It is estimated that up to 80,000 people visit Drumcliffe graveyard at the foot of Benbulben in Co Sligo every year to see the final resting place of W.B. Yeats. The leafy, peaceful spot with its dramatic mountain view was chosen by the poet, whose great-grandfather was rector at Drumcliffe. As graveyards go, it is probably as scenic as you'll get.
The current rector, Canon Ian Gallagher, believes however that many visitors to the grave, with its simple, unassuming headstone, have gone away disappointed.
"There was really nothing to hold them. All that was there was a very plain grave and many people got back into their cars and buses without even looking at the High Cross, which is 1,000 years old," he says.
A programme of work has now started at the church to rectify this. Some £600,000 is being spent restoring the church and extending a small tea-room into a visitor centre. Touch-screen computers giving tourist information will be installed in the centre and a movable screen will be erected in the church to enable the showing of an audio-visual presentation.
Canon Gallagher says all the work will be carried out with "extreme sensitivity". The restoration of the church aims as much as possible to return it to its original state. Plaster will be removed from the outside walls and old fireplaces inside will be reopened. Fluorescent lighting will be removed.
"We will not be changing the character of the place at all. It will be a church first and foremost. We are not turning it into a cinema or anything like that," he says. Weddings, funerals and church services will take precedence over the showing of the AV presentation.
Canon Gallagher hopes the development will make people more aware that Drumcliffe has been a Christian site since the sixth century. It will draw attention to the High Cross in the graveyard and the nearby round tower, both built more than 1,000 years ago. The AV show will explain St Columba's links with Drumcliffe and his missionary work in Scotland and beyond.
"We are actually, in a strange way, still evangelising because there are thousands of people who visit Drumcliffe who never normally go inside a church. We will be telling them the story of a saint who brought Christianity to many parts of Europe," he says.
The visitor centre will also provide information on St Columba, the Spanish Armada and the geography of the surrounding area. It is hoped to create three fulltime and four part-time jobs, and the project is receiving £400,000 in EU funds through the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.
While the changes may be resisted by some, the reality is that the 100 or so parishioners of Drumcliffe have had to accept for some time that their church was also a tourist attraction. During the summer it is not uncommon to see three or four coaches parked outside at the same time. Visitors will be able to cast an eye - cold, or otherwise - on the new development from next May.