Owners of historic buildings and protected structures across County Wexford have a new opportunity to fund conservation work that keeps Ireland’s built heritage standing, and keeps heritage trades working.
Housing, Local Government and Heritage Minister James Browne announced that applications are open for three built heritage schemes for 2027, the Built Heritage Investment Scheme, the Historic Structures Fund, and the Historic Thatch Buildings scheme. The grants are administered through the department’s National Built Heritage Service.
Along with repair, maintenance, and conservation work, the schemes support traditional building skills, including stone masonry, lime plastering, and thatching. For contractors working in the heritage space, that matters because the funding supports jobs that rely on craft decisions, matching materials, and careful detailing instead of quick swaps and modern shortcuts.
Wexford’s 2026 results show the scale. Nineteen heritage projects in the county received a combined €578,763 in funding as part of a national allocation of more than €12 million to over 700 projects.
Browne said the programs provide “essential investment” to safeguard historic buildings, including private homes, civic buildings, shopfronts, and religious buildings. He also described the funding as “an effective partnership between the State, local authorities, individuals and communities” to preserve historic buildings for future generations.
This year, the opening dates for all three schemes were aligned after feedback from applicants and local authority conservation officers. The change gives applicants more time to prepare submissions and lets successful projects start earlier in 2027. For building owners and the mason contractors who support them, the timeline favors early scope decisions, clear repair priorities, and confirmed availability from qualified heritage trades.
Read the full, original article from southeastradio.ie here.