Editing Clonmacnoise (section)

==Interpretative Centre and facilities==
Clonmacnoise was handed over by the Church of Ireland to the Irish Government in 1955 and has been maintained by various departmental bodies since then. Currently the Office of Public Works manages the site on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Local Government.<ref name="RingWatson2013"/>

The current visitors' centre opened in 1993, replacing a wooden structure, and entry to the site is contingent on the payment of an entry fee seven days a week (from 1973 to 1985 a part-time guiding/interpretative service was maintained, which also required a small admission fee). The centre was designed to cater for a maximum of 80,000 visitors per annum; it attracted roughly 169,000 visitors in 2007 and 135,000 in 2010.

Main features of the Interpretative Centre are exhibits depicting the history of Clonmacnoise and the area, archaeological artefacts (including the original stone crosses, brought indoors for preservation and display), information on the people who would have lived and worked there, and a section on the local ecology of the Shannon and the wetland bogs. Other amenities include a theatre for audio/visual presentations, a [[Fáilte Ireland]] tourist office, gift shop, tea room, toilets and parking. Guided tours of the site may be booked in advance for groups.<ref name="Somerville2007">{{cite book|last=Somerville|first=Christopher|title=Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQmthBJ8KbQC&pg=PT253|date=January 2007|publisher=National Geographic Society|isbn=978-1-4262-0022-9|pages=253–254}}</ref>