0:00:13 > 0:00:16There was a time when people thought Ireland's West Coast
0:00:16 > 0:00:17was the edge of the world.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25A vast ocean meets this lonely shore
0:00:25 > 0:00:30and mighty cliffs rise up to mark the boundary between land and sea.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37For millennia, people have stood here in awe of what lies beyond.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42Now we are following in the footsteps of those who battled to survive
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and to thrive on this wild Atlantic shore.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50A voyage of discovery along Ireland's north-west coast.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54And the team's along for the ride.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Alice is searching for Ireland's first farmers.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Yes, I've got a stone! That is remarkable.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07Miranda tracks down Irish mountain hares lying low on the coast.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13More hares than you could shake a stick at.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Barefoot Nick explores a magical island community.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21That's the smallest school I've ever seen in my life.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23And I'm all at sea...
0:01:23 > 0:01:24Am I going in, yeah?
0:01:24 > 0:01:27..relying on the lifeboat crews
0:01:27 > 0:01:32and aircrews of the Atlantic rescue services to keep me dry and high.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39This is Coast and beyond.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06From the west coast of Wales,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09we've come to the west coast of Ireland
0:02:09 > 0:02:12for a 600-mile journey around the shores.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16It'll take us all the way up to Aaranmore Island in Donegal.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19But our journey begins in Galway.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26The walled city of Galway.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31There's nothing between here and North America but sea.
0:02:31 > 0:02:32An ocean of sea.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37In the 19th century, wave upon wave of emigrants trusted their luck
0:02:37 > 0:02:41crossing the Atlantic to flee poverty and famine in Ireland
0:02:41 > 0:02:44for a new life in a new world.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49The family ties and shared history that bridged 2,000 miles of ocean
0:02:49 > 0:02:53now bring Irish descendants back across the water.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02In June 1963, a famous son of America returned here in triumph
0:03:02 > 0:03:05to the land his great-grandparents had left in despair.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09All of Galway turned out to salute the world's most powerful man.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And I'm here to look for the man who took this photo.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18He arrives in Galway to be welcomed by Mayor Ryan
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and Bishop Brown of Galway.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23President John Fitzgerald Kennedy
0:03:23 > 0:03:27was in Ireland to reconnect with his roots.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30The whole of Galway spilled onto the streets
0:03:30 > 0:03:33for the biggest party the city's ever thrown.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Kennedy's great-grandparents had emigrated
0:03:40 > 0:03:45to Boston, Massachusetts, over 100 years before in the potato famine.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Now, JFK wanted to remind the crowd of the family ties
0:03:49 > 0:03:51they also shared with the states.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52If you ever come to America,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56you would see down working on the docks there...
0:03:59 > 0:04:02..some Doughertys, Flahertys, Ryans and cousins of yours
0:04:02 > 0:04:05who have gone to Boston and made good.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09In the crowd that day,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12taking pictures of JFK for the Galway City Tribune,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16was a 19-year-old photographer caught on film on his first big job.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Almost half a century later, I'm here to meet Stan Shields,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27the man who took the picture that brought me here.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29That's the picture.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31It's the picture, out of all the ones I've took
0:04:31 > 0:04:33in my career that I remember.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38- Really?- And I take pride in having took it.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40It wasn't easy.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41Every time Stan got close enough,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45there always seemed to be something or someone in the way.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Stan had to seize his last chance as JFK got into the limo.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53I saw him in the car and I stared at him until he looked my way.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57I pointed the camera and pointed to him. He said, yes.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01I opened the front door of the car, jumped in, lifted up the camera
0:05:01 > 0:05:03and this fellow jumped at me.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08His nightmare was somebody getting too close to the president with the wrong idea?
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Yeah, but I didn't realise that.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Kennedy said, "It's OK, Jim. He's a friend."
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Really? He said, "It's OK, Jim. He's a friend"?
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Yes, he's a friend.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23Knelt up, took the picture and shook hands with him
0:05:23 > 0:05:24and thanked him for coming.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29These images of joy are sadly prophetic.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34The motorcade, the open-topped limousine.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37So much like the day in Dallas just five months later
0:05:37 > 0:05:41when JFK became the victim of an assassin's bullet.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44How did it feel, those months later,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46when you heard that he'd been shot?
