Is Durrow High Cross Offaly's best kept secret?

The Durrow High Cross Committee has written to local councillors in a bid to improve access to the popular tourist site. A copy of the letter appears in the latest edition of the Offaly History newsletter. Signed by committee chair Helen Bracken and secretary Charles Kelleher, the correspondence implores councillors to engage with Offaly County Council in order to secure funding to complete works on the N52 next year and provide safe access to Durrow Abbey. "Over a three week period we recorded over 250 visitors to the site, many of whom were overseas visitors," the letter explained. "All visitors expressed their high praise of work that has been done, though many complained of the difficulty in locating the site and of the lack of signage. "To date there has been no official promotion of the site," the letter continued. "Offaly County Council, OPW and Failte Ireland will not erect any signs, promote it in publications or on websites, as the National Roads Authority contends that access is dangerous. So road safety concerns are totally blocking any attempts to promote what is a very major site of immense international importance and which has huge tourism potential." The Durrow Abbey complex includes a large house and gardens, parkland, a Norman motte, a church, a high cross, a graveyard and a holy well. The world famous Book of Durrow is stored in Trinity College. Concluding, the letter suggests providing safe access to the Durrow Abbey site until a decision regarding the development of the N52 between Tullamore and Kilbeggan is made. "We the members of Durrow High Cross Committee call on you, as our local representative, to engage with Offaly Co Council to secure the appropriate funding for 2013 so that work can be completed on the stretch of the N52 from the four roads (junction with L2005) to beyond the top of the hill at the High Road (junction with L2006) which would ensure safe access to the Durrow Abbey site," the letter ends.