€160,000 for four Roscommon projects

Four Roscommon projects have been awarded over €160,000 under the Department of Heritage and Electoral Reform’s Community Monuments Fund for 2023.

The core objective of the Community Monuments Fund is to support the conservation, maintenance, protection, and promotion of local monuments and his- toric sites, in alignment with the aims of the Government’s new heritage plan, Heritage Ireland 2030, and the Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan.

The local projects to benefit include: Ballintober Castle (€100,000), Coolshanville Abbey (€28,844), Elphin Cathedral (€18,450), and Oran Ecclesiastical Site (€17,651).

Announcing the funding, Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan said: “I am delighted to announce funding for 140 archaeological heritage projects across the country under the Community Monuments Fund to a total of €8 million, an increase of 33 per cent on last year.

“This fund has supported over 330 projects since its establishment in 2020, making a tangible, positive impact to the medieval forts and churches and the historic graveyards and castles into which the lives of our ancestors are woven, along with our own, connecting us to our ancient past.

“It is also, of course, an investment in our future: in the ongoing care, conser-