0:05:48 > 0:05:53I got an awful shock. You felt you'd lost a friend. Seriously.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55You felt you'd lost a friend.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Grief washed across the Atlantic.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Pain shared between people bonded by blood.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22On our journey along Ireland's north-west coast,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25we've reached Cleggan.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Its bustling harbour is the point of departure
0:06:31 > 0:06:34for islanders and travellers.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The local pub is run by Noreen Higgins,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41who is Cleggan born and bred.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45The busiest times tend to coincide with the boats.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50There's a service going to Inishbofin all year round, weather permitting.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Fine weather brings them out from under the stones.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57You know, a good day like this, people come to Cleggan.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59If they come to Cleggan, they want to eat the crab,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01they want to eat the lobster, you know?
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Particularly in summertime, you can be jam-packed.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11And then the boat will be leaving at 7:30.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13At 7:25, the whole place clears out.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Thanks very much, folks. Thank you.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I think when you've lived on the coast,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21it's very hard to live anywhere else.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24We love the blue skies, the calm weather and that.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28But there's a real beauty to it in the winter time as well.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30You can get raging, powerful seas.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It's a very nice lifestyle,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37if not the busiest or maybe the most lucrative.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39But there's a good quality of life here.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43People that like it, like it. It's lovely.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54We're heading east, towards the holy mountain of Croagh Patrick.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02Wherever there's a beach, you'll find a smattering of holiday retreats.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05The temporary residents of this shore seem compelled
0:08:05 > 0:08:09to journey as far west as they can, to the very edge of Europe.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14And they're not alone.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17For thousands of years, people have been drawn here.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The mountain of Croagh Patrick is the main attraction
0:08:20 > 0:08:23for those on a spiritual journey.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Following their well trodden path is Nick Crane.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I'm on the holy mountain of Croagh Patrick,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36where St Patrick is said to have fasted for 40 days.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Once a year, thousands of pilgrims make the climb
0:08:38 > 0:08:43to the 762 metre summit, many of them in bare feet.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Some Catholics brave the pain
0:08:47 > 0:08:49of this barefoot pilgrimage as a penance.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53But I'm here on a mission of my own.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54The pilgrimage I'm making
0:08:54 > 0:08:57is to celebrate one of nature's great spectacles.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01And you need to get high up to take it in.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04The extraordinary islands of Clew Bay.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23It's a beguiling waterworld, unlike anything else in the British Isles.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Local mythology counts Clew Bay's islands at 365...
0:09:29 > 0:09:32..one for every day of the year.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37I'm intrigued to discover how this community of islands once
0:09:37 > 0:09:40supported a community of people.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Mary Gavin-Hughes still sails these waters.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51She's one of the last generation of self-sufficient islanders
0:09:51 > 0:09:55who fished and farmed in Clew Bay.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58So, what was it like living on the islands?
0:09:58 > 0:10:03It was heaven on earth living on the island. It was very peaceful.
0:10:03 > 0:10:04Great tranquillity.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Mary grew up in a world of no electricity,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12in a tight knit community separated by water.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17What's that building over there, Mary?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20This one here is known as Collan School. It's Collan Island.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24- That was the school. - That little white building?- Yes.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27It's the smallest school I've ever seen in my life!
0:10:27 > 0:10:29By the time Mary was a teenager,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32she was roving around Clew Bay on her own.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37This picture here shows how we'd row to and from home.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39It's a heavy looking boat. These oars are huge!
0:10:39 > 0:10:41They're like telegraph poles.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44They were handmade. My dad actually made them.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47They were good and sturdy.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50But we needed them for the weather we were up against sometimes.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54- You look as if you're enjoying yourself.- Of course I am.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Smile, Charlie! That's his home.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Mary's father taught her to feel at home on the water,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07harvesting the sea's bounty.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10But they didn't live on fish alone.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14We did all our farming on the island, our fishing.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16We were very self-sufficient.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19The grass seems really quite lush and rich.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22The soil on the island is very rich.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24You can see just over here, where we grew our own crops.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28- The evidence of the ridges. - Those lines on the turf?
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Yeah. It was fantastic for the potatoes and all the vegetables.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35You had to be able to turn your hand to everything,
0:11:35 > 0:11:36living on an island.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42The fertile soil is a clue to how the extraordinary
0:11:42 > 0:11:43landscape of Clew Bay formed.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48Its islands are made of the rich residue left behind by glaciers.
