Buildings havens for wildlife

TOURISTS sometimes photograph disused farm buildings in the countryside and seem to find them endlessly fascinating.

Many people in Ireland, however, care little about them and these relics of another era are often abandoned to sad dereliction.

But, there are several good reasons why old farm buildings should be conserved. They are part of the Irish landscape and of the heritage of their areas, being generally constructed with local stone and other materials. They bear witness to our long-lasting relationship with the land and are part of what we are.

They can also be havens for wildlife. Where else could the swallows nest when they visit every summer, not to mention bats and owls which can be permanent residents of barns and outhouses? The Heritage Council has launched its REPS 4 Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme for 2012-’13, with project manager Anna Meenan saying it offers a unique opportunity to safeguard the built rural heritage, while protecting the traditional farmstead and allowing it to continue in use. The maximum grant is €18,000.

Some of these buildings date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to the time when tenant farmers became land owners. The State has been providing grants for farm buildings since 1900 which was accelerated by a 1948 scheme.

The number of haysheds in the country is somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000, some bearing name plates of long-established companies such as Duggans, of Co Cork, or Keenans, from Co Carlow.

Such sheds were a huge source of pride to their owners, especially when packed to the roof with well-saved hay. Modern farming, however, has now rendered many redundant.

Farmers in the west, meanwhile, are being urged to help conserve the lesser horseshoe bat, a small creature that relies on farm buildings, hedgerows and stone walls to survive. Kate McAney, bat expert with The Vincent Wildlife Trust and based in Co Galway, has written an information leaflet, with help from some of the farmers she already works with.

There are nine bat species in Ireland, but only the lesser horseshoe bat is confined to counties Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Cork and Kerry. All our bats eat insects, so reducing the vast numbers of swarming midges each summer.

The leaflet, which contains guidelines on simple steps that farmers in the west can take, was launched at the National Ploughing Championships.