If you own a thatched cottage in Co Donegal in need of roof repair, you can apply to the Thatch Repair Grant scheme, but applications close on 31st May 2019.
Grant allocations are typically between €200 and €3,000 and a condition of the grant is for all work to be completed by the end of October 2019.
According to Donegal County Council, the county is home to one of the largest surviving concentrations of thatch structures in Ireland.
The aims of the Thatch Repair Grant Scheme are to:
(i) provide specialist advice to owners on the conservation of their thatched structures;
(ii) allocate funding for small-scale thatch repairs and associated works to vernacular buildings;and/or
(iii) facilitate homeowners to undertake thatch repairs themselves under conservation supervision.
Types of small-scale thatch repairs that might be eligible to Donegal County Council’s Thatch Repair Grants Scheme include repairs to the eaves, the ridge, flashings around the chimney, holes, furrows, fixings, ropes, wire netting, the gable and the roof timbers or carpentry.
(Image of a thatched cottage in Adare via Wikimedia Commons)