0:11:50 > 0:11:5620,000 years ago, much of Ireland was covered by a vast ice sheet.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00As the climate cooled and warmed, the ice advanced and retreated,
0:12:00 > 0:12:01moulding the land underneath
0:12:01 > 0:12:06and creating the distinctive features that became Clew Bay.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Paul Dunlop is an expert on how glaciers made the mounds
0:12:11 > 0:12:13which formed these islands.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16These are known technically as drumlins, aren't they?
0:12:16 > 0:12:17Where does the word come from?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The word drumlin comes from the Gaelic word druim,
0:12:20 > 0:12:21which means a small hill.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Any glacial landscape you go to, you find these.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27They are always called drumlins.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31What's so striking is the repetitive pattern
0:12:31 > 0:12:33of drumlin islands across the bay.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Paul's developed a theory that a wave-like motion
0:12:36 > 0:12:41under the melting ice created these distinctive shapes and patterns.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44It's a process similar to what happens when the tide goes out
0:12:44 > 0:12:48on a beach, leaving those familiar wavelike ripples in the sand.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51If you take a look around nature, you find wave patterns everywhere.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53You find them in the clouds, on the beaches.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56- Ripples on the seashore, on sand?- Exactly.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00And ice flowing across sediment can produce the same scenario.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06It's the way it goes up, leaving sediment on the surface of the land,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09- which then becomes a drumlin? - That's right.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13It's amazing that the most brutal forces,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15working deep beneath the ice so long ago,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18left as their legacy this beautiful bay.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26For seafarers who know these islands and reefs,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29it's a place of protection from the north Atlantic.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33But without local knowledge, it's also a treacherous maze.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40400 years ago, this territory was controlled by an extraordinary
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Gaelic leader who lived in this.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51The tower house at Rockfleet sits on a natural slab of bedrock.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55And at high tide, it's surrounded on three sides by water.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01- Hello!- Hello, there.- Can I come in?
0:14:01 > 0:14:05You're more than welcome. But mind your head.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Denise Murray knows every nook and cranny of the Rockfleet tower house.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13But first, I have to find her in this warren of a castle.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Each floor has a spacious room.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20But the passages and stairways twist and turn,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22as well as being unbelievably narrow.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Who's the most famous occupant of here?
0:14:25 > 0:14:28The main occupant was a woman named Grainne Ni Mhaille,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32who lives on in legend as the Pirate Queen of Connaught.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Which does her a disservice, because she was much more than that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40She was a trader, pirate, mother, grandmother
0:14:40 > 0:14:44and wife of the man who eventually became the Overlord of Mayo
0:14:44 > 0:14:45with her financial backing.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49- Shall we go further up?- Yes. And mind your head.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54- Very impressive that the most famous occupant here is a woman.- Yes.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57To be remembered from that time.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Grainne Ni Mhaille, the Pirate Queen,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04is sometimes referred to by an Anglicised version of her name,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Grace O'Malley.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Grace saw the sea as her domain.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12So anyone who crossed it was fair game.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14She would stand here, having come up from her hall,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and look out across Clew Bay.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18She would see a ship.
0:15:18 > 0:15:24Down below, she had three galleys, 200 fighting men with oar and sail.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27They would take off across this bay like rockets
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and capture whoever was passing.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33She particularly despised the merchants of Galway,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35who had a monopoly on the wine trade.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41Many a Galway-bound merchant ship fell prey to Grace O'Malley's ships.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Eventually, they came looking for her.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50She could defend this castle from attack, which she did in 1579.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Ships were sent from Galway to arrest her because of her piracy.
0:15:53 > 0:15:54And she beat them off.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57So much so that the man in charge of the expedition actually said
0:15:57 > 0:16:00he was afraid she was going to capture him.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02This is warriorship.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05She had the values martial society valued.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07She just was a woman and a mother.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Grace brought up her children here.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14And although the tower would have had its home comforts,
0:16:14 > 0:16:19its primary purpose was to protect the O'Malleys from their enemies.
0:16:19 > 0:16:20What on earth are these for?
0:16:20 > 0:16:24They're quite simply for dropping things down on top of people.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Grainne is standing here, her castle is under attack,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31the last thing she wants them to do is get in the door.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33So she's here. They've got oil, pitch,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36anything that will burn or is disgusting.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38You just pour it down here.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44In the O'Malley house, security was paramount.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Even if attackers got into the ground floor,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Grace had installed another line of defence.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55Instead of a stone staircase,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58there was a wooden ladder that could be removed.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Even if they got past that, there was another surprise in store
0:17:02 > 0:17:04for any 16th century raiders.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07This is not an easy building to get around, is it?
0:17:07 > 0:17:08No and deliberately so.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10To get through that door,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13even someone as short as me has to bend down to come through.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18A fully armoured man in here has the advantage, he can just kill you.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21If you had managed to get up those wooden stairs,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24the first person up would be cut, their throat would be cut
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and they would be thrown back down -
0:17:26 > 0:17:29it's called the murder hole - onto their comrades below,
0:17:29 > 0:17:33as a little disincentive to come any further.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35This is one wild country.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52It's the wildness of the ocean that dominates now
0:17:52 > 0:17:55as we journey north-west to Achill Island.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Massive marine ramparts speak of the power struggle between land and sea.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09People, too, have left their mark in stone.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The remains of communities who finally conceded defeat
0:18:12 > 0:18:15in an age-old battle to cling on to this coast.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Further around the coast of County Mayo,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24communities still thrive at Beal Derrig.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Beal Derrig doesn't have a village centre, as such.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41Each family home is surrounded by fields - precious land for farming.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46It's an agricultural tradition that goes way, way back.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Alice is time-travelling back to its beginnings.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Underneath my feet are the preserved remains of the oldest farm site
0:19:01 > 0:19:03in the British Isles.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08The discovery was made back in 1934, when this man, Patrick Caulfield,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10was cutting peat in these fields
0:19:10 > 0:19:15and kept on striking stones buried in a regular pattern.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Patrick's son, archaeologist Seamus Caulfield
0:19:17 > 0:19:20has continued his father's investigation
0:19:20 > 0:19:23into the stones beneath the bog.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Seamus came up with this very simple technique of probing
0:19:26 > 0:19:28to plot their locations.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30The probe goes through the bog really easy, doesn't it?
0:19:30 > 0:19:32What am I hitting there, Seamus?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34You are hitting ordinary ground level.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Now we're hitting on something higher.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40You can actually hear it hitting on the stone.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Yes, I can.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45The deeper you probe the peat, the further back in time you go.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47The depth and pattern of the finds
0:19:47 > 0:19:50forced Seamus and his father to an astounding conclusion.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55The stones were placed here before Stonehenge.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00That's a stone that someone lifted into place 5,500 years ago.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04It hasn't been seen or known about for 5,000 years.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08- And we're hearing it now for the first time.- Which is amazing.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Mapping the site, they realised they might be
0:20:10 > 0:20:12following the lines of buried walls.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16We're hitting a wall in section, are we?
0:20:16 > 0:20:19We are. We're coming across the wall.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22It should now begin to drop,
0:20:22 > 0:20:23the far side of it.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Some of this massive site has been excavated, to confirm the theory
0:20:32 > 0:20:35that the lines of stones plotted with all that probing
0:20:35 > 0:20:37were collapsed walls
0:20:37 > 0:20:40that would originally have stood around a metre high,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42and a metre wide.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48These buried walls once marked out the British Isles'
0:20:48 > 0:20:51oldest network of farmers' fields.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56We've established that they extend over this mountain,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59over the mountain in the distance,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03and their large, enclosed fields appear to be grazing land for cattle.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09It's likely that 5,500 years ago, people were engineering
0:21:09 > 0:21:12the landscape here to rear animals for food.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19These are the fields of Ireland's first farmers.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22The long, parallel walls run all the way from the cliff edge
0:21:22 > 0:21:24for over half a mile inland.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The layout suggests cattle were reared here for meat and milk,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31as walled fields meant the farmers could separate stock
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and control grazing.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38This extensive farm would have supported as many as 1,000 people.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41This is a massive undertaking. People must have been working
