Local heritage projects benefit from Monuments Fund

Two local archaeological heritage projects are to benefit from funding announced under the 2022 Community Monuments Fund.

Rathcooney Church in Glanmire was awarded funding to the tune of €85,000 under Stream 1 of the funding, which is aimed at essential repairs and capital works for the conservation and repair of archaeological monuments. Rathcooney Church will receive the maximum available grant under that particular funding stream.

St Carthage’s Cathedral in Lismore was also awarded funding, receiving €30,000 under Stream 3 of the funding which allocated grants (up to €30,000) for the enhancement of access infrastructure and interpretation, including virtual and online, at archaeological monuments.

The core objective of the Community Monuments Fund is to support the conservation, maintenance, protection and promotion of local monuments and historic sites.

It contains a number of different measures aimed at enabling conservation works to be carried out on archaeological monuments which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support, encouraging access to such monuments and improving their presentation, while also helping to build resilience in archaeological monuments to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.

The grant funding was announced on Tuesday by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Michael Noonan, in which 128 projects across the country were announced as recipients, with an overall investment of €6 million.