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Staigue Fort County Kerry
Staigue Fort in County Kerry is one of Ireland's
most visited sites. It is an impressive, magnificently built,
dry-stone stucture. It is the largest stone fort in Ireland
and was built in the centuries before St. Patrick came to Ireland
making it almost 2,000 years old. It was
probably the home of a wealthy land-owner who had great need of
protection for himself and his family.
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They would have lived in this magnificent setting together with
their guards and some followers. It is an astonishing fact
that the walls are many metres thick and have no mortar to hold them
together. Those walls have endured all that nature could throw
at them in the form of rain, storms, snow, ice, etc., throughout the
centuries. However, The walls are now under serious threat.
They are under threat from the idiots who ignore the signs clearly
telling people to stay off the wall tops.
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There they were on my recent
visit to the fort in August 2007. Totally ignoring obvious instructions,
oblivious in their ignorance to the stares from the other visitors to
the fort, they were not satisfied to admire and behold, but wanted
to be part of the destruction of this ancient Irish monument. I
can only hope that someone recognises them and draws their attention
to this web-page. If even a small proportion of the tens of
thousands of visitors to this site each year, climbed onto the
walls, loosening and dislodging the stones, then we have lost some
of the value of this Irish National Monument. Perhaps I, too, am
guilty for not loudly confronting the idiots on the wall. I
hope that this web-page will help make amends.
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The only excuse for this type of destructive
behaviour would be if the destroyers were unable to understand the
English language. That clearly did not apply in this case.
Perhaps the Board of Works would consider erecting signs on the
pathway leading to the fort and put the order in several
languages. A short notice explaining the reasons for the
order would be of great benefit.
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