A record of monuments and places under section 12 of the National Monuments Acts has been established in respect of ancient monuments for all counties throughout the State and is available for inspection by members of the public at various venues, mainly local authority planning offices, public libraries and museums, farm development service and Teagasc offices during normal, public opening hours. The record of monuments and places consists of a set of constraint maps based on current 6 inch Ordnance Survey mapping with an accompanying index giving location details, national grid co-ordinates, townland name or street name and monument classification. The records cover approximately 120,000 sites.
The vast majority of recorded monuments are in private care and my Department manages about 740 national monuments and historic properties nationwide. Representative samples of these sites are chosen for presentation to the public. Details of these are published annually as a booklet which is furnished to the tourist trade and heritage cardholders and Members of the Oireachtas. The current booklet includes information on over 100 heritage locations including parks, gardens, waterways, monuments, nature reserves and cultural institutions.
Under the provisions of the Architectural Heritage (National Inventory) and Historic Monuments (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1999, a nationwide survey of architectural heritage is currently being carried out by my Department to help identify structures and buildings which are of architectural, historical, archaeological artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest. The Government is committed to completing all interim county surveys within a period of 12 years.