380-year-old tower restored in GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme
This restoration is on the Bourke farm near Westport, Co Mayo. Picture: Áine Doyle, Conservation Consultant
Co Cork farm buildings restored with help from the Heritage Council and the Department of Agriculture include a yard where thoroughbreds were produced and went on to enjoy notable success at Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown, and a 1740s tower at Castletownroche.
Four Co Cork farmers’ successful participation in the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme was described in the Teagasc Daily section of the teagasc.ie website.
Siobhan Madden, Liscarroll, received funding for repairs to limestone buildings dating from 1820-1830.
The Madden family have been breeding and raising thoroughbred horses for generations, enjoying notable success at the top jump racing tracks in the UK and Ireland.
The barn, loft, tack room, feed house, and two stables had been very well maintained, and were generally in good condition.
However, the grant scheme allowed for deep structural pointing in lime mortar on the front and rear of the upper building.
Masonry was built up above the doorways/lintels.
A stone facade was installed, using a matching stone and a suitable mortar.
One of the slate roofs required minimum intervention, about 20 salvaged slates were required, and were sourced by the contractor, Conor Kelleher.
The buildings’ distinctive arches did not require any remedial works, being in excellent condition inside and outside, a compliment to the skill of the masons and labourers who first erected the buildings.
Siobhan Madden employed the services of heritage conservation specialist Southgate Associates, Midleton, to supervise the project, and Conor Kelleher Ltd, Dripsey, was the chosen contractor.
Teagasc advisors Enda Maloney, Kanturk, and Eimear Connery, Midleton, supplied the Grants Scheme information.
The Scheme closes on Monday, April 5, and application must be made online to the Heritage Council.
Kevin Wood, Ballincollig, Co Cork is another GLAS participant who availed of the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme for repairs, mainly to a lofted grain store dating from 1888.
The Wood family farm is near the River Lee and the historic gun powder mills in the Ballincollig Park.
In repairing the lofted grain store, original building materials were reused as much as possible by local builder Pat Shanahan.
John and Margaret Murphy, Rathmore, on the Cork-Kerry border, are participants in GLAS, so they were also eligible to apply for the grant for traditional farm buildings.
Their building required roof repairs mainly, and some repointing of stonework.
No bats or birds were present in the building, so work was allowed to proceed during the summer, carried out by Southgate Associates and builder Conor Kelleher.
To be eligible for the scheme, buildings and other related structures (constructed before 1960) must have architectural or vernacular heritage character, make a contribution to their setting, and not be overwhelmed by large-scale modern buildings.
Tom O’Neill, Castletownroche, Co Cork availed of the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme for repairs to a 1740s building.
It is part of an old courtyard complex which is present on 6” historic maps and is recorded on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the maps of the National Monuments Service.
The farm is near Blackwater Castle, the area is rich in history.
Essential repairs required included repairing slate roofing and timber laths.
Following a bat and bird survey, conservation consultant Chris Southgate, Midleton, and conservation builder Connor Hannon, Doneraile, got to work.
