'When it is gone, it will be gone forever': Crisis facing Ireland’s thatched homes
There has been a drop from 55,000 thatched properties to less than 2,300 due to a lack of accessible or affordable insurance. File picture
The number of thatched properties in Ireland has fallen by 95% in 70 years, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen was told.
A delegation from the 400-member Thatch Insurance Group blamed the drop from 55,000 properties to less than 2,300 on a lack of accessible or affordable insurance.
Ms Katie McNelis, a member of the voluntary group, which is campaigning for change in the thatch insurance market, said she grew up in a thatched home in rural County Tipperary.
It was not just a home. It was her family business — a public house run by her parents since 1976, the third generation of the family to do so. “That building holds our history, our livelihood and our identity,” she said.
After her father passed away in 2020, her mother received a letter stating that her insurance cover would no longer be provided as the underwriters had withdrawn from the Irish market.
“From that moment on, everything changed. I stepped in to try and help her. I contacted countless insurance companies, brokers and underwriters.
“One after another, the answer was the same: there was no full cover and if there was any sort of cover it was unaffordable.
”Ms McNelis said the house has been cared for with pride. Over the years, her parents replaced the thatched roof multiple times at great personal cost. In nearly 50 years, they never made a claim.
Insurance is still not available or, in the few instances where it is available, it is not affordable.
“Who can take on a thatched property with no insurance, rising maintenance costs, and legal obligations to restore it if anything goes wrong? Who can afford to carry that burden?
"That is how we will lose these homes: not through neglect, but through necessity; not because people do not care, but because they are left with no other option.
"If nothing changes, we are not preserving our heritage; we are slowly dismantling it, piece by piece,” she said.
Mr Ciarán McDonnell, a thatch owner from County Kildare, said he along with Katie McNelis and other concerned thatch owners, formed the Thatch Insurance Action Group in 2020.
“We are seeking for thatch insurance to be both more available and more affordable. One without the other does not work. The thatch sector faces many challenges and is currently in crisis. There is a shortage of thatching skills.
"There is also a lack of affordable thatch insurance. Thatch owners faced with the obligations of living in a protected structure have no insurance and risk financial ruin,” he said.
Mr McDonnell said the Heritage Council has been tackling the thatcher and thatching materials issue, but a solution to the insurance issue remains out of reach.
With fire risk cited as the pre-eminent insurance risk, he said Government has been discouraging the use of open fires and solid fuel stoves in thatched properties.
“Unfortunately, thatch owners have few realistic alternatives. Even with Government grants, investment in heat pumps is not realistic. Thatched buildings tend to be quite leaky from a heating perspective, so heat pumps are not very suitable.
“Thatch is part of our collective heritage and is a physical reminder of who we are and where we have come from. It is a link to our past, but it is under severe threat. When it is gone, it will be gone forever,” he said.
Pat Buckley (SF), Cork East, said the crux is that if somebody wants to sell their property, they cannot because the next property buyer cannot get insurance on it.
Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan, said there is no reason that good, honourable, decent citizens who want to do the right thing should be deprived of necessary insurance cover.
Mr McDonnell said FBD has a large part, about 17% to 20%, of the insurance market for thatch. A lot of it was because of its historical involvement in insuring farms.
FBD is continuing to insure the thatched properties it insured historically but it is not taking on any new customers. Its books are closed, he said.
Michael Murphy (FG), Tipperary South, urged the committee to establish a cross-party delegation. He said a meeting with the heritage minister should be sought, perhaps with IPB Insurance in the room, and see if a template for a pilot package can be found.
Senator Louise O'Reilly (SF), Dublin Fingal West, Cathaoirleach, said the committee will consider the proposal.
Mr McDonnell, replying to Dublin Independent Senator Aubrey McCarthy, said there were six fires in buildings with thatched roofs in 2023, five in 2024 and five last year.
Senator Malcolm Noonan (GP), Carlow Kilkenny, a former minister of state, warned of the possibility that in 10 years' time the only thatched cottages seen in Ireland will be on John Hinde postcards.
