Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme
Up to 75% of the cost of the approved works, VAT excluded, with a minimum grant of €4,000 and a maximum of €30,000. Some grants are less than 75%. As the minimum grant is €4,000, the smallest project funded costs about €5,400. The rest of the cost cannot come from another State source and LEADER funding cannot be used on top for the same works.
Last checked October 2026
What it is
A grant to repair and conserve old farm buildings and other traditional farm structures, such as an old stone shed or outbuilding, its roof, walls, windows and doors, plus farmyard and field boundary masonry walls, cobbled yards, piers and wrought iron gates to fields and the farmyard (not the entrance gates and piers to the house), farmyard arched entranceways, walled orchards, masonry dungsteads, millraces and farm bridges. Dry stone walls are not eligible if you are in ACRES, because their maintenance is already an ACRES action. They must have been built before 1960 for a farm use, with traditional materials such as stone, brick, timber, earth, slate or thatch. For farmers in ACRES or the Organic Farming Scheme. The grant is at most 75% of the cost of the approved works, between €4,000 and €30,000. Some grants are less than 75%. It is an annual scheme run by the Heritage Council for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The 2026 round closed at 5pm on 18 May 2026.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine allocated €750,000 to the scheme for 2026 and the Heritage Council expected to fund about 40 projects, with part of the money ringfenced for structures other than buildings, such as walls, yards and gates.
Your own labour and machinery can be counted, costed at the Department's reference rates. Grants of €10,000 or more need a current tax clearance certificate before payment.
Repairs are usually exempt from planning permission, but you may need written confirmation from your council. For a protected structure, consult your council before applying. A building from before 1700 is likely to be protected under the National Monuments Acts and if it is, your council and the National Monuments Service must consent to the works first.
Who can get it
- You farm in the Republic of Ireland and are an approved participant in ACRES or the Organic Farming Scheme and the building or structure is on that participating holding
- You own the building or structure or you have the owner's written consent
- It was built before 1960 for a farm use with traditional methods and materials, it was or still is used for farming and it is in fair or repairable condition. Farmhouses and homes, buildings converted to other uses or to be converted within 5 years of payment, ruins, corrugated iron hay barns, limekilns, the entrance gates and piers to the house, post-1960 buildings such as slatted sheds or milking parlours and dry stone walls for ACRES participants are not eligible
- Minimum intervention applies: the grant is for repairing what is wrong, not restoring. Works the Heritage Council sees as restoration are very unlikely to be funded
- If you get an offer you must hire a conservation consultant to write a specification and supervise the work and works cannot start until the specification is agreed. A wildlife survey may be needed, as old farm buildings often hold bats or nesting birds. Up to 75% of these costs can be included
- The building must stay in farm use for at least five years after payment or some or all of the grant can be clawed back. For the 2026 round, anyone who had already got the maximum €30,000 between 2023 and 2025 could not reapply
How to apply
Apply online through the Heritage Council's online grants system while a round is open, with a location map and current photographs. The 2026 round opened on 9 April and closed at 5pm on 18 May 2026 and successful projects had until the first week of December 2026 to finish. No 2027 dates were on the Heritage Council's page on 13 October 2026.
Go to the official page →Checked against the official source on 13 October 2026. Always confirm the details on the official page before applying.
Questions people ask
Is there a grant to repair an old stone shed on my farm?
If you are in ACRES or the Organic Farming Scheme and it was built before 1960 for farm use and can still be repaired, you may qualify for up to 75% of the cost, between €4,000 and €30,000, under the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme if a future round opens. Dry stone walls are not eligible for ACRES participants.
Do I have to be in ACRES?
For 2026 you had to be an approved participant in ACRES or the Organic Farming Scheme.
Is the Traditional Farm Buildings Grant open now?
No. The 2026 round closed on 18 May 2026. It is an annual scheme and no 2027 dates had been published on 13 October 2026.
Can I use it to do up an old farmhouse?
No. Farmhouses and buildings lived in or meant to be lived in are not eligible.
Related guides
- Fuel Income Support Scheme
- Beef Welfare Scheme
- TAMS 3 Dairy Equipment Scheme
- TAMS 3 Organic Capital Investment Scheme
- TAMS 3 Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme
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