A study of highly significant medieval wall-paintings was launched by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) on a Co Mayo island at the weekend.
Volume four of The New Survey of Clare Island examines a small Cistercian abbey founded in the 13th century.
St Brigid's Abbey is the reputed burial place of pirate queen Granuaile, and was originally a cell attached to Abbeyknockmoy in Co Galway.
Conservation of its wall-paintings has revealed a two-phased iconography series exceptional for the relative absence of religious imagery and Christian symbolism.
Depicted along the narrative are musicians, animals, a fire-breathing serpent, cattle raiders, a double-headed eagle and fishermen.
Archaeologist Con Manning said: "The very scarcity of medieval art in perishable media in Ireland makes the Clare Island paintings both very important and difficult to discuss, because of a shortage of parallels."
Mr Manning is a co-editor of the study and a senior archaeologist with the National Monuments Service.
Addressing a large gathering of experts, islanders and enthusiasts in the island community centre, he said that while the discursive elements of the volume were far from being the last word on the subject, they were an essential attempt to place the material in a context through the dating and interpretation of the paintings' narrative.
He confirmed the Office of Public Works was committed to facilitating public access to the paintings and to ensuring their protection and conservation.
Chief conservator Christoph Oldenbourg said that, personally, the decade-long restoration project had been the culmination of his life's work. The rediscovery of distinctive Irish wall-paintings in an advanced state of deterioration due to environmental conditions had provided an unbelievable challenge for the team of conservators.
Assistant conservator Karena Morton added that such a range of imagery, clearly defined by two phases, along with the original Clare Island Survey provided a wonderful benchmark for ongoing research.
In the original survey, TJ Westropp had noted in 1910 that irreparable damage had been caused by water seeping from the floor above. Undertaken by the RIA in 1909 and led by Robert Lloyd Praeger, the Clare Island initiative was the first major multidisciplinary survey of a specific area in the world. The new survey was launched by Charles Haughey in 1991.
Officiating at this weekend's launch, MEP Seán Ó Neachtain praised the RIA's long-standing commitment to the preservation of Irish antiquities.
"The Royal Irish Academy has significantly contributed to the preservation of our wonderful heritage which is renowned throughout Europe," he said.
"This sense of cultural value has contributed to our special historic links with mainland Europe and more recently the development of our niche tourism industry."
Sociologist and spokeswoman for the Centre of Island Studies, Ciara Cullen, welcomed the new focus on the abbey and the OPW's commitment to continue an interest in its preservation and accessibility.