Ireland is among one of five winners for the 2024 European Heritage Awards or Europa Nostra Awards for the Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme.

This year’s European Heritage Awards Ceremony was celebrated at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Romania.

The ceremony assembled some 800 heritage professionals, volunteers, enthusiasts and supporters from across Europe.

During the Awards Ceremony, the five laureates of the Grand Prix and the winner of the Public Choice Award for 2024 was announced.

The Grand Prix winners were selected from among this year’s 26 winners from 18 European countries by the Board of Europa Nostra, based on the recommendation of an independent jury of experts.

Heritage awards

The Traditional Farm Buildings Scheme was among one of the five laureates, receiving an award in the category for education, training and skills.

The main objective of the nationwide scheme is to help farmers recognise the cultural value of traditional farm buildings.

Established by The Heritage Council, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM), the scheme is co-funded by the government and the European Union under Ireland’s Rural Development Programme.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue accepted an award on behalf of the scheme last month from the Europa Nostra Award 2024.

This was in recognition of its “outstanding contribution” to the preservation and enhancement of Ireland’s “agricultural vernacular heritage”.

Participants are supported in acquiring skills to enable them to carry out repairs to return the buildings to functional use. Over 1,000 buildings have been repaired since the creation of the scheme in 2008.

The other four winners Grand Prix winners included:

  • Citizens’ Engagement and Awareness-raising based in Georgia;
  • Saxon Church in Alma Vii based in Romania;
  • Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities based in Croatia;
  • Ignacy Historic Mine, Rybnik based in Poland.

The rehabilitation of the Saxon Church in Alma Vii in Romania is the big winner of 2024: it received a Grand Prix and the Public Choice Award 2024.

The initiative raised the largest number of votes, cast via an online poll with the participation of some 10,000 citizens from all over Europe.