Big grant for important Offaly monastic site
AN €85,000 Community Monuments Fund has been secured for conservation work at the historic site of Seir Kieran, Clareen.
Archaeologist Denis Shine of the Irish Heritage School warmly welcomed the funding. He said the conservation works are currently ongoing. “The conservation work is taking place on the 12th and 13th Century walls there, which includes the graveyard walls and walls of medieval buildings within the boundary walls. The walls are degrading and stones are falling from them, therefore this conservation work is very timely. It's preserving these important structures for future generations.”
A number of local councillors acknowledged the hard work and commitment of the community and committee involved in this project in Clareen in addition to the sterling work done by Offaly's Heritage Officer, Amanda Pedlow and Offaly County Council in making things happen in terms of securing the funding, funding which, according to Deputy Carol Nolan “will now ensure the conservation and preservation of a beautiful ancient and historic site, an important part of our rich heritage which means so much to the people of Clareen and Offaly.”
Seir Kieran Monastic Site is recognised as possessing a unique history and being one of the midlands most treasured archaeological monuments.
It's a multi-period site dating from the 5th Century, when a prestigious monastery was founded here.
This monastery reached the height of its influence in the 8th to 10th Centuries, when many of the monuments which survive today, such as the High Cross, Round Tower, and earthen enclosure are likely to have been built.
An episcopal borough with an Augustinian Priory was developed at the site in the 12th Century. The Priory was dissolved and burned in the 1500s.
Seir Kieran is deeply valued by the local community, many of whom are keen to see some of its tantalising mysteries revealed. Whenever you visit the place you inevitably ask, What is lying beneath my feet? During Heritage Week, Professor Muiris O'Sullivan from UCD, led a walking tour around the sacred ground and explained some of the things that we could see. He showed us the base of the High Cross, a giant base which would have meant a tall, imposing cross. He pointed out the 1100 year old sandstone grave slab of Cerball, one of the Kings of Ossory (the etchings of which are very faint; Cerball is recorded as dying in 888AD). He showed us the walls of a large church. These walls have recently been strengthened, thus preserving them from collapse.