Sir, – I visited Maeve’s Cairn on Knocknarea Mountain, Co Sligo, on Wednesday. There is a sign at the beginning of the walk informing visitors not to climb the cairn at the top of the mountain or to remove stones from it. At the cairn itself, however, there are no signs whatsoever.
Every other tourist, without exception, climbed to the top of the cairn and on their descent many removed stones in order to form their initials on the surrounding ground.
Perhaps it would be advisable for Sligo County Council to erect warning signs at the cairn and, if necessary, to restrict access to this important monument as it in danger of being seriously degraded or even dismantled. – Yours, etc,