GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme 2017

A stone slate-roofed barn in County Donegal before (left) and after (right) it benefitted from the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme administered by The Heritage Council

Funds are available for the conservation of County Donegal’s traditional farm buildings and other related structures from The Heritage Council in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme.  The funding will be made available countrywide this year for farmers under the Green, Low Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS).  The closing date for receipt of applications to the grant scheme is Friday, November 18, 2016 at 5 p.m.

The aim of the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme is to conserve traditional farm buildings including roofs, outside surface of walls, windows and doors.  To be eligible, buildings and other related structures must have architectural or vernacular heritage character, make a contribution to their setting and not be overwhelmed by large-scale modern buildings. 

Farmers have always played an important role as custodians of our rural landscape.  Although the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme is highly competitive, several farm buildings in County Donegal have benefitted under the scheme in recent years.  The Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme allows traditional farm buildings to retain their relevance to agricultural activities, helps to maintain aspects of our rural built heritage which are important to our regional cultural landscapes, and conveys rural ways-of-life and local history to visitors and locals alike.  County Donegal’s farmsteads can include a variety of traditional farm buildings – most of which are eligible under the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme.  On large farms in the east of the county, an array of farm buildings can be found arranged around a courtyard whereas on small farms in the west of the county, outbuildings may be added to the farmhouse along its long axis producing an extended farmstead or may be distributed in a scattered pattern around the farmhouse.

The Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme is open to farmers who:
(i) have a GLAS contract with the Department of Agriculture and who are approved for participation in the GLAS scheme, and (ii) 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 sign the application form).  The grant will not be for more than 75% of the cost of the works.  The minimum amount offered will be €4,000 and the maximum amount will be €25,000.  The smallest project that could be funded would cost €5,700.  The balance of funding may not be from any other State source. 

Applications for the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme must be made directly to The Heritage Council in Kilkenny by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 18, 2016.  Further details are available from The Heritage Council in Kilkenny on (056) 777 0777 or at www.heritagecouncil.ie/grants/grants.  Application forms can be downloaded from The Heritage Council website at: www.heritagecouncil.ie/grants/grants.  Completed applications must be sumbitted in hard copy format only directly to The Heritage Council.  Please note applications made by fax or e-mail will not be accepted.  Further details are available from:

The Heritage Council
Áras na hOidhreachta,

Church Lane,
Kilkenny,
County Kilkenny.

Telephone: (056) 777 0777 
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.heritagecouncil.ie/grants/