The BHIS Historic Thatched Buildings Stream 2025 is now open for applications.
The purpose of this scheme is to protect the heritage value of historic thatched roof buildings across Donegal and the rest of the country.
Each Local Authority has been allocated an amount of funding based on the number of historic thatched structures within its boundaries.
County Donegal has received one of the largest funding awards in the country due to its number of surviving historic thatched structures. The new Thatching Grant is open for applications until 4 p.m. on Friday, January 17.
(Pictured above is Scollop thatched Cottage in Ballyshannon which received funding last year under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme in 2024.)
The scheme will be administrated by the Architectural Conservation Office in Donegal County Council and is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
All historic thatched structures in County Donegal are eligible under this scheme and it does not need to be on the Record of Protected Structures. This year’s grant scheme will provide support for approximately six large-scale re-thatching projects up to €20,000. The funding can provide for up to 80% of the total capital costs of works.
This grant scheme is in addition to other grants available for the maintenance, repair and conservation of thatched structures. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Grant for the Renewal/Repair of Thatched Roofs is available for the repair or renewal of thatched roofs of owner-occupied houses (https://www.gov.ie/en/service/32e72-thatching-grant/)
Secondly, the Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2026 which is for the conservation and enhancement of historic structures and buildings may be of assistance to thatched property owners. This scheme will open in the summer.
Thirdly, Donegal County Council’s award-winning Thatch Repair Grant Scheme assists the owners and occupiers of thatched dwellings and businesses with their maintenance and repair. This scheme will be open for its seventh year in the first quarter of 2025 and provides advice to owners on the conservation of thatched roofs, allocates funding for small-scale thatch repairs including repairs to the eaves, the ridge, flashings around the chimney, holes, furrows, fixings, ropes, wire netting, the gable and the roof timbers or carpentry.
The Thatch Repair Grant Scheme is a cross‐directorate initiative between the County Donegal Heritage Office, Housing, Corporate & Culture Directorate and the Conservation Office, Community Development & Planning Services Directorate and is funded by Donegal County Council & The Heritage Council as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is working in collaboration with The Heritage Council and other stakeholders to resolve the national thatch crisis. The Department have released a fire safety in thatch properties booklet to help owners which can be found https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/app/uploads/2023/10/Fire-Safety-in-Thatched-Properties.pdf and they continue to engage with the insurance sector to bring down the cost of insurance for thatched properties.
For further information on thatch insurance please contact either the Conservation Office or Heritage Office at Donegal County Council.
The most urgent issue in relation to thatching in Donegal is the lack of thatcher’s. If our thatch buildings are to survive into the future it is imperative to start training thatcher’s now especially in respect to rope thatching. At a national level a new full-time 42-week training course is to be run in Kilkenny in 2025 in partnership with the Heritage Council and Kilkenny ETB. There will be a number of Heritage Funded bursaries to enable participation and is aimed at individuals wishing to pursue a career as a thatcher in Ireland further details can be found on https://www.fetchcourses.ie/course/finder?sfcw-courseId=461931
Closer to home the Donegal Thatch School is now up and running in the Dolmen centre in Portnoo and providing for short courses, some of which are currently being funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The school has recently installed three state of the art thatching rigs to teach both rope thatch and scallop thatch styles. There has been huge uptake on these short courses and there is undoubtedly the demand for a full-time course in the centre which is currently being pursued by all stakeholders.
Further information on the school and short courses can be found on their webpage https://donegalthatchingschool.com/
Another pressure on the survival of our thatch structures is the availability of thatching Materials in Donegal in terms of Rye Straw and flax. Rye straw is predominantly used to thatch roofs to the west of the county and could be commonly seen growing in the landscape up to a few years ago. Due to issues such as the labour involved and the wetter weather cycles, we have seen a steep decline in this material being produced locally to sustain our thatched cottages in the west of the County. Similarly, the labour involved in the different processes in growing flax have seen a decline in the production of this material all over Donegal and the local suppliers that people used to go to are now dwindling. There is however one commercial supplier Kilpatrick’s of Raphoe who grows materials of rye, flax and wheat. This year the Heritage Office and Conservation Office in Donegal County Council ran a pilot thatch growing scheme to encourage small quantities of straw in the west and flax in the east to be grown and then used in thatching. These processes were videoed and will be up on the Donegal County Council webpage soon.
Collette Beattie, Conservation Officer with Donegal County Council, commends this work at a national level. “It’s great that thatch is continuing to receive this national support and this extra funding is another important source to help owners of thatched properties maintain their roofs. We continue to see a loss of thatched buildings each year.
“The advancement this year in starting to get thatcher’s trained is a massive step forward to ensure that the thatch cottage does not disappear from the Donegal landscape. We know that we have a very small number of highly skilled full-time or part-time thatchers, so apprentices and apprenticeships are needed.”
Advance consent for the replacement of historic thatched roofs is required from Donegal County Council as it constitutes a material alteration to the structure under the Donegal County Development Plan.
Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer, welcomed this funding for thatched structures in Donegal.
He added “This is not just a Donegal issue, it’s an all-Ireland problem and the thatch crisis has hit the headlines a number of times in the national press over the past year. The cost of thatching and on-going maintenance is one of the main difficulties for owners and they need this targeted funding support. There are also many other challenges that need to be tackled alongside funding and training of thatchers. We know that the demand for good-quality thatching materials outstrips current supply but there are opportunities for farmers to diversity and produce these crops on a commercial basis. We know that insurance on thatched buildings could be more competitive and affordable, but the insurance industry needs to demonstrate greater understanding of, and be better informed about the risks to, historic thatch. We know that there are local employment opportunities in conserving historic thatch, but these have not been recognised. We need all the key stakeholders such as the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, The Heritage Council, Údarás na Gaeltachta, thatchers, training agencies, academic departments, farming organisations, open-air museums and the insurance industry to continue to work together as a matter of urgency to arrest and reverse this loss.”
Application forms to the Thatched Buildings Stream 2024 are available on-line from the Donegal County Council website at: https://www.donegalcoco.ie/en/services/planning/architectural-conservation/grant-schemes
or by contacting Collette Beattie, Architectural Conservation Officer at (074) 915 3900 or by e-mail at architecturalconservation@donegalcoco.ie
