The Community Monuments Fund provides funding for the care, conservation, maintenance, protection and promotion of archaeological monuments.
Stream 1: Grants up to €100,000 for essential repairs and capital works for the conservation of archaeological monuments.
Steam 2: Grants of up to €30,000 for the development of Conservation Management Plans/Reports and detailed Specification of Works aimed at identifying measures for conservation of archaeological monuments and improving public access.
Stream 3: Grants of up to €30,000 for the enhancement of access infrastructure, interpretation projects (including virtual/online), and small scale emergency conservation works at archaeological monuments.
The Community Monuments Fund was first established in 2020 to provide investment in Ireland’s archaeological heritage.
Funding is prioritised for local authorities, private owners and custodians and community groups for the care, conservation, maintenance, protection and promotion of archaeological monuments.
Main aims:
- Conservation
- Maintenance
- Protection and promotion of local monuments and historical sites.
Funding streams aimed at enabling conservation works on monuments deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support, encouraging access to monuments and improve their presentation and also to build resilience to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.
Essential capital invested in our valuable archaeological heritage and helps owners and custodians of archaeological monuments to safeguard them into the future for the benefit of communities and the public.
The Community Monuments Fund provides funding for projects in relation to:
- Archaeological Monuments that are included in the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) under the National Monuments Act 1930 (as amended);
- Archaeological Monuments that are identified in the Sites and Monuments Record compiled by the National Monuments Service. Eligible projects will be drawn from the following categories:
a) projects proposed by a Local Authority in relation to archaeological monuments in public ownership, where a clear heritage focus and community or public benefit has been demonstrated;
b)projects proposed by a Local Authority on foot of applications from private applicants who are the owners or custodians of relevant archaeological monuments where there is a tangible public benefit;
c) projects with a clearly defined heritage focus and community or public benefit proposed directly to the Department by a State-funded organisation working in the heritage area.
- Applicants shall confirm the source of any necessary additional project funding
- Projects shall be completed and paid for before recoupment is sought from the Department
- Projects shall be carried out in compliance with the Revenue Commissioners’ tax clearance requirements and relevant approval procedures under the National Monuments Acts
- Projects shall be carried out in compliance with all relevant statutory provisions (e.g. National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 Planning and Development Acts and nature conservation legislation) and have the permission of the owner to carry out the works
- Projects shall comply with best conservation methodology and practice
Eligible applications for Streams 1 to 3 will be assessed for selection under the following four criteria:
- Significance of the archaeological monument
- Efficacy of the grant in achieving the aims of the Fund, including how the project would build resilience in the archaeological monument to enable it to withstand the effects of climate change
- Quality of the methodology and technical merit of the proposed project
- Broader public or community benefit of the project.
Applications which fail to achieve a qualifying mark under any one of the above assessment criteria will fail the assessment overall and will not be considered for funding.
It is expected that all proposals should be able to illustrate some tangible public value benefit. This may include access, physical and virtual, or provision of information to the public in some form.
Applications should be submitted to your Local Authority or relevant state department.
For some general information, see the Community Monument Funds Handbook 2024.
For more up to date information, check your Local Authority website.
All information is accurate at the time of writing; however, we recommend visiting the individual websites of the funding organisations for the most current and up-to-date information on their specified schemes.