A herd of eco-friendly cattle hired by the State yesterday moved onto the site of the 5,800-year-old Poulnabrone dolmen in a bid to conserve the site.
The move was yesterday described by Burren IFA chairman, Michael Davoren, as "a milestone" in relations between the State and Burren farmers.
He said: "It is a benchmark day as it is the first time that a farmer is being paid by a State body to keep grasses grazed with the aim of conserving part of the Burren."
Mr Davoren added: "I believe it puts down a marker that sometime in the future, the State will deem it necessary to pay farmers to continue farming in the Burren in order to protect it from further environmental damage."
The nine cattle - owned by Burren farmer Pat Nagle - are to remain at the site for the next number of weeks before returning in the spring for further grazing. The growth of scrub at the site is seen as the biggest environmental threat to the dolmen which attracts over 100,000 visitors each year.
The use of the cattle follows a conservation plan for the dolmen published last year, which recommended cattle graze the site as "it is considered the most ecologically environmentally sensitive option to control vegetation".
The State bought the site in 2001 for €380,000 from a local farmer in a bid to control access at the site. Mr Nagle is being paid €500 by the State to cover his expenses in having his cattle graze the site.
He said yesterday: "The dolmen is our showpiece but I am proud not so much being associated with the dolmen, but being involved in doing the right thing and I am only doing what our forefathers have done." Mr Nagle has farmed the Burren landscape for 37 years.
In response to the move, Dr Brendan Dunford, author of Farming and the Burren, said: "Today is a small but significant event in the long history of both Poulnabrone and of Burren farming, in that it formally acknowledges the importance of farmers not just as producers, but as custodians of the heritage, a heritage that underpins the tourism industry of this region."
Prior to the State's purchase, the national monument suffered damage from tourists who partook in a custom of standing on top of the dolmen, while others defaced it with graffiti.
In 1986, a crack was discovered on one of the stones that holds the dolmen upright and subsequent excavation work discovered a burial chamber below the dolmen containing the remains of at least 22 people buried at the site between 3,800 and 3,200 BC.