0:21:41 > 0:21:45as a team to build all these miles and miles of stone walls.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46There had to be.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It's not a single operation. It's not a few families,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52it's a large community making a decision
0:21:52 > 0:21:56to divide the terrain like this into these long, large fields.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Someone was making the decision, and they were sticking to it.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08The move to farming was a revolutionary change in lifestyle.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Nearby, on the Belderrig coast, there's evidence of other people
0:22:12 > 0:22:15who lived here just a few hundred years before the farmers.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19- Hello, Graeme.- Hi, Alice.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Have you got some archaeology appearing there?- Yes, we do.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24We have a range of archaeology.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Graeme Warren's searching for the leftovers of meals
0:22:27 > 0:22:32eaten 6,000 years ago, buried amongst the stone tools of people
0:22:32 > 0:22:35surviving by hunting and gathering along this seashore.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Something making this site so important
0:22:37 > 0:22:39is that we have some preserved fish bone.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Just in here, underneath this stone, you can just about make out
0:22:43 > 0:22:45some very small creamy white little flecks
0:22:45 > 0:22:47sticking out of the soil.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49- Tiny...- They don't look like very much,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52but they are actually pieces of prehistoric fish bone.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54In some places, we find these
0:22:54 > 0:22:57with lots of stone tools,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59and lots of carbonised hazelnut shells,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02so we're very certain these are the results of human activity.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I have some here that we had from the excavations,
0:23:06 > 0:23:08and where they've been processed.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11You can just about see there's some tiny, tiny pieces.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13They're very, very fragmentary.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15But now and then, you get something recognisably
0:23:15 > 0:23:18of a certain type of bone.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Those are tiny little fish vertebra.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24That's a fish tooth, I think, actually.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Yes, I think that's a fish tooth. Very, very small.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35The stone tools and fish remains
0:23:35 > 0:23:38reveal that these people lived by fishing and foraging on the coast.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42But the discovery of the farmers' fields nearby
0:23:42 > 0:23:46shows that times were changing.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49In a landscape so heavily associated with Neolithic farmers,
0:23:49 > 0:23:50through Seamus' work,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53to be able to look here at the very final hunter-gatherers
0:23:53 > 0:23:57gives us an opportunity to answer some very basic questions.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Were these the same people who were hunter-gatherers and farmers?
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Or was there a wave of different people arriving?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Or small groups of different people?
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Whoever these predecessors of modern farmers were,
0:24:09 > 0:24:15they'd taken a crucial step towards controlling their food supply.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Now, they could plan ahead for the winter, and leaner times.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22But there's an enigma surrounding these early beef and dairy farms
0:24:22 > 0:24:26that remains a puzzle. Where did the first Irish farmers
0:24:26 > 0:24:28get their first livestock,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30and their first crops?
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Someone had to introduce cattle, sheep, wheat,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36and barley into Ireland.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38It wasn't here before that.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42The question that still remains is,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46did these Balearic fisher-gatherers switch to farming,
0:24:46 > 0:24:47or were they replaced by farming?
0:24:47 > 0:24:49We just don't know.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Beyond the mystery of Ireland's Stone Age farmers,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10we pass the towering sea stack of Downpatrick Head.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19We're heading towards the sheltered haven of Sligo Harbour.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Here, rivers run into the Atlantic,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28forming an estuary that's full of life,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31where an unusual encounter with nature awaits Miranda.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37You might expect to see a great many things along the coast.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Birds, seals, even a passing porpoise.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43But I'm off to look for something quite surprising.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49It's thought to be Ireland's oldest native animal.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53I've been told the best place to see them is on an island.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57I've come to Oyster Island, looking for hares.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Irish hares, to be precise.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Hi, Neil. Have you spotted any yet?
0:26:02 > 0:26:07'Dr Neil Reid studies changes in hare populations all over Ireland.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10'He's already on their trail.'
0:26:10 > 0:26:12We know this is a hare run, as opposed to a footpath.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14There's dung every few metres.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18- Right there!- You can see there's a cluster of dung right here.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20They're a different shape from rabbits' droppings.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22They're about twice as large,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24and they put them every few metres along
0:26:24 > 0:26:26all their runs round their home range.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30There he goes along the beach.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36'Before long, the Irish hares overcome their shyness.'
0:26:41 > 0:26:43I didn't think we'd see so many!
