No catering facilities at Clonmacnoise for 2025 tourist season

The absence of a coffee shop, a place to buy a bottle of water, or any other catering facilities at one of the Midlands' top tourist attractions has been strongly criticised by a leading tour operator in Athlone.

Pearse Connell, who runs a company called Hidden Heartlands Tours, offering boat tours to the monastic settlement at Clonmacnoise, is calling on the Office of Public Works (OPW) to “immediately address” the issue, and says it is “totally unacceptable” for him to have to ask tourists to bring a packed lunch to what is one of the top visitor sites in the country.

“There used to be a lovely coffee shop there, but it closed down during Covid and never reopened, and the shop which was just off the site is also gone now,” says Pearse, who adds that visitors won't even be able to “buy a bottle of water, much less a cup of tea or coffee” if they visit Clonmacnoise this year.

While he describes Clonmacnoise as being “absolutely magnificent” - and says the tour guides there are “top class” - he points out that the only facilities on site for 2025 are “bathroom facilities” with tourists being left with “no place to sit down, relax and chat,” which he feels is “an integral part” of the overall tourist experience.

Pearse, who also operates a limousine service, says he brings tourists from “all over the world” into Ireland who visit numerous tourist attractions, and “by far there are no services at Clonmacnoise.”

He says he had to advise his guests this week to “bring a packed lunch” with them on his boat tour because “there's no shop, no bottles of water, no sandwiches. Nothing.”

Despite raising the lack of dining options at Clonmacnoise with the OPW on a number of occasions, Pearse said he has got no satisfactory response.

“Nobody wants to know. Nobody's accountable to anybody, and that's not right,” he says. ”I bring a lot of middle-aged and older tourists to Clonmacnoise and there isn't even a place for them to sit down and take a rest. In no way is that an acceptable way to treat our tourists.”

The Hidden Heartlands Tours website advises visitors to bring “a picnic lunch” on their boat trip to Clonmacnoise.

Pearse Connell points out that is “idyllic when the sun shines” but adds that tourists are often left with no option but to “stand around and have their picnic on a wet, damp or cold day.... what sort of way is that to treat tourists who visit our country?”

The OPW has overall responsibility for the running of Ireland's Heritage Sites, including Clonmancoise, and commissioned a masterplan in 2021 to enhance the West Offaly tourist attraction.

A statement issued by the OPW last week, in response to our query about catering options on the site, stated that, as part of “a major redevelopment” of the Clonmacnoise Visitor Centre, which is being supported by the EU Just Transition Fund, “significant upgrades” are to be undertaken “to improve the overall visitor experience and bring the site in line with modern energy efficiency and sustainability standards.”

Full construction works are expected to commence “later in 2025” but the OPW added that they are “actively exploring appropriate short-term catering solutions” to ensure that visitors have access to quality services during the redevelopment.

“We understand the strong interest in this issue and are committed to delivering a visitor experience that reflects the cultural significance and popularity of Clonmacnoise as a heritage destination.”

Despite the OPW statement, the Heritage Ireland website listing for Clonmacnoise advises visitors that the coffee shop “is closed for 2025”.

Responding, Pearse Connell said: “The OPW knew since last October that there wasn't going to be anywhere for tourists to buy even a bottle of water at Clonmacnoise for the 2025 tourist season. Why didn't they do something to put services in place at that stage?

“Expecting people to pay into a world-class tourist attraction like Clonmacnoise and offering no services except a bathroom is in no way acceptable in this day and age,” he concluded.