Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

58. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the plans to conserve the high crosses at Monasterboice, County Louth, which are experiencing significant deterioration; if he will consider a preservation approach similar to that used in Kilfenora, including the possibility of relocating the crosses to the derelict church on-site with protective overhead covering to safeguard their biblical and Celtic carvings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65628/25]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The significance of the high crosses at Monasterboice is well established and are monitored on a continuous basis. All cut stone that is located outdoors is naturally exposed to the elements and gradually weather over time. The issue is witnessed at many sites nationwide and is a shared concern with exposed stone monuments across Europe.

The project in Kilfenora was completed in 2005. With some high crosses, the approach has been to encase them in a perspex or glass structure, or to relocate them to a controlled indoor environment, such as a museum, with replicas being exhibited in their original location. However, there is currently no such proposals for the high crosses at Monasterboice.

A comprehensive conservation study was undertaken in 2009 and the report examined the proposal to move the high crosses into the church and cover them with a roof. It concluded that given the height of the crosses compared to the surviving heights of the church walls this was not a viable option.

Decisions to move monuments require much consideration due to the complexities involved with these interventions. Any such discussions would include my Department in addition to the OPW, as managers of the monuments at Monasterboice.

The OPW has undertaken several remedial measures in the graveyard to protect the high crosses, including, the relocation of headstones and vegetation management. This has greatly improved the immediate environment around the high crosses. In 2019, the OPW erected a scaffold around Muiredach’s Cross to allow for a stone conservator to examine the Cross in detail. The conservator had examined the Cross ten years previously and reported the monument remains in a very stable condition. The OPW intends to have the stone conservator return to carry out a detailed condition survey of the Tall Cross.