Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2022

512 built heritage projects, spread out across 31 local authority areas, are to benefit from €4 million in funding under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2022.

The Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) will assist custodians and owners of protected structures, and structures within Architectural Conservation Areas, in meeting their obligations to care for their historic properties.  Through grants of up to €15,000, the BHIS will be used to undertake essential conservation works including joinery and roof repair, lime rendering, draught-proofing windows and repairing stained glass.  The BHIS will leverage approximately €13 million in private capital and create employment in traditional skills trades.

The BHIS is not limited to private dwellings and gives valuable financial assistance to a wide range of heritage sites.  Examples awarded funding under the BHIS 2022 include the conservation of historic glass in a former bank in Cootehill, County Cavan; the stabilisation of the masonry of the walled gardens at Blarney Castle in County Cork; the repair of the roof and windows at the old courthouse in Lifford, County Donegal; the repair of windows in the former Iveagh Trust Public Baths in Dublin; the conservation of a pipe organ in Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, Glasthule, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown; the lime pointing of the Raheens Cenotaph near Castlebar in County Mayo; and the stabilisation of the stone work of a fountain in Roscrea, County Tipperary.  Churches, mills, thatched houses, and many other building types have also been awarded funding.

Also included under the BHIS 2022 is a continuation of the micro-grant scheme introduced in 2020 to increase the resilience of historic structures to withstand the effects of climate change.

The protection of our built heritage was one of the priorities identified in the recently-published cross-government strategy for the protection of Ireland’s heritage, Heritage Ireland 2030, and partnership is a key theme.  The BHIS is one of two built heritage funding schemes run by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage working in partnership with the 31 local authorities and their Architectural Conservation Officers and Heritage Officers.

A list of all projects awarded funding under the BHIS 2022, broken down by local authority, can be downloaded below: