Magilligan Strand, on the north coast of Northern Ireland adjacent to Lough Foyle, forms part of one of the most dynamic coastal landform systems in Ireland. Long‑term cycles of sand accretion and erosion, increasingly influenced by storminess and wind‑driven sediment mobility, are creating conditions in which archaeological deposits are episodically exposed, reworked or lost. As a result, the area is particularly sensitive to climate‑driven coastal change.

A 9 km stretch of coastline between Magilligan Point and Ballymulholland contains at least twelve recorded archaeological sites, including early medieval remains, nineteenth‑ and twentieth‑century military features, and the State Care Monument, Magilligan Martello Tower. The predominance of soft sediments and highly mobile dune systems limits the effectiveness of conventional remote‑sensing approaches, while ongoing erosion has already resulted in the loss of archaeological material and the exposure of previously unrecorded sites.

In response, the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, through the Binevenagh and Coastal Lowlands Landscape Partnership Scheme, initiated a targeted research and monitoring project funded by the Department for Communities’ Historic Environment Division. The project adopts a citizen science‑led monitoring model, training local volunteers to identify, record and digitally log archaeological features along the coastal edge and intertidal zone.

Survey data are submitted directly to the Historic Environment Division, supporting updates to the Sites and Monuments Record and ensuring preservation by record where physical conservation is not feasible. In addition, a solar‑powered weather station and time‑lapse camera installed at Magilligan Martello Tower provide continuous environmental monitoring and visual documentation of storm events and erosion impacts.

Together, these measures demonstrate a scalable, low‑cost approach to integrating archaeological monitoring into wider coastal adaptation and shoreline management frameworks in Northern Ireland.