Schemes for the Protection of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage in County Cork

The County of Cork is steeped in built and archaeological heritage with close to 3,000 protected structures, over 50 Architectural Conservation Areas and close to 20,000 recorded archaeological monuments.

Owners and Custodians of this heritage are now being invited to apply for funding to safeguard these structures and archaeological monuments into the future, through the 2024 Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS); Historic Structures Fund (HSF) and Community Monuments Fund (CMF). These are national schemes, operated at the local level by each Local Authority and in the case of the county of Cork, it is Cork County Council’s Heritage Unit and Conservation Office that administer the schemes.

Each scheme has benefited the county’s heritage significantly in the last number of years. The Community Monuments Fund, for example, which has been operating annually since its establishment in 2020, has seen an investment of over Nine Hundred Thousand Euro (€911K) for 17 different archaeological sites in County Cork and Millions of Euro have been invested in the County through the BHIS and HSF, which have both been in operation now for a number of years.

The operation of the three schemes in 2024 sees a combined national fund of €16m, which is an increase of €1m compared to 2023: €4.5m for the Historic Structures Fund; €4.5m for the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and €7m for the Community Monuments Fund.

For those interested in hearing more about the schemes, Cork County Council’s Historic Monuments Advisory Committee will host an online Grants workshop in December from 14:00 to 15:30 on Thursday 14 December, and one can register by emailing
The County of Cork is steeped in built and archaeological heritage with close to 3,000 protected structures, over 50 Architectural Conservation Areas and close to 20,000 recorded archaeological monuments.

The deadline for applications under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and Historic Structures Fund is 16:00 on Thursday, 18 January 2024, and the deadline for the Community Monuments Fund is 16:00 on Wednesday 31 January 2024. The details regarding each scheme are as follows:

Schemes for the protection of architectural and archaeological heritage in County Cork

.accordion__response {display: block !important;} Built Heritage Investment Scheme

The 2024 Built Heritage Investment Scheme will provide grants of up to €15,000 to individual owners for small-scale works to repair and preserve their historic properties.
BHIS includes ring-fenced funding of €500,000 for thatched buildings. This will fund conservation repairs to historic thatched structures, helping owners to offset other costs and protecting these cherished buildings into the future.

For documents click the links below:

.accordion__response {display: block !important;} Historic Structure Fund

The 2024 Historic Structures Fund will offer up to €200,000 for projects that deliver a major community benefit.
It also offers funding for vernacular structures and for historic shopfronts. The Historic Shopfront Stream provides funding for the refurbishment and conservation historic shop facades to safeguard these distinctive features of our towns, villages, and cities.
The Vernacular Stream provides funding for conservation repairs and small capital works to vernacular structures that are not listed in the local authority Record of Protected Structures.

For documents click the links below:

Historic Structure Fund 2024 Guidance Booklet for Applicants

Historic Structure Fund 2024 Guidance Application Form

Historic Structure Fund 2024 Appendix I - Form A (Applicant)

Historic Structure Fund 2024 Appendix V Applicant Checklist

.accordion__response {display: block !important;} Community Monuments Fund

The Community Monuments Fund will enable conservation works to be carried out on archaeological monuments, which are deemed to be significant and in need of support. It aims to build resilience in monuments enabling them to withstand the effects of climate change. The fund also aims to encourage access to monuments and improve their presentation. The Scheme has three streams of funding, all of which offer up to 100% of eligible costs.

Stream 1: Grants up to €100,000 for essential repairs and capital works for the conservation of archaeological monuments.
Stream 2: Grants of up to €30,000 for the development of Conservation Management Plans/Reports and detailed Specification of Works aimed at identifying measures for conservation and maintenance of archaeological monuments.
Stream 3: Grants of up to €30,000 for the enhancement of access infrastructure, interpretation projects (including virtual/online) and small scale emergency conservation works, at archaeological monuments.

The relevant details are as follows;

Submission of Applications

Applications may be made as follows

Hard copies are to be addressed to the Built Heritage Investment Scheme or Historic Structure Fund, Cork County Council, Conservation Office, Floor 3, Planning Department, County Hall, Cork, and in the case of the Community Monuments Fund, applications to be titled Community Monuments Fund 2024, addressed to:

Cork County Council,
Heritage and Conservation Office,
Floor 3,
Planning Department,
County Hall,
Cork. Eircode: T12 R2NC

Applications may also be made electronically (encouraged) and for more information in this regard email: corkheritage@corkcoco.ie.

Please note there are two deadlines for these schemes:

16:00 on Thursday 18 January 2024, in respect of the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and Historic Structures Fund;
16:00 on Wednesday 31 January 2024, in respect of the Community Monuments Fund.

Late applications and/or incomplete applications will not be accepted. It is anticipated that the outcome of applications will be made known by the end of April 2024.