will be leaving at 7:30.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20At 7:25, the whole place clears out.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Thanks very much, folks. Thank you.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25I think when you've lived on the coast,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27it's very hard to live anywhere else.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30We love the blue skies, the calm weather and that.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35But there's a real beauty to it in the winter time as well.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36You can get raging, powerful seas.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39It's a very nice lifestyle,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43if not the busiest or maybe the most lucrative.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46But there's a good quality of life here.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49People that like it, like it. It's lovely.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00We're heading east, towards the holy mountain of Croagh Patrick.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Wherever there's a beach, you'll find a smattering of holiday retreats.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11The temporary residents of this shore seem compelled
0:17:11 > 0:17:15to journey as far west as they can, to the very edge of Europe.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And they're not alone.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24For thousands of years, people have been drawn here.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26The mountain of Croagh Patrick is the main attraction
0:17:26 > 0:17:29for those on a spiritual journey.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Following their well trodden path is Nick Crane.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I'm on the holy mountain of Croagh Patrick,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42where St Patrick is said to have fasted for 40 days.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Once a year, thousands of pilgrims make the climb
0:17:45 > 0:17:49to the 762 metre summit, many of them in bare feet.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Some Catholics brave the pain
0:17:54 > 0:17:56of this barefoot pilgrimage as a penance.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59But I'm here on a mission of my own.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01The pilgrimage I'm making
0:18:01 > 0:18:04is to celebrate one of nature's great spectacles.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And you need to get high up to take it in.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10The extraordinary islands of Clew Bay.
0:18:24 > 0:18:30It's a beguiling waterworld, unlike anything else in the British Isles.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Local mythology counts Clew Bay's islands at 365...
0:18:35 > 0:18:38..one for every day of the year.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43I'm intrigued to discover how this community of islands once
0:18:43 > 0:18:46supported a community of people.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Mary Gavin-Hughes still sails these waters.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57She's one of the last generation of self-sufficient islanders
0:18:57 > 0:19:01who fished and farmed in Clew Bay.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05So, what was it like living on the islands?
0:19:05 > 0:19:09It was heaven on earth living on the island. It was very peaceful.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Great tranquillity.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Mary grew up in a world of no electricity,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18in a tight knit community separated by water.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23What's that building over there, Mary?
0:19:23 > 0:19:27This one here is known as Collan School. It's Collan Island.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- That was the school. - That little white building?- Yes.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33It's the smallest school I've ever seen in my life!
0:19:33 > 0:19:35By the time Mary was a teenager,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38she was roving around Clew Bay on her own.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43This picture here shows how we'd row to and from home.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45It's a heavy looking boat. These oars are huge!
0:19:45 > 0:19:47They're like telegraph poles.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51They were handmade. My dad actually made them.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53They were good and sturdy.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56But we needed them for the weather we were up against sometimes.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- You look as if you're enjoying yourself.- Of course I am.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Smile, Charlie! That's his home.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Mary's father taught her to feel at home on the water,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13harvesting the sea's bounty.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16But they didn't live on fish alone.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21We did all our farming on the island, our fishing.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22We were very self-sufficient.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26The grass seems really quite lush and rich.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28The soil on the island is very rich.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31You can see just over here, where we grew our own crops.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35- The evidence of the ridges. - Those lines on the turf?
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Yeah. It was fantastic for the potatoes and all the vegetables.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41You had to be able to turn your hand to everything,
0:20:41 > 0:20:42living on an island.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48The fertile soil is a clue to how the extraordinary
0:20:48 > 0:20:50landscape of Clew Bay formed.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55Its islands are made of the rich residue left behind by glaciers.
0:20:57 > 0:21:0220,000 years ago, much of Ireland was covered by a vast ice sheet.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06As the climate cooled and warmed, the ice advanced and retreated,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08moulding the land underneath
0:21:08 > 0:21:12and creating the distinctive features that became Clew Bay.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Paul Dunlop is an expert on how glaciers made the mounds
0:21:17 > 0:21:19which formed these islands.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22These are known technically as drumlins, aren't they?
