Retention and Conservation of Traditional Farm Buildings on Mayo Farm

Anne O’ Malley, Advisory and Options Co-ordinator, Teagasc Ballina

The Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme was established in 2008 by the Heritage Council in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). The principal objective of this scheme is to ensure that traditional functional active farm buildings which are a visual picture of our past agricultural and vernacular history are retained, repaired and conserved for their cultural and environmental value. This on farm scheme promotes peer to peer learning on sustainable building practices, using traditional skills, crafts and local materials. There is a competitive application process and only a small number of applications are approved every year and the key message is minimum intervention, only fix or repair what is needed, recycle and retain and conserve farm building for future generations.

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 up to a maximum available grant of €30,000. The Scheme is only open to farmers participating in and accepted into ACRES, Organics and participants in European Innovation Partnerships so a farmer must check first to see if they are eligible to apply. This Annual Scheme opens in March of each year and while the scheme is now closed you can view the most recent information pack and further information.

I recently visited Margaret Lundy’s farm in Charlestown, who completed works on a granary under the Traditional Farm Buildings grant scheme. The building consists of a cow-byre with a granary above it and a smaller building to the left which was used to house pigs. The granary dates back to the 1900s and was built with the support of a grant scheme available at the time and the space was originally used for grain storage. These buildings are the history of people and place and the agricultural practices of the past. Both buildings have beautiful intact flagstone floors, the steps up to the granary had to be rebuilt and the floor of the granary had to be replaced apart from one original tree beam which was intact. The walls were repaired, whitewashed with traditional hot lime mix and the whole building was re-pointed and re-roofed. A bat entrance has been modified in the gable wall and spacing left over each of the 3 doors allows access for wildlife. Margaret thanks the Department of Agriculture, Anna Meenan, Heritage Council, Àine Doyle, Louisburgh, conservation supervisor and Jimmy Murphy contractor and skilled stone mason for their expert advice and support with this on farm project. As Margaret said "It took a lot of hard work but I am delighted to see this building brought back to its original beauty"

A previous option to add value and generate additional income on this farm was the planting of a Native Woodland under the Native Woodland Scheme (NWS) in 2011. The NWS was funded under the NDP 2007-2013 and was implemented by the Forest Service of the DAFM in partnership with a number of agencies including the Heritage Council. A key element of this scheme was retention of biodiversity and habitats, including traditional buildings. The NWS provided support for land owners to protect and enhance existing native woodlands, and to establish new native woodlands. Please follow the link to current forestry grants and please contact Noel Kennedy, Forestry Advisor for Mayo, Roscommon and Galway.

This farm is also hosting a Broadleaf Silviculture research trial alongside the Native Woodland with Scots Pine and Oak, planted in alternating lines. This trial assesses the impact of planting Scots Pine with Oak and after and monitors the growth pattern of the Oak. The attached photo shows a plot on the left that had the oak planted 4 years after the Scots pine, and a plot on the right of pure oak planted at the same time as the Scots pine in the opposite plot. Further information on this trial please contact Teagasc Researcher, Ian Short.

At this time of year all farmer and land owners are looking at different enterprise options for the generation of income and the Teagasc Options Programme may be of interest to you. Please see link to Options Programme and click to express an interest in Options Programme.