THE SITE of the Battle of Aughrim in Co Galway should be developed as an international tourism attraction, according to Minister for Gaeltacht and Community Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív.
Speaking at a book launch, the Minister backed local historians who want the site of the clash between Williamite and Jacobite forces on July 12th, 1691, developed in the same way as the site of the Battle of the Boyne.
The battle in which 7,000 people were slaughtered is still celebrated by the Orange Order as a decisive victory for Protestants that forever changed the course of Irish history.
The development of the site could also be used to secure an all-Irish identity and a focus for national reconciliation, he said.
"Involving unionists in the planning and other work involved would increase contacts and normalise the 32-county sense of identity, and add to the tremendous good done already by the preservation of the Battle of the Boyne site," said the Minister.
"Clearly, Aughrim is of strategic importance in our history, and it seems strange that it does not seem to have achieved the same recognition as other, less significant sites.
"It is a great cemetery. It contains the remains of the Irish who were left on the field for over a year, some of whom sank into the marsh," said Mr Ó Cuív.
"It also contains, at unknown sites, burial pits containing the remains of about 2,000 Williamites. A large number of these could well be the remains of the Ulster troops who were in the thick of the fighting."
Mr Ó Cuív said as well as providing a platform for reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants, the battlefield could become a tourist attraction on a par with Culloden in Scotland. "Aughrim is comparable to Culloden in respect of national strategic importance and its place in the national psyche, although the death toll at Aughrim was far higher," he said.
"The tourist potential of Aughrim is substantial and the knock-on benefits to the local economy would be significant.
"Currently visitors to Culloden number well over 300,000 per annum and it makes a very important contribution to the local economy.
"Interest in military history is growing in Europe and further afield, and I believe that we have something very special here that could be an international attraction," he said.
The Minister was launching The Battle of Aughrim 1691by Michael McNally in Collins Barracks, Dublin.