Donegal County Council says restoration works at The Old Abbey in Kilmacrennan and the old Church building at Gartan Graveyard should be complete by the end of the year.
Questions were raised on the issue this week by Cllr Michael McBride.
Donegal County Council says both Kilmacrennan Abbey and St. Colmcille’s Chapel in Gartan are Recorded Monuments, protected under the National Monuments Acts.
Funding has been secured from the council and the North West Development Fund for the conservation of these archaeological monuments. Both historic graveyards are in the guardianship of Donegal County Council.
The work is being commissioned as part of the Colmcille 1500 commemorations, and the
implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan. Dedalus Architecture will be providing architectural, archaeological and structural engineering supervision for stabilisation and conservation works to the ruins of both structures.
Statutory consent is now being sought from the National Monuments Service, and contractors are being procured to undertake what will be specialist works.
It’s intended that the works will be complete in time for the 1,500th anniversary of the birth of St. Colmcille on December 7th this year.