0:26:43 > 0:26:45More hares than you could shake a stick at.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49They are very different from the European hare I'm used to seeing.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- The ears are much shorter. - The Irish hare is a mountain hare,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54but doesn't live in the mountains.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It lives throughout the altitude,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59from the sea into the mountains. It's everywhere.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Over the last century, Irish hare numbers have generally been falling.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08But on Oyster Island, the population's actually increased.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It's because these hares are used in a field sport
0:27:11 > 0:27:15that in other countries, including Britain, is controversial.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Hair coursing.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Hair coursing conjures up very brutal images
0:27:19 > 0:27:22in my mind of hares being chased across fields,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and killed by dogs, but it's quite different over here, isn't it?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29In England and Wales, hare coursing, with all hunting with dogs,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32was banned in 2005.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34But it's still legal in the Republic Of Ireland.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37In fact, it's quite popular. There are 75 coursing clubs.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41These hares on Oyster Island were introduced
0:27:41 > 0:27:43by the hare coursing clubs.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Every so often, in preparation for a coursing event,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48they capture some of the animals.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54At the competitions, two greyhounds pursue a wild hare.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00The winner is the first dog to turn the hare.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03The dogs are muzzled to minimize injuries.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08After competitions, the hares are released back to where they came from.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12I'm not comfortable with the idea that hares are managed for sport
0:28:12 > 0:28:15but here, there MAY be a positive side to it.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19A coursing club manages places like this, to have a stockpile of hares.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22- They're managing these hares on this island...- They're very healthy.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Exactly. They find good spots, with good habitat.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27On the island, they're away from predators.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Intuitively, hare coursing might help some populations
0:28:30 > 0:28:33which are well protected.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Hares have been here in Ireland for over 30,000 years.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41They've seen glaciers come and go,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44adapting to wherever they've found themselves,
0:28:44 > 0:28:45including the seashore.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51They're running along the beach.
0:28:51 > 0:28:52Is there something there they like?
0:28:52 > 0:28:55When the tide's out, they will be down there.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58I've seen them graze in the seaweed. They will take seaweed.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02I think it's quite unusual behaviour, and not well documented,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05but I assume there are salts and nutrients in the seaweed
0:29:05 > 0:29:07they won't get from the grass up here,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10so they're mixing their diet, and having a varied diet.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- They're a very coastal hare? - Absolutely.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19NEIL OLIVER: Hares are making their mark here now,
0:29:19 > 0:29:21but travel further up Ireland's west coast,
0:29:21 > 0:29:23and the animal tracks are much older.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34The relentless Atlantic has eroded the coastline to reveal the remains
0:29:34 > 0:29:36of an ancient life form,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39which has given the headland its name.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Serpent Rock.
0:29:46 > 0:29:47If you take a walk along here,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49and come across these shapes in the rock,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53you could be forgiven for thinking they're the remains of snakes.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57For centuries, that's exactly what people thought they were.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02It's hardly surprising,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06because snakes play a starring role in Irish mythology.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11Legend has it that every loathsome and poisonous serpent
0:30:11 > 0:30:13was driven from Ireland by St Patrick.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18True to the legend, there ARE no snakes in Ireland now,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21but, then, there's no evidence there ever WERE any.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24So, what's going on here?
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Every one of these WAS once an animal,
0:30:29 > 0:30:31living around 340 million years ago.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33They were a kind of coral.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38We know they only ever lived in the warm water of shallow tropical seas.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44These tube-shaped creatures grew up from the seabed,
0:30:44 > 0:30:48capturing their food from the water in the same way as sea anemones.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52An ancient, primeval seabed,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55now exposed to the brooding Atlantic.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00In the worst of its moods, most people seek shelter.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04But not those who brave the sea at Tullan Strand.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The sweeping three mile beach is a second home
0:31:13 > 0:31:16to Easkey Britton. She shares her unusual name, Easkey,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18with a famous surf wave.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21In Irish, it means fish.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25Hardly surprising she's turned out to be Ireland's champion woman surfer.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28This part of the coast is really special for me.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30It's where I learned to surf.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34When I started, it was a small scene,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and I was the only kid on my beach in the middle of winter.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40All my friends thought I was mad.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Now it's really popular.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44Everyone wants a little taste of it.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Surfing's definitely defined who I am, the choices I've made in life.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57Whatever mood the ocean's in defines how our day will be.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07This wave here at Tollan's great. It's our swell magnet spot.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Because of the cliffs, the waves bounce off it and makes them bigger,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14right along the cliff edge.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22What really draws me to it is that aspect of freedom.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24It's such an unpredictable environment.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26The ocean's energy is infectious.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30You catch a wave, and tap into something bigger than yourself.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35What drives you as a surfer
0:32:35 > 0:32:38is to get that feeling only a surfer knows.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42That buzz where you even lose the feeling of yourself being separate
0:32:42 > 0:32:44from that experience.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47It feels sometimes like you're on that wave forever.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49It actually only lasts a few seconds.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Skirting the cliffs of Slieve League,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09I'm on the final leg of my journey to Arranmore Island.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Around here, you can't escape the power of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24It's carved out massive sculptures to remind us that,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28for millions of years, it's battered Ireland's north-west coast.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34The islanders have an intimate relationship
0:33:34 > 0:33:36with the fickle sea.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38So, at the heart of the community,
0:33:38 > 0:33:40there's a lifeboat station.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48There's no way I could leave these shores without meeting the men
0:33:48 > 0:33:49who know more than anyone else
0:33:49 > 0:33:53about the harsh realities of life on the edge of the Atlantic.
