€131k for three projects in Louth under Community Monuments Fund

€131,070 in grant funding has been announced today for three archaeological heritage projects in Louth. The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Mr Malcolm Noonan, TD, today announced the award of grants under the Department’s 2022 Community Monuments Fund.

The projects in Louth receiving the funding are as follows:

• Cill Mhuire, near Templetown on the Cooley Peninsula - €11,070.00
• Glaspistol Castle, Clogherhead - €100,000.00
• Drogheda town wall €20,000.00

The main aims of the Community Monuments Fund are the conservation, maintenance, protection and promotion of local monuments and historic sites. It has a number of funding streams aimed at enabling conservation works to be carried out on monuments which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support, encouraging access to monuments and improve their presentation and also to build resilience in monuments to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change. The fund is administered by the National Monuments Service of the Department through the Local Authorities.

Commenting on the funding announcement today, Minister Noonan said that “these awards help us to deliver on various commitments under Heritage Ireland 2030, the new national heritage plan launched earlier this year. It will provide further supports for communities and custodians and the heritage sector, for archaeologists, conservation architects, stone masons, and other professional trades.

"These projects will also help build resilience against extreme weather and mitigate the impacts of climate change, a priority action embedded in our Climate Adaptation Plan," he added.