Five Sligo projects benefit from Community Monuments Fund
Enniscrone Castle will receive over €100,000 to pay for conservation works.
Five projects in Co Sligo are to share grant aid of €370,934 as part of this year’s Community Monuments Fund.
The five projects are:
Aghanagh Church, Ballinafad - €100,000 for phased conservation works; Moygara Castle - €100,000 for emergency stabilisation works to the southwest tower; Enniscrone Castle - €118,671 for Phase 2 conservation works to complete essential structural repairs; Court Abbey, Lavagh - €30,000 for the preparation of a conservation management plan for the site; Killaspugbrone Church and Graveyard - €22,263 for the preparation of a conservation management plan for the site.
Welcoming the funding announcement, Cllr Declan Bree, Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, said: "The Community Monuments Fund supports a range of initiatives to conserve, maintain, protect and promote local monuments and historic sites. This investment safeguards monuments for the benefit of communities and the public. It does so by enabling conservation works and repairs as well as building resilience through protecting monuments from the effects of extreme weather and climate change. The scheme also encourages public access and improvements to the presentation of local monuments.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD said:
"I am delighted to announce these awards under the 2025 Community Monuments Fund. The importance of our archaeological heritage cannot be overstated and this fund has a very real and profound impact on the custodians and communities in our cities, villages, towns and countryside.
“I sincerely thank the owners of archaeological monuments for their dedication to the preservation of our wonderful heritage. This investment will ensure that our built heritage can continue to be enjoyed by local and visiting communities, as well as acting to create work and preserve important traditional skills in towns and villages right across Ireland”
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, added:
“Since this fund was first introduced in 2020, it has invested €25.5 million in communities nationwide. It is now a bedrock of our support for archaeological heritage across the country, helping conserve buildings as varied as churches, round towers, castles, forts, barracks and abbeys.
"This scheme helps to build robustness in our heritage against the extremes of weather, addressing key actions in our Climate Adaptation Plan as well as under Heritage Ireland 2030. These awards also deliver jobs for the heritage sector and traditional skills craftspeople, providing thousands of hours of employment every year.”
