Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
44. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update following engagement with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26356/26]
View answerThe Office of Public Works has responsibility for the conservation, maintenance, management and presentation of 780 National Monuments in State ownership or guardianship. The OPW conserves and protects the monuments in ownership and guardianship at Rathcroghan working in partnership with colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Rathcroghan site is a collection of 240 identified archaeological sites, contained within an area of 6.5km², in which approximately 60 are in the ownership or guardianship of the State. There are 79 acres in state ownership. Monuments include Stone Age tombs, royal burial mounds, ringforts and places of ceremonial inauguration with the largest site south of N5 at Rathcroghan Mound, 4 km north of Tulsk. A general regular programme of maintenance including stone wall repairs, tree maintenance, general landscaping and fencing is undertaken at the sites in the ownership or guardianship of the State.
I visited Rathcroghan last year and met with representatives of the local community who are doing a tremendous job managing the visitor centre in Tulsk. It is important to say that officials from the OPW continue to engage with the community in Rathcroghan and attend meetings of the Farming Community Group on a regular basis.
On that note and further to recent engagements between the Farming Rathcroghan Group and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I understand that financial support for relevant activities relating to protection of and access to the archaeological heritage site there have been recently agreed between that Department and the Rathcroghan Group. These supports of approximately €100,000 cover the period 2026-2027 and I am sure are a welcome development for the Group.
The Office of Public Works will continue to work with our colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and continue to engage as appropriate with the Rathcroghan community and Roscommon County Council as we are all custodians of this very significant archaeological landscape.
