RAHAN MONASTIC SITE - Offaly County Council

5.0 DEFINING THE ISSUES AND ASSESSING VULNERABILITY5.0 DEFINING THE ISSUES AND ASSESSING VULNERABILITY5.1 OwnershipThe various elements which constitute the former monastic site at Rahan are now in a number of differentownerships.Church of IrelandThe Church of St Carthage together with its ancient graveyard is owned and cared for by the Church of Ireland. Inrecent years, the local community has maintained the graveyard that contains a splendid collection of inscribedheadstones. The church and its graveyard are located in the centre of the enclosure.Catholic ChurchImmediately to the south of the ancient graveyard lies a second graveyard, which remains open for burials. Thisgraveyard is owned and managed by the Catholic Church.National Monuments ServiceThe National Monuments Service, which operates as a section of the Department of the Environment, Heritage andLocal Government, owns the ruins of the Small Church and the remains of a tower house located in the southeastcorner of the Catholic graveyard at Rahan. These are managed by the Office of Public Works from their area officebased in Trim under the direction of Ana Dolan.Landowner, Sean GrennanSean Grennan, a local farmer, owns all of the remaining land inside the monastic enclosure excluding thegraveyards. Access to the churches and graveyards are by a right of way running across Mr Grennan’s land.Landowner, John MollinJohn Mollin, a local farmer, owns the land inside the boundary of the monastic enclosure on the north side ofthe Rahan to Killina Road.Local CommunityThe interest of the local community in the site is represented through the Island Rahan Development Association.The association approached the Heritage Officer of Offaly County Council in 2004 with an offer to assist the Churchof Ireland in its care of the old graveyard. At that time the old graveyard was heavily overgrown and for the pastthree years in conjunction with Reverend Field, the graveyard has been maintained to a high standard.It is important that all the stakeholders and owners identified above agree to manage the site in accordance withthe policies outlined in this Conservation Plan.5.2 Statutory ProtectionStatutory protection for the monastic site is in place under the following legislation:n National Monuments Acts, 1930 – 2004n Record of Monuments and Places, established under Section 12 of the National Monuments(Amendment) Act 1994n Planning and Development Acts 2000 – 2002The two ruins at Rahan are in state ownership under the care of the Office of Public Works and have been designatedas National Monuments. 60The entire enclosure, the smaller church, the ruined tower house, and the Church of Ireland graveyard are allprotected on the Record of Monuments and Places for County Offaly (RMP) published in 1995. Its componentelements are listed in this publication as - OF016-015 to OF016-015019, see Appendix 7 for a full listing ofmonuments. They are protected under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994.60