The return of ancient grave stones which were stolen from the Quaker Island on Lough Ree seven years ago has sparked a dispute between Longford and Roscommon.
One of the stones found its way to the US seven years ago from an Office of Public Works keep, and was offered for sale for £500,000 to Boston College.
The college, however, contacted the FBI and when the stone was produced the vendor was arrested and the gravestone recovered.
It was returned to Ireland but not to The Quaker Island, Inis Clearon.
Instead it was taken with the other stones for safekeeping to Tuam, Co Galway.
Now for the first time in seven years, the stones, mostly headstones or grave-slabs, are to go on display next weekend at the Corlea Interpretative Centre, near Lanesboro, Co Longford.
This is just one of a series of events at the Lough Ree Environmental Summer School which begins tomorrow in Lanesboro.
The news that Duchas, the Heritage Service, was to allow the stones to be displayed in Co Longford has caused some bitterness between the Longford and Roscommon historical and archaeological societies.
Mr Albert Siggins of the Roscommon society says the Inis Clearon gravestones rightfully belong to the western county because the island is in the diocese of Elphin.
He says that an early church dedicated to St Dermot, who was the founder of the monastic foundation on Inis Clearon, is sited on the Roscommon shore at Portrun and argues that the crossing from Roscommon to the island is easier than the crossing from Longford and was the most likely route used.
He also points out that the decorations on the stones have more in common with similar stones in Roscommon and Athlone than with stones from the other side of the Shannon.
In a letter to the Roscommon Champion, Mr Siggins suggests that the return of the stones to Lanesboro will mean that Longford has bolstered its heritage at Roscommon's expense.
Mr Luke Baxter of the Longford Historical Society refuses to be drawn into the controversy at the moment but says he will "bore holes" in the claim being made by Mr Siggins.
Special security arrangements have been put in place to protect the stones during the summer school.
They can be seen at the Corlea centre which is located near an ancient roadway found under the bog near Lanesboro.