Turning an old piggery into a potential income earner
BUILT in the 19th century, the old piggery on William Hunter’s farm in Ballylooby, Co Tipperary, is typical of many thousands of similar farm buildings laying semi-derelict around Ireland.
Situated in a stone-built courtyard, the piggery was once a productive part of the working farm but up until 2016 it had a roof that was leaking and its days were numbered.
However, a government grant for €9,500 from the Heritage Council in 2016 enabled Mr Hunter to replace the roof, add guttering and repair the walls, setting in motion a sequence of improvements that’s still ongoing.
“It was essentially an old stone building that was falling into disrepair, and while it was still standing, it couldn’t really be used for anything. It originally served as a piggery but it’s long since ceased being used for much,” says Mr Hunter’s son Eamonn. The Hunters’ farm is now mostly engaged in tillage, growing oats and barley, plus 28 acres of oak and ash woodland. The Heritage Council grant came as part of the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme.
“It had been on our to-do list for a long time but any farmer knows there’s always a backlog of things that need paying for on any farm, so it took a grant to get the renovations off the ground,” says Eamonn.
“You have to apply for works and submit costings to consolidate essential parts of the building.”
While there were some repairs done to the walls of the structure, the bulk of the money was spent on rebuilding the roof and gutters. The timber structure needed to be renewed and the slate cladding of the roof needed a lot of work. However, not only were the Hunters left with a dry, usable building suitable for storage and as a workshop, the project also started a process of repairing other structures in the courtyard.
“The whole courtyard is looking better and we’re hoping in time to develop some self-catering accommodation in one of the larger buildings in the complex, to help contribute an income to the farm,” says Eamonn.
“We don’t keep pigs any more and the way the farm earns a living has changed over time, so it’s time to look at further change.
“The main value of these buildings is in the character they give to the site. We’d like to diversify more to maximise that, and we see tourism as a strong aspect of the future development of the farm.”