A County Mayo farmer has discovered jam-jars stuffed with letters from the War of Independence on his land, thanks to the award-winning Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme.
Pat Chambers was planning to knock down a building on his farm until his wife submitted an application to the Scheme.
Established in 2008, the Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme was set up to address the rapid changes in agricultural practice and the subsequent loss of traditional farm buildings, and to give farmers the skills to restore them.
The success of the Scheme received international recognition in 2024 when it won the European Heritage Award in the Working Together for Nature category.
Mr. Chambers said:
“The project was important because otherwise we would have knocked down the building and put in a modern building which wouldn’t have looked good. The building is there for over 100 years and is in the family for three or four generations.
With a focus on biodiversity and tackling the climate change crisis, the Scheme works with farmers to ensure they also follow eco-friendly practices on their land.
Farmers have access to a number of consultants and experts for the duration of the project for any questions or queries they have.
Every participant also commits to repairing the building in a way that will not adversely impact on wildlife populations, and an ecologist is hired to help farmers carry out a bat and bird survey.
Anna Meenan, Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme Programme Manager said:
“Sometimes it’s about the animals farmers already have, but it can also be the animals they didn’t know they had. Farmers could hear bats flying around and suddenly they discover that there are three species of bats in the building”.
On an informal level, the scheme also facilitates the transmission of skills from generation to generation, with the whole family often getting involved in conservation works.
Over 1,000 farmers partaking in agri-environment schemes including ACRES and the European Innovation Projects have taken part to date with the project's success continuing to grow.
The scheme is run by The Heritage Council in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is co-funded by the Irish government and the European Union under Ireland’s Rural Development Programme. It runs on an annual basis, with an average of 70-80 projects supported a year.
“If we ever write a book about the scheme, I think it will be called “Secrets of the Wall Place: Not Just Good for Rat Runs”, because it makes you wonder what else could be hiding in the walls or stonework of so many other farm buildings across the country”, Ms. Meenan concluded.
More information
European Heritage Awards - Irish winners
The Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme
- Project locations
- Ireland
- Project website
- Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme