The Round Tower and St Columbas Church in Swords have received the maximum grant of €85,000 under the Community Monuments Fund.
The money will help fund repair and conservation works to the two structures. St Columba’s Church has had well documented problems with its roof.
The main aims of the Community Monuments Fund are the conservation, maintenance, protection and promotion of local monuments and historic sites.
It has a number of funding streams aimed at enabling conservation works to be carried out on monuments which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support, encouraging access to monuments and improve their presentation and also to build resilience in monuments to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.
“It is excellent to see that our historic monuments in Swords are receiving this level of funding. The Round Tower, the Norman Tower and St Columbas Church are the most visible monuments in the town and their preservation is so important,” said Cllr Ian Carey.
“Like many people from Swords, I’m keen that we improve access to this cluster of historical buildings. There is so much history right on our doorstep and we should be encouraging people to explore it – in a way that doesn’t damage the site.
“It is also right to assess the impact that changes in our climate might have on these site and prevent any possible future damage.”
The Community Monuments Fund was first established under the Jobs Stimulus Package in July, 2020, when Minister Malcolm Noonan announced an allocation of €1.4m for expenditure on improvements to archaeological monuments. Funding increased to just over €4m in 2021 and to €6m in 2022.
