Advice Centre

FAQs

Can I get funding for my heritage project from Louth Local Authorities?

Louth Local Authorities do not currently operate a community heritage grant scheme for voluntary groups. On occasions small payments are made to support projects which help achieve the aims and objectives of the Louth heritage plan. These would include payments for interpretation materials (e.g. heritage or wildlife panels), publications or holding public heritage events. Please contact the heritage office if you have a similar project in mind and you think that the heritage officer might be interested in 'buying into it'.
Back to top

Can I get funding for my forthcoming book on Louth's heritage?

See above and also the information on Heritage Council grants below. Louth County Council has also run (in previous years) a grant scheme called 'PublishLouth'. Information on this grant scheme is available on the Louth Local Authorities website. It is unlikely that there will be any 'PublishLouth' grants available in 2010, due to the fiscal crisis.
Back to top

Can I get funding from Louth Local Authorities to help manage a graveyard?

The Environment section of Louth County Council employs some caretakers and also provides small grants to a few local, community-based groups to help them to manage local graveyards, burial grounds or cemeteries. Contact the Environment Section of LCC, or your local council in Drogheda or Dundalk to see if funding is available for your local cemetery.
Back to top

Can I get funding for my heritage project from the Heritage Council?

The Heritage Council runs an annual grant scheme. The Heritage Council scheme is only open for application for around five weeks, in the late autumn, for projects taking place in the following year. This year (2009) the period for applications closes at 5pm on 20th November. Click on the link below to open the grants page of the Heritage Council?s website: http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/grants/.
 

Heritage Council grants are available for projects under three themes: Currently these are:

Back to top

Can I get funding to repair my house, my thatched roof, an old church?

Protected Structures
If you own a building which the elected members (the councillors) have added to the 'Record of Protected Structures' (RPS) in the relevant local (County or town) development plan, you may be able to get a conservation grant from Louth Local Authorities. Protected Structures are listed in either the county or the relevant town development plan. For further information, please contact your local planning office or Angela Dullaghan of the Louth conservation office, on 042 932 4334 or by email at angela.dullaghan@louthcoco.ie. Please note that the closing date for receipt of applications for conservation grants for 2010 is Friday 29th January. Further information is available from the Louth Local Authorities website (just click on this link http://www.louthcoco.ie/index.aspx?deptid=21&dpageid=5&recid=310&la=LCC )

Grants are not normally available from Louth Local Authorities for buildings that are not listed on the RPS.  However, a survey of Louth's architectural heritage has recently been published by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. This has resulted in the Minister recommending the addition of some 400 buildings to Louth's three Records of Protected Structures (Drogheda, Dundalk and the County Council area). If your property is one of these, even if it is not yet on the relevant Record of Protected Structures, you may be able to get a grant for its maintenance.

To check if your building is listed in the NIAH survey of County Louth, follow this link: http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/highlights.jsp?county=LH

Thatch Grants
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government runs a grant for owners of those thatched structures which are permanently lived in as primary dwellings (i.e. not pubs or holidays homes etc). For further details contact the Housing Grants Section, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Government Buildings, Ballina, Co. Mayo. Tel: 096 24200 or Locall 1890 305030 and ask for a HA2T Memorandum and the HA1/90 Application Form.

The Heritage Council's Buildings at Risk grant scheme
In previous years the Heritage Council has provided annual grants for heritage buildings that are at serious risk of deterioration or loss under its 'Buildings at Risk' grant scheme.
 
There is no annual grant scheme for 2010, while the working of the scheme is being reviewed. Grants may be available for 2011, keep an eye on the Heritage Council's website for details. PLEASE NOTE that there is no possibility whatsoever of getting a retrospective grant for works already carried out!

Updated 7 January 2010

Back to top