{"id":596706,"date":"2026-07-21T11:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T11:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/596706\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T11:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T11:54:21","slug":"traitors-ireland-refused-permission-to-film-new-series-at-archaeologically-sensitive-sites-in-meath-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/596706\/","title":{"rendered":"Traitors Ireland refused permission to film new series at \u2018archaeologically sensitive\u2019 sites in Meath \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Traitors Ireland<\/a> was refused permission by the Office of Public Works<\/a> (OPW) to film portions of its second series at prehistoric sites at Knowth and Dowth in Co Meath<\/a> earlier this year, internal emails show.<\/p>\n

According to the OPW, the filming proposed for the hit TV show was \u201cnot considered appropriate within a World Heritage archaeological landscape\u201d, where the sites in Knowth and Dowth form part of the Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne World Heritage site. <\/p>\n

The OPW also noted in its rejection of the application that they had to ensure that all activity at the monuments had to support \u201caccurate interpretation of their significance\u201d.<\/p>\n

Regarding the \u201chighly sensitive\u201d monument in Dowth, concerns were raised about the planned narrative for the site within the series, with an individual from the OPW noting that \u201cwhile we support creative storytelling, misrepresenting the monument for entertainment risks undermining our educational remit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a non-public, highly sensitive monument and the scale and nature of infrastructure proposed is not proportionate,\u201d the OPW added. <\/p>\n

In the application to film at the site, it had been stated that the show wanted to \u201cshowcase the landscape as part of a wider story set in Ireland\u2019s ancient east\u201d. <\/p>\n

However, a number of concerns arose about the filming at Knowth and Dowth, involving the 39-strong crew and filming infrastructure. <\/p>\n

On the application for filming at Knowth, the OPW flagged that the proposed filming schedule would align with when the sand martin bird population would begin nesting in the area. It was noted that key aspects of the plan posed \u201ca high risk of disturbance to the bird species\u201d. <\/p>\n

The OPW proposed that filming could potentially go ahead at other OPW sites including Bective Abbey, where parts of Braveheart were filmed. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Traitors craic, wit and wolfhounds has restored my pride in IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Following the refusal for permission to film at the site, the OPW was contacted by a member of staff from F\u00e1ilte Ireland<\/a>, who noted that they had been working with RT\u00c9<\/a> to showcase Ireland\u2019s Ancient East in the next season of The Traitors Ireland. <\/p>\n

The F\u00e1ilte Ireland official drew attention to the fact that Traitors Ireland had 4.68 million streams in 2025 and was acquired by BBC iPlayer, bringing \u201cinternational reach\u201d. <\/p>\n

F\u00e1ilte Ireland had \u201cnegotiated for the semi-final to be shot in another location that will showcase the region\u201d, and questioned whether RT\u00c9 had understood the requirements to film at a heritage site such as Knowth in the first place, and whether this had informed the planned proposal. <\/p>\n

Despite F\u00e1ilte Ireland\u2019s intervention, it was noted by an assistant secretary general in the OPW that \u201cKnowth is a small site with sensitive conditions so I am not sure if anything would work there to be honest\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the refusal for permission to film at the location, a spokesperson from the OPW said: \u201cThe OPW carefully considered the filming applications received for The Traitors Ireland (series two) in accordance with its statutory responsibility to protect and conserve Ireland\u2019s national monuments.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing assessment by relevant OPW specialists, in consultation with experts in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, it was determined that the proposed filming activities at Knowth and Dowth henge could not be accommodated due to archaeological, conservation and ecological considerations associated with these highly sensitive protected monuments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OPW engages positively with the film and television industry and facilitates filming at many heritage sites where proposals are compatible with the protection and conservation of the monuments concerned.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Traitors Ireland: That RT\u00c9 is operating on a relative shoe-string budget is obviousOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this instance, the production company was offered a number of alternative OPW sites capable of accommodating the proposed production requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Kite Entertainment confirmed that filming for series two of Traitors has now concluded and that \u201cmission sites will be revealed when the series returns to RT\u00c9 later this year\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Traitors Ireland was refused permission by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to film portions of its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,4774,19,17,160248,1873,54487,1181],"class_list":["post-596706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-failte-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kite-entertainment","tag-meath","tag-opw","tag-rte"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116957837206198719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}