Monday, July 21, 2008

Clonmacnois UNESCO heritage bid progresses

The Department of the Environment has set in train the first step in obtaining World Heritage status from UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) for the monastic ruins at Clonmacnois in Co.Offaly.

A site management plan for the sixth century site is being drawn up which will be submitted to the United Nations office in September and the Department hopes to get World Heritage designation for Clonmacnois by next summer.

Describing Clonmacnois as a site of "outstanding universal value", a Department spokesperson said "the wheels are in motion and the process has started but it is a long and arduous one".

In all, 878 places around the world are designated World Heritage Sites but only three - the Skeilig Mhicil ruins off the coast of Kerry, the Giant's Causeway in Antrim and the Newgrange prehistoric burial site in Meath are in Ireland.

Others include Westminster Abbey in London, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Statue of Liberty in New York, Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids.

Clonmacnois already attracts 160,000 visitors annually, making it the most popular tourist destination in the Irish midlands and World Heritage status would significantly boost its tourism potential.

Inclusion on the prestigious World Heritage List invariably raises public awareness of a historic site, leading to an increase in tourist interest.

Designation would also give Clonmacnois and the Office of Public Works which manages it - access to the multi-million dollar World Heritage Fund for help with preservation and promotion.

The monastery at Clonmacnois is on the east bank of the Shannon and was founded in the sixth century by St Ciaran.

It became a centre of learning at which monks wrote several famous manuscripts and the remains of several churches and two complete Celtic High Crosses are extant.

An interpretive centre was opened at the site in the 1990s to facilitate the growing number of visitors.
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