Funding to improve interpretation of Dún Ailinne

Dr Susan Johnston explaining the site at last summer's Open Day.

Kilcullen Community Action has been granted a total of €12,000 from the state's World Heritage Strategic Investment Fund to expand public interpretation of the Dún Ailinne Royal Site of Ireland, writes Brian Byrne. The funds will be used to improve signage and refurbish the interpretive park at Nicholastown, and provide information at the Heritage Centre.

Dún Ailinne, which is on private working farmland and not accessible to the public, is currently progressing through the World Heritage nomination process as part of a transnational grouping of the 'Royal Sites of Ireland' which also includes Tara, Cashel, and Rathcroghan.

The granting of the funds has been confirmed to KCA by the Kildare County Council Heritage Officer, Dara Wyer, who says it will enhance Kilcullen's heritage activity in terms of Tidy Towns.

The money will be used to resurface the circular gravel area and provide new edging material at the base of the Dún Ailinne sculpture. Additional information will be added beyond that currently provided by the main information board at the interpretive park, and another seat will be installed.

In the Kilcullen Heritage Centre, further information boards relating to the Royal Sites, especially Dún Ailinne, will be installed, making the centre a fulcrum point for visitors to gain an understanding of the site and its archaeological and heritage importance.

Dún Ailinne was excavated by the late Professor Bernard Wailes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his work was built on through the 2000s until last year by regular excavations under the direction of Dr Susan Johnston from George Washington University, and her colleague Dr Suzanne Garrett. 

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