Madam, - Pauline McShain's disillusionment with the Government over the neglect of Killarney House ( The Irish Times, February 1st) resonates far beyond Co Kerry.
Those of us who have spent time observing and recording the great wealth of medieval and early modern buildings that lie ruined and quietly neglected in the old geography of Ireland are familiar with her dismay.
The residence and school of the Ó Cléirigh learned family on the promontory at Kilbarron, Co Donegal is collapsing into the Atlantic; the stone forts of the west of Ireland, prey to man and environment, are drawn for stone and buried in vegetation; the many medieval parish churches in local authority care are ivy-clad and crumbling for the want of remedial pointing; and the 15th- and 16th-century tower houses and the 17th-century fortified houses of the "three nations" wait for that stormy night to topple the last of their walls.
It would be easy to blame State services and local authorities for that great neglect, but its source is the lack of funding, personnel, and professional non-competitive schemes, for even the most basic care of historic buildings, and the lack of building conservationists in most local authorities.
Repairing all or even many historic buildings countrywide is totally unrealistic, but ensuring that an annual county quota are conservatively re-pointed, together with the clearance of damaging ivy, would at least ensure the survival of a significant number into the future. Such tended sites could then be safely incorporated into historic facilities for the enjoyment and pride of local communities and visitors.
While the political pragmatists might like to think our commonplace and less spectacular historic buildings have no role in the Ireland of the present and future, such places constitute part of the cultural lining of our identity as a people.
With the exception of the major tourist sites which have National Monument status, successive governments have been profligate in their disregard of the real building blocks of nationhood.
It is time for the Ministry of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to formulate meaningful policies of care and maintenance for our remaining medieval and early modern built heritage. It is not replaceable. - Yours, etc,
Dr ELIZABETH FITZPATRICK, Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, NUI, Galway.