Heritage Council grant helps save 18th century building on Limerick farm

A SUBSTANTIAL grant from the Heritage Council has helped Croom farmer Hannah Quinn-Mulligan save one of the roofs on an 18th century farm building from caving in.

The Traditional Farm Buildings grant is available only to farmers who were part of the GLAS scheme and allowed them to get up to a maximum of €25,000 in funding to restore old farm buildings, including arches and walls.

Some €1.25 million was set aside in funding for the scheme this year. This grant covers 75% of the costs, including the farmer’s own labour, with the remaining 25% of costs covered by the farmer.

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In Hannah’s case, she applied for €23,59 to cover the shed roof and adjoining arch and wall. She was awarded the grant and work got underway.

“The roof was in an awful way, and all it would have taken was one bad storm for it to cave in. The shed is a valuable part of the farm infrastructure and is still used for calving cows in spring. You can tell it’s been used for generations and we wanted to restore it to its original glory,” said Hannah.

Unfortunately, there were some stumbling blocks as the cost of authentic slates and more than expected weather damage to the arch pushed the budget slightly higher than had been expected.

However, the quality of the work has made all the hardship worthwhile.

“This building isn’t just a farm shed, it’s part of the agriculture history and way of life for generations in Limerick. While the work was slightly more costly than expected and exceeded €30,000, I believe we have guaranteed the life of the building for future generations. I’m deeply grateful to the Department of Agriculture and the Heritage Council for the Traditional Farm Buildings grant. We would not have been able to save this building without it,” said Hannah.