Drogheda Old Abbey of St Mary d’Urso

Drogheda has recently declared itself to be a city, perhaps it would be more beneficial if the town was to get some simple things right first before jumping the gun. Several months ago I mentioned at an Old Drogheda Society meeting that I would like to publish a paper, with their support, about the state of some of Drogheda’s historic sites. To my disappointment I was met with a rather passive response that sites such as the Old Abbey are already protected structures. If statutory protection is granted and then we are satisfied to leave it at that and not enforce that protection then surely there is no point to it all after all? I have a huge amount of respect for the work of the Old Drogheda Society, and are a real success story in Drogheda and do some great work but I feel strongly about this particular point.

The Old Abbey was established c. 1206 AD. According to Deirdre Howard-Russel (2009) in The Streets and Lanes of Drogheda, it is under refurbishment by the Office of Public Works and the Drogheda Borough Council, but work is yet to be completed. I would argue that in fact there has been little to no activity on the site, certainly over the last number of years. There has been some effort made to ensure the structural stability of the steeple and arch. It is a real shame that the potential for more to be done with it hasn’t been utilised. My guess would be that if the Old Abbey was in Kerry, it would be cleaned up, have monitored visitation and come hand in hand with an interpretive centre. On the recent RTE Local Heroes programme, televised at the end of 2011, a tour bus drop point for coach tours to the town is located only a few hundred metres away towards the Garda station. With the Old Abbey likely to be one of the first things that catches the eye of any tourist, I imagine the overall impression of Drogheda would take a dramatic plummet upon taking a short walk to the Old Abbey. At this moment in time they are greeted with broken glass, graffiti and overgrown vegetation behind a panel where presumably there was once excavation work. Not quite the welcoming tourist feel you would expect from one of Drogheda’s finest historic sites. Surely there is some way that funding can be achieved to refurbish, and monitor pedestrian movement so that graffiti and litter can be eradicated. Potentially a small interpretive centre could be opened on Patrickswell Lane and both encourage tourism and to educate locals and school groups about the history attached with the site. The spin off effect could potentially lead to gift shops and cafes opening on the lane and thus improving the local economy. Drogheda may begin to tap into the tourist market it has so long turned it’s back on.