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Where does the word come from?
0:21:24 > 0:21:26The word drumlin comes from the Gaelic word druim,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28which means a small hill.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Any glacial landscape you go to, you find these.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33They are always called drumlins.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37What's so striking is the repetitive pattern
0:21:37 > 0:21:40of drumlin islands across the bay.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Paul's developed a theory that a wave-like motion
0:21:42 > 0:21:47under the melting ice created these distinctive shapes and patterns.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50It's a process similar to what happens when the tide goes out
0:21:50 > 0:21:54on a beach, leaving those familiar wavelike ripples in the sand.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58If you take a look around nature, you find wave patterns everywhere.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00You find them in the clouds, on the beaches.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02- Ripples on the seashore, on sand?- Exactly.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07And ice flowing across sediment can produce the same scenario.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12It's the way it goes up, leaving sediment on the surface of the land,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- which then becomes a drumlin? - That's right.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19It's amazing that the most brutal forces,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22working deep beneath the ice so long ago,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25left as their legacy this beautiful bay.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45It's the wildness of the ocean that dominates now
0:22:45 > 0:22:48as we journey north-west to Achill Island.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Massive marine ramparts speak of the power struggle between land and sea.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01People, too, have left their mark in stone.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04The remains of communities who finally conceded defeat
0:23:04 > 0:23:07in an age-old battle to cling on to this coast.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Further around the coast of County Mayo,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16communities still thrive at Beal Derrig.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Beal Derrig doesn't have a village centre, as such.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33Each family home is surrounded by fields - precious land for farming.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38It's an agricultural tradition that goes way, way back.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Alice is time-travelling back to its beginnings.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53Underneath my feet are the preserved remains of the oldest farm site
0:23:53 > 0:23:55in the British Isles.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00The discovery was made back in 1934, when this man, Patrick Caulfield,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02was cutting peat in these fields
0:24:02 > 0:24:07and kept on striking stones buried in a regular pattern.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Patrick's son, archaeologist Seamus Caulfield
0:24:09 > 0:24:12has continued his father's investigation
0:24:12 > 0:24:15into the stones beneath the bog.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Seamus came up with this very simple technique of probing
0:24:18 > 0:24:20to plot their locations.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22The probe goes through the bog really easy, doesn't it?
0:24:22 > 0:24:24What am I hitting there, Seamus?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26You are hitting ordinary ground level.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Now we're hitting on something higher.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32You can actually hear it hitting on the stone.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Yes, I can.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37The deeper you probe the peat, the further back in time you go.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39The depth and pattern of the finds
0:24:39 > 0:24:42forced Seamus and his father to an astounding conclusion.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47The stones were placed here before Stonehenge.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52That's a stone that someone lifted into place 5,500 years ago.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56It hasn't been seen or known about for 5,000 years.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00- And we're hearing it now for the first time.- Which is amazing.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Mapping the site, they realised they might be
0:25:02 > 0:25:04following the lines of buried walls.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08We're hitting a wall in section, are we?
0:25:08 > 0:25:11We are. We're coming across the wall.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14It should now begin to drop,
0:25:14 > 0:25:15the far side of it.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Some of this massive site has been excavated, to confirm the theory
0:25:24 > 0:25:27that the lines of stones plotted with all that probing
0:25:27 > 0:25:29were collapsed walls
0:25:29 > 0:25:32that would originally have stood around a metre high,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34and a metre wide.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40These buried walls once marked out the British Isles'
0:25:40 > 0:25:43oldest network of farmers' fields.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48We've established that they extend over this mountain,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50over the mountain in the distance,
0:25:50 > 0:25:55and their large, enclosed fields appear to be grazing land for cattle.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00It's likely that 5,500 years ago, people were engineering
0:26:00 > 0:26:04the landscape here to rear animals for food.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10These are the fields of Ireland's first farmers.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14The long, parallel walls run all the way from the cliff edge
0:26:14 > 0:26:16for over half a mile inland.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20The layout suggests cattle were reared here for meat and milk,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23as walled fields meant the farmers could separate stock
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and control grazing.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30This extensive farm would have supported as many as 1,000 people.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33This is a massive undertaking. People must have been working
0:26:33 > 0:26:37as a team to build all these miles and miles of stone walls.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38There had to be.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41It's not a single operation. It's not a few families,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44it's a large community making a decision
0:26:44 > 0:26:48to divide the terrain like this into these long, large fields.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Someone was making the decision, and they were sticking to it.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00The move to farming was a revolutionary change in lifestyle.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Nearby, on the Belderrig coast, there's evidence of other people
0:27:03 > 0:27:07who lived here just a few hundred years before the farmers.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- Hello, Graeme.- Hi, Alice.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14- Have you got some archaeology appearing there?- Yes, we do.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16We have a range of archaeology.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Graeme Warren's searching for the leftovers of meals
0:27:19 > 0:27:24eaten 6,000 years ago, buried amongst the stone tools of people
0:27:24 > 0:27:27surviving by hunting and gathering along this seashore.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Something making this site so important
0:27:29 > 0:27:31is that we have some preserved fish bone.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Just in here, underneath this stone, you can just about make out
0:27:34 > 0:27:37some very small creamy white little flecks
0:27:37 > 0:27:39sticking out of the soil.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41- Tiny...- They don't look like very much,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44but they are actually pieces of prehistoric fish bone.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46In some places, we find these
0:27:46 > 0:27:49with lots of stone tools,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51and lots of carbonised hazelnut shells,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54so we're very certain these are the results of human activity.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58I have some here that we had from the excavations,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and where they've been processed.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03You can just about see there's some tiny, tiny pieces.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05They're very, very fragmentary.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07But now and then, you get something recognisably
0:28:07 > 0:28:10of a certain type of bone.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Those are tiny little fish vertebra.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16That's a fish tooth, I think, actually.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Yes, I think that's a fish tooth. Very, very small.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27The stone tools and fish remains
0:28:27 > 0:28:30reveal that these people lived by fishing and foraging on the coast.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34But the discovery of the farmers' fields nearby
0:28:34 > 0:28:38shows that times were changing.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41In a landscape so heavily associated with Neolithic farmers,
0:28:41 > 0:28:42through Seamus' work,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45to be able to look here at the very final hunter-gatherers
0:28:45 > 0:28:48gives us an opportunity to answer some very basic questions.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Were these the same people who were hunter-gatherers and farmers?
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Or was there a wave of different people arriving?
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Or small groups of different people?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Whoever these predecessors of modern farmers were,
0:29:01 > 0:29:07they'd taken a crucial step towards controlling their food supply.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10Now, they could plan ahead for the winter, and leaner times.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14But there's an enigma surrounding these early beef and dairy farms
0:29:14 > 0:29:18that remains a puzzle. Where did the first Irish farmers
0:29:18 > 0:29:20get their first livestock,
0:29:20 > 0:29:21and their first crops?
0:29:23 > 0:29:26Someone had to introduce cattle, sheep, wheat,
0:29:26 > 0:29:28and barley into Ireland.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30It wasn't here before that.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33The question that still remains is,
0:29:33 > 0:29:38did these Balearic fisher-gatherers switch to farming,
0:29:38 > 0:29:39or were they replaced by farming?
0:29:39 > 0:29:41We just don't know.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02The relentless Atlantic has eroded the coastline to reveal the remains
0:30:02 > 0:30:04of an ancient life form,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07which has given the headland its name.
0:30:07 > 0:30:08Serpent Rock.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15If you take a walk along here,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17and come across these shapes in the rock,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21you could be forgiven for thinking they're the remains of snakes.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24For centuries, that's exactly what people thought they were.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30It's hardly surprising,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34because snakes play a starring role in Irish mythology.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39Legend has it that every loathsome and poisonous serpent
0:30:39 > 0:30:41was driven from Ireland by St Patrick.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46True to the legend, there ARE no snakes in Ireland now,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49but, then, there's no evidence there ever WERE any.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52So, what's going on here?
