Sir, - I can empathise with what Michael Byrne (September 6th) terms the "frustration of dealing with Duchas" in relation to the early historic site at Durrow, Co Offaly. In this context, it is easy to appreciate why he should welcome the proposal to undertake a vast building programme, including a 105-bed hotel, golf-course and 475 "residential units". From his perspective, with a proven commitment to the historical and archaeological heritage of Co Offaly, it would seem that this proposal holds out the only realistic prospect - by way of quid pro quo - of preserving and guaranteeing access to the heritage site.
But at what a price! Even should the prospective builder adhere to his "promise" in respect of ownership of, and access to, the archaeologically sensitive part of Durrow (however that is to be defined), the massive development proposed, in close proximity to the site, will undoubtedly destroy forever the integrity of Durrow as a historic landscape.
Why should this be resisted? Apart from prohibiting "development" of an inappropriate scale and character in rural Ireland, there are specific heritage considerations that make this a site of almost incomparable value.
Documentary evidence shows that Durrow was by the seventh century a key centre of the Columban church, whose political, social and ecclesiastical influence was widespread, not only in Ireland but in northern Britain. At the end of the seventh century the Columban church enacted the first recorded legislation in these islands to protect the status of women. By the eight century Durrow was a major ecclesiastical settlement, the nearest thing to a town that Ireland knew before the Viking settlements of following centuries. Durrow was not merely a place of piety, but a centre of artistic culture, producing, for example, the magnificent illuminated Book of Durrow and the very fine sculptured high cross still on site.
Durrow also turned its attention to less elevated matters: it had resources sufficient to put an army in the field in 764 in a battle against its Offaly rival Clonmacnoise, in which Durrow suffered 200 casualties.
Apart from the aforementioned high cross and some grave-slabs, there is little of this era to see today on the ground at Durrow. But sophisticated archaeological surveying techniques have revealed the survival, beneath ground-level, of an extensive enclosure. As pointed out by Dr Wallace of the National Museum, Durrow is virtually unique among sites of its era and importance, in that it survives underground substantially unscathed by later human activity - unlike, say, Kildare, Armagh, or even Clonmacnoise.
While the integrity of Durrow is preserved, the opportunity exists to undertake a major programme of excavation and presentation to the public. Such a programme would have the potential to meet the local need for employment, not least by giving the Tullamore area a tourist attraction of a much more distinctive kind than yet another country club. Such a programme would also add immeasurably to understanding - on the part of scholars and of the general public in Co Offaly, in Ireland and, indeed, in the wider world - of a most fascinating part of the past that makes us what we are today.
Durrow belongs to all these people and not exclusively to those of Tullamore and Durrow, some of whom, at least, are evidently unimpressed by the proposed building programme, since they are among the appellants to An Bord Pleanala. It is entirely to the credit of the Heritage Council, An Taisce and the respected archaeologist, Dr Elizabeth O'Brien, that they too have lodged appeals in defence of the legitimate wider heritage interest. It speaks volumes for Duchas's stewardship of Durrow, understandably bemoaned by Mr Byrne, that it has not seen fit to do so. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Colman Etchingham, Department of History, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co Kildare.