Friday 28 September 2012

New website for old buildings and monuments

Two new websites – Places to See and Monuments to Visit – have been launched to highlight lesser known national monuments and heritage buildings that are open to the public.

They are an initiative by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and are intended to encourage tourists to visit locations that might not otherwise be on their itineraries.

Both websites feature easy-to-use digital maps that provide directions to the sites and details of what the visitor can expect to find on arrival.

In launching the websites, Minister Jimmy Deenihan, TD, paid special tribute to the role the farming community has played in protecting Ireland’s archaeological heritage.

'The survival rate for Irish archaeological monuments is unique in Europe,' he said. 'The sheer volume and variety of our archaeological field monuments cannot be found anywhere else. It is what gives the Irish countryside its unique character. The credit for that must go to farmers up and down the country who work so closely with us in the protection of this priceless heritage.'