The Heritage Council, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, manages the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme. The scheme’s principal objective is to ensure that traditional farm buildings and other related structures that contribute to the character of the landscape and are of significant heritage value are conserved in active agricultural use.

Other related structures such as walls, cobbled yard surfaces, walled orchards, dungsteads, millraces, gate pillars and gates.

The 2025 Traditional Farm Buildings grant scheme will open for applications on 30 January 2025. You must apply online for this grant scheme via our online grant system (https://www.heritagecouncil.ie/funding/on-line-grants-system). We do not provide or accept paper forms.

We will host a short information webinar  (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-iEec9PRQqmhWrs0eRX50g#/registration) for applicants interested in applying for the 2025 traditional farm buildings grant scheme on Thursday 6th February 2025 at 12pm.

Who is eligible to apply for this scheme in 2025?

The Scheme is only open to farmers participating in and accepted into the following Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine schemes:

1. Approved participants in ACRES. The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine have confirmed those awaiting confirmation on their ACRES application can apply pending approval.
2. Participants in EIP (European Innovation Partnership) Calls 1, 2 and 3, Hen Harrier and Pearl Mussel Projects and The Burren Programme who were an active participant as of 31st December 2022 or had completed the full term of the contract for the relevant EIP, or have completed a five-year contract, as appropriate.
3. Approved participants of the Organic Farming Scheme
   
   and
   Are the owner of the building/other related structure for which funding is sought or are acting with the permission of the owner (in which case the owner must provide consent).

What works are funded under this scheme

The grant supports

• the conservation of traditional farm outbuildings, including roofs, walls, structural repairs, windows, and doors.
• the repair of *other traditional farming structures such as walls, gate pillars and gates, walled orchards, cobbled yards and masonry dungsteads.

*You do not have to apply for a building. In 2025, we particularly encourage applications for the repair of traditional farming structures other than buildings. To support this effort, it is intended that €500,000 be specifically allocated this year for the repair of these other related farm structures.

The key conservation principle of minimum intervention applies, that is, carrying out a repair to fix what is wrong but not setting out to do too much work. Works which are, in the opinion of the Heritage Council, restoration works, are very unlikely to be supported with grant aid. The process is highly competitive and usually 60-80 projects a year can be supported. We hope to support more projects in 2025 because we intend to allocate €500,000 funding to other related farming structures.

The Grant Amount

Grant amounts vary between €4,000 and €30,000. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine makes all grant payments on this scheme following certification by the Heritage Council. A grant award will not be for more than 75% of the cost of the works with a maximum available grant of €30,000. Please note some grants will be for less than 75% of the cost of the approved works.

Scheme Documentation

Please read the guidance document and the terms and conditions below:

Information Webinar 2025

We will host a short information webinar for applicants interested in applying for the 2025 traditional farm buildings grant scheme on 6th February 2025 at 12pm. Register for this webinar. (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-iEec9PRQqmhWrs0eRX50g#/registration)

How to apply

You must apply online for this grant scheme. You can apply from 30th January 2025 through the Heritage Council’s online grants management system.  (https://heritagecouncil.smartsimple.ie/s_Login.jsp?lang=1&prole=0)

We will only accept applications submitted online.
We will not provide or accept paper forms.

To consider your application, we must receive your online application along with the required supporting documents by 10th March 2025 at 5pm. Applications or required supporting documents cannot be submitted after this time. Full responsibility for the information contained in the application and supporting documentation submitted and for the receipt of applications by the closing date rests with the applicant.

Please click on the RESOURCES tab above where you will find short films and presentations on different projects supported under the scheme over the years.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently commissioned an evaluation of the scheme in 2022. You can read this report below.