Plans are afoot in mid-Kerry to restore what was once one of the richest priories in Ireland.
Historians and foreign tourists mostly comprise the annual visitors to the Augustinian Abbey at Killagha near Milltown, Ireland completed in Anglo-Norman times.
Founded in 1215-1216 by Strongbow’s nephew Geoffrey de Marisco, it passed through a number of hands during a long tenure, first as a large abbey and then as a manor home.
As a place of pilgrimage, it was known throughout the medieval world.
Pat McKenna of the Killagha Abbey Restoration group says that parts of the repair must be done immediately.
The abbey, he emphasised, had both historical and tourism values and people needed to be more aware of it.
A fundraising campaign is underway and, in the long term, it is hoped to re-roof the ruins.