The Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS), the Historic Structures Fund (HSF) and the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme are among the government schemes available to farmers when upgrading or repurposing heritage buildings on farms.

Both the BHIS and HSF are funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, while the latter is run by the Heritage Council, under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Grants of between €2,500 and €50,000 are available under the BHIS scheme for up to 80% of the cost of approved construction work, with the amount allocated determined by the local authority on a case-by-case basis.

This means that applicants will have to contribute at least 20% of the cost of the works.

Applicants are also mandated to either pay for the works prior to receiving the grant aid or all works must be completed and certified by the local authority before the applicant may seek grant payment.

Applications for the scheme open annually every July for the following year and successful applicants will be notified in January each year.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, announced that funding of up to €8.1 million will be awarded to 650 projects in 2026.

BHIS provides funding for conservation works to the following types of privately owned heritage buildings or qualifying structures:

Protected structures listed on the Record of Protected Structures;
Proposed protected structures (buildings that the local authority propose to include on this list, but have not yet been formally approved);
Structures in architectural conservation areas (ACAs);
Vernacular buildings;
Historic shopfronts

Applicants are advised to contact their local county council's architectural conservation officer if they need clarity on the eligibility of a building.

Once works have been completed, the applicants should inform their local authority (LA) to commence the recoupment process by submitting all receipts, proof of payments, and photos.

Having confirmed that the works have been completed to a satisfactory standard, the LA will pay the appropriate grant to the applicant and draw down the relevant amount from the department.

The HSF provides similar support but at a larger scale, offering grants from €50,000 to €200,000.

It focuses on larger enhancement, refurbishment, and repurposing works involving heritage buildings where a clear community or public benefit has been demonstrated.

The funding will aim to safeguard their preservation and continued use so that they remain a part of living history and community life into the future.

Like BHIS, HSF provides capital grants for repair and conservation of protected structures listed or due to be listed under the Record of Protected Structures, and buildings located in ACAs, or within the amenity of a national monument.

Only one application to the HSF will be considered per historic structure, including:

Projects proposed by LAs on foot of applications from private applicants who are the owners or custodians of historic structures;
Projects proposed by a LA for works to historic structures in public ownership.

As with BHIS, conservation works must be paid for in full prior to the receipt of the department grant.

According to Minister Browne, over €3.5 million will be awarded to 28 projects throughout the country under HSF 2025.

The window for 2026 conservation applications will reportedly open at the end of 2025.

The principal objective of this scheme is to ensure that traditional farm buildings and other related structures that contribute to the character of the landscape are conserved for active agricultural use.

Other eligible structures include walls, cobbled yard surfaces, walled orchards, dungsteads, millraces, gate pillars, and gates.

The grants range from €4,000 to €30,000, with up to 75% of the costs of the works covered by the scheme.

Applicants can apply for the scheme via the Heritage Council's online grants management system. However, the 2025 application window closed on March 10.

The scheme is only open to farmers in the Republic of Ireland who own the building vying for the grant and are participating in one of following DAFM approved schemes:

ACRES - those awaiting confirmation on their ACRES application can also apply pending approval;
EIP (European Innovation Partnership) Calls 1, 2 and 3 - must have completed the full term of the contract for the relevant EIP;
Hen harrier and pearl mussel projects;
The Burren Programme;
Approved participants of the Organic Farming Scheme

According to the Heritage Council, the process is "highly competitive", with just 60-80 projects supported every year.

The key conservation principle of "minimum intervention" applies and works that are deemed by the Heritage Council as complete restoration works are "unlikely" to be granted funding.