Heritage Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Frankie Feighan (FG), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Rattoo Round Tower, national monument No. 55, is a national monument in the ownership of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and is maintained by the Office of Public Works. In recent years, as the Deputy outlined, an ongoing programme of repairs has been undertaken, which included the regrouting and repointing of stonework and the installation of a platform to facilitate safe height access for future maintenance.
The substantial works on Rattoo Round Tower are now complete and it is envisaged internal lime-washing will be done in the coming weeks when the walls have sufficiently dried out after the winter. Upon completion of the repairs, as previously advised, the OPW will issue a full report to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as required under the terms of ministerial consent.
The OPW intends to introduce a new interpretation service at Rattoo Round Tower that will explain its history and context in Ireland's early Christian heritage. The OPW would welcome community stakeholder engagement during this process. That is what the Deputy called for - information signage to be put up and that will be helpful. It also hopes to be in a position to facilitate internal access to the tower for Heritage Week 2026. The logistics are currently being considered and the main factors contributing to this will be an appropriate outside access structure and the form it will take. That is the platform the Deputy is looking for. I think it will be delivered as well.
As the Deputy is aware, there are challenges with access to the tower given the tall, slender structure with its confined internal spaces and steep vertical climbs. For the future, it will be necessary to undertake a safety audit of how visitors can access the areas within the tower, given the limitations of its upper floors. The Deputy also said that 15 years sounds like an incredibly long time and I suppose the locals in Ballyduff are anxious that the tower open as quickly as possible. It is interesting to hear it is of international archeological importance. The more we can do to open these facilities and heritage areas, which are much treasured, the better.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28