0:33:53 > 0:33:54The lifeboat men,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57who brave the wildest storms to bring help to those in peril.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05The RNLI in Ireland is the same organisation
0:34:05 > 0:34:07that operates in Britain.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12Yet the crew of the RNLI's Arranmore boat are Irish men,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15operating in Irish waters.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19It's remarkable that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's presence
0:34:19 > 0:34:22has survived the struggle for independence,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25and the Troubles that followed.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27It begs a question for Terry Johnson,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30one of the RNLI's top brass.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32I must admit, I'd never really thought about it.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35It was almost a surprise to think there's a ROYAL
0:34:35 > 0:34:39National Lifeboat Institution in the Republic Of Ireland.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Well, it's always been the RNLI.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44It was operating for nearly 100 years
0:34:44 > 0:34:48before Ireland's government was formed in 1922.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53They approached the Irish Free State and said, "We're here in Ireland.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56"Our lifeboat crews want to continue the work".
0:34:56 > 0:34:59The government said, "We welcome and support you in that".
0:34:59 > 0:35:01It's not about national boundaries -
0:35:01 > 0:35:05England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and Northern Ireland.
0:35:05 > 0:35:06It's about the sea.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09If you're in it, the RNLI'll come and get you out of it.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16The Irish Coast Guard work with the RNLI to provide a vital
0:35:16 > 0:35:20search and rescue service for mariners in the North Atlantic.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24The search and rescue helicopter
0:35:24 > 0:35:29is on its way to join us for an exercise to test both crews' skills.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33There's about to be a seafarer in trouble.
0:35:34 > 0:35:35Me.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40So far, I've done a lot of talking about the Atlantic Ocean.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43Now, it's only fitting I get a proper taste of the beast itself.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Am I going in, yeah?
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Yeah. OK.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55Let the air out of your suit.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59Without my dry suit, I wouldn't expect to last more than a matter of minutes.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Being adrift in the ocean, as the lifeboat disappears from view,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10is unsettling.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18In a real emergency, my distress flare could be a life-saver.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27The plan is to pick me up and land me
0:36:27 > 0:36:29on the deck of the moving lifeboat,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31a procedure the crew practice for rescues
0:36:31 > 0:36:34when there's a number of people in the water.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37Imagine this in a ten-foot swell.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49With the ten-ton helicopter hovering directly above me,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53I'm blasted by the down draught from the rotor blades.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Brilliant.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08The lifeboat's purposely travelling INTO the wind,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11and I'm flying through the air at 15 knots, FOLLOWING it.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13The reason?
0:37:13 > 0:37:15It gives the pilot more control,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18because, flying forward, the helicopter gains lift.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21So it's more stable, if more scary.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32I would never even contemplate taking part in an exercise like this,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35if it wasn't with the RNLI and the Coast Guard.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37Not only will they rescue anyone,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39irrespective of nationality or creed,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42they'll go out 100 miles into the worst the Atlantic storms
0:37:42 > 0:37:44have to offer to get their job done.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45Now, THAT's class!
0:37:52 > 0:37:54From the wilds of the west of Ireland,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56our journey round the British Isles, and beyond,
0:37:56 > 0:38:01continues next time along the majestic west coast of Scotland.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:38:26 > 0:38:29E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk