Limerick Post: Durrow Abbey and the St. Columcille Monastery in County Offaly, Ireland, have been purchased by the government for an initial sum of 270 thousand Euro. "The Government, on behalf of the people, is delighted to purchase Durrow Abbey and the St. Columcille Monastery. Durrow Abbey is a place steeped in history from the earliest times," said Minister Cullen in an announcement of the purchase.

The agreement consists of 76 acres of land including Durrow Abbey and the St. Columcille Monastery. Conservation work will soon begin in order to make the site accessible to the public. This will include conservation and preservation of monuments at the site including "a large Ecclesiastical Enclosure, five Early Christian grave slabs; a fine mid-ninth century high cross, a fragment of a cross shaft, a complete cross-head (housed in the National Museum of Ireland) and cross base, a holy well and other extensive archaeological features. It also includes a motte built by Hugh de Lacy in the 1180s and it was here that he was killed in 1186."

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