The OPW is preparing to lodge a planning application for a new visitor centre to accommodate the world renowned Turoe Stone on a site adjacent to Turoe Pet Farm & Leisure Park near the village of Bullaun.
News of the impending planning application has been welcomed by local Fine Gael TD Ciaran Cannon who has long campaigned for the development of the new centre.
The Turoe Stone Visitor Centre will feature a landscaped garden with a new protective structure designed to accommodate the Turoe Stone in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. The visitor centre has been designed by the award winning A2 Architects in partnership with the OPW.
They presented their final design at a site meeting in Turoe on Friday last.
“The decision to complete the design of the Turoe Stone Visitor Centre and lodge a planning application for the facility is most welcome after years of campaigning. We’re almost there in terms of getting the Turoe Stone back to its rightful home. Not alone that, but we are also going to see the development of a tourist facility for East Galway and the Hidden Heartlands,” said Deputy Cannon.
“Our site meeting was very successful and we’re delighted with the design.
“The Turoe Stone will be housed in a glass cylinder that gives the viewer a full 360 degree opportunity to see every aspect of this extraordinary artefact. The cylinder will be temperature and humidity controlled with remote monitoring so that adjustments can be made by stone preservation experts when necessary.
“The landscaped garden will also feature interpretative signage and visitors will also be able to download a multilingual guide to their smartphones. This will be a truly immersive and fascinating experience for all visitors”, said Deputy Cannon.
The Turoe Stone has been fully restored with much of the original carving details re-emerging during restoration. The 2,500 year old artefact, carved from solid granite, was orginally located at the Rath of Feerwore, just a few kilometres from Turoe and is regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind in the world.
“The Corcoran family at Turoe have been careful custodians of the Turoe Stone for generations and they are very supportive of the development of the new visitor centre. During our site meeting they made the point that people have travelled from all over the world to see the Turoe Stone and showed us their visitor books dating back to the 1970s with entries from places as far away as South Africa and the United States.
People have never stopped visiting Turoe to see the stone and we are confident that thousands more will come when the new visitor centre is complete. The OPW officials have indicated to us that they will partner with Failte Ireland in marketing the centre to the world. This will be a very exciting milestone in the development of East Galway as a tourist destination,”, concluded Deputy Cannon.
