A farm building in Drumkeerin, Co. Leitrim, dating back to the 1890s, has been repaired to great effect under the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme.
The two-storey building comprises a traditional cow byre underneath and a storage loft overhead. The loft has a fireplace, which suggests it may have been designed for use as a granary.
The construction material is local sandstone with lime mortar. The sandstone, with its flat layers, almost gives the building a cut-stone appearance.
Storms through the years took their toll on the 1890s building. Water ingress around the chimney and loft door areas damaged timbers.
The loft floor was unsafe in places and consequently, it was becoming increasingly unusable.
Slates from the exposed gable area were displaced and a lot of the original lime mortar was missing. Sections of the cast-iron guttering and downpipes were missing or broken.
Overall, the building was relatively intact but in need of intervention to prevent further deterioration.
1890s farm building
The owner, Bríd Fallon, was anxious to repair the 1890s building in the traditional manner, in keeping with the wishes of her late husband, Dermott, who had it on his ‘to-do list’.
In recent years, the loft had become cluttered and the byre was used for storage more than for housing cattle. The restored building will provide much-needed additional space at calving time and the loft will house farm tools, veterinary supplies and general equipment.
The Heritage Council administers the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant for the conservation and repair of traditional farm buildings in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine.
An online application was submitted on February 21, 2022. Only farmers approved in the GLAS scheme are eligible to apply. Notification of shortlisting was received in late March.
In May, a conservation specification, outlining essential repairs, was drawn up and submitted by Thomas Flynn, an architect and conservation consultant. Final confirmation that the application was successful was received on May 30.
A requisite of the scheme is that a bat/bird survey be undertaken and that was carried out by Caroline Shiel. Presence of bats was undetected but it was noted that swallows were nesting in the downstairs byre.
Work could not start until their nesting season was over in September and vents had to be left open to ensure that the swallows had easy access.
Before work could commence, Liam Mulligan, an architect and expert in historic and traditional buildings, visited on behalf of the Heritage Council.
“He made some valuable suggestions regarding repairs which would retain the integrity of the building,” Brid said.
Repairs
Charles McLoughlin, a local building contractor, enthusiastically took on the task of carrying out the essential repairs.
“The Heritage Council places huge emphasis on minimal intervention and on the reuse rather than replacement of existing materials,” Brid said.
“Charles was diligent in his approach to this. Slates were carefully removed and reused and lime parging which was traditionally used under slates was applied to the repaired area.”
Only unsound and rotten segments of timbers were removed and replaced. Lime mortar was used in all the repairs and Charles used sand sourced locally from Corry Strand on the shore of Lough Allen.
A traditional style sash window, which had been stored in the loft, was modified by Charles and used to replace a temporary, single-pane, window on the gable.
“Repointing of the walls and steps to the loft was carried out meticulously by Charles and his brother-in-law Francis McGovern. Lime mortar which is more breathable was used throughout. Cast iron gutters and downpipes were sourced to replace damaged or missing segments,” Brid said.
A requirement of the scheme is that the work is monitored by a conservation accredited architect.
“Thomas Flynn, of TGF Architecture, inspected the work at intervals and was always on hand with valuable advice and support and made sure conservation guidelines were adhered to,” the Leitrim woman added.
“He ensured that intervention was kept to the minimum. Thomas also submitted an interim report on the agreed repairs to the Heritage Council at midway stage and he submitted a final report on completion,” she said.
“Without the 75% grant and the invaluable support of Anna Meehan, project manager and Amanda Ryan, grants officer with the Heritage Council, cheaper and less traditional repairs might have been carried out and consequently this vernacular building would have lost some of its integrity.
“The building now stands as a testament to the amazing skills and design ability of our ancestors who used locally sourced materials and achieved such a high standard of finish without machinery or technology,” Brid said.
“By availing of the grant, we are preserving this heritage for future generations. The project also gave our local builder the opportunity to upskill in traditional building methods and in particular on the use of lime mortar.
“We are all proud to see this lovely building restored to such a fine finish by a local tradesman,” said Brid.