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Every one of these WAS once an animal,
0:30:57 > 0:30:59living around 340 million years ago.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01They were a kind of coral.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06We know they only ever lived in the warm water of shallow tropical seas.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12These tube-shaped creatures grew up from the seabed,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16capturing their food from the water in the same way as sea anemones.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20An ancient, primeval seabed,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23now exposed to the brooding Atlantic.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Skirting the cliffs of Slieve League,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36I'm on the final leg of my journey to Arranmore Island.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Around here, you can't escape the power of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50It's carved out massive sculptures to remind us that,
0:31:50 > 0:31:55for millions of years, it's battered Ireland's north-west coast.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00The islanders have an intimate relationship
0:32:00 > 0:32:02with the fickle sea.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05So, at the heart of the community,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07there's a lifeboat station.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15There's no way I could leave these shores without meeting the men
0:32:15 > 0:32:16who know more than anyone else
0:32:16 > 0:32:20about the harsh realities of life on the edge of the Atlantic.
0:32:20 > 0:32:21The lifeboat men,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24who brave the wildest storms to bring help to those in peril.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32The RNLI in Ireland is the same organisation
0:32:32 > 0:32:34that operates in Britain.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39Yet the crew of the RNLI's Arranmore boat are Irish men,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41operating in Irish waters.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46It's remarkable that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's presence
0:32:46 > 0:32:49has survived the struggle for independence,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51and the Troubles that followed.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54It begs a question for Terry Johnson,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56one of the RNLI's top brass.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59I must admit, I'd never really thought about it.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02It was almost a surprise to think there's a ROYAL
0:33:02 > 0:33:06National Lifeboat Institution in the Republic Of Ireland.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Well, it's always been the RNLI.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11It was operating for nearly 100 years
0:33:11 > 0:33:15before Ireland's government was formed in 1922.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20They approached the Irish Free State and said, "We're here in Ireland.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23"Our lifeboat crews want to continue the work".
0:33:23 > 0:33:26The government said, "We welcome and support you in that".
0:33:26 > 0:33:28It's not about national boundaries -
0:33:28 > 0:33:32England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and Northern Ireland.
0:33:32 > 0:33:33It's about the sea.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36If you're in it, the RNLI'll come and get you out of it.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43The Irish Coast Guard work with the RNLI to provide a vital
0:33:43 > 0:33:47search and rescue service for mariners in the North Atlantic.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51The search and rescue helicopter
0:33:51 > 0:33:56is on its way to join us for an exercise to test both crews' skills.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00There's about to be a seafarer in trouble.
0:34:01 > 0:34:02Me.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07So far, I've done a lot of talking about the Atlantic Ocean.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Now, it's only fitting I get a proper taste of the beast itself.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Am I going in, yeah?
0:34:14 > 0:34:15Yeah. OK.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Let the air out of your suit.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Without my dry suit, I wouldn't expect to last more than a matter of minutes.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35Being adrift in the ocean, as the lifeboat disappears from view,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37is unsettling.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45In a real emergency, my distress flare could be a life-saver.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54The plan is to pick me up and land me
0:34:54 > 0:34:56on the deck of the moving lifeboat,
0:34:56 > 0:34:58a procedure the crew practice for rescues
0:34:58 > 0:35:01when there's a number of people in the water.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Imagine this in a ten-foot swell.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16With the ten-ton helicopter hovering directly above me,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20I'm blasted by the down draught from the rotor blades.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Brilliant.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35The lifeboat's purposely travelling INTO the wind,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38and I'm flying through the air at 15 knots, FOLLOWING it.
0:35:38 > 0:35:39The reason?
0:35:39 > 0:35:42It gives the pilot more control,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45because, flying forward, the helicopter gains lift.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48So it's more stable, if more scary.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58I would never even contemplate taking part in an exercise like this,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02if it wasn't with the RNLI and the Coast Guard.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04Not only will they rescue anyone,
0:36:04 > 0:36:06irrespective of nationality or creed,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09they'll go out 100 miles into the worst the Atlantic storms
0:36:09 > 0:36:11have to offer to get their job done.
0:36:11 > 0:36:12Now, THAT's class!