Paul Murphy
The importance of preserving Meath’s built heritage was stressed at an information evening hosted by Meath County Council to provide advice and guidance on legislation, maintenance grants and conservation work. The event held at Buvinda House was opened by council Cathaoirleach Cllr Wayne Harding and was attended by senior officials of Meath County Council including Gareth McMahon, Director of Services for Planning and Strategic Projects with responsibility for heritage and conservation, Robert Miles, Conservation Officer, Wendy Bagnall, Senior Executive Planner, Loreto Guinan, Heritage Officer and staff officers Megan O’Connor and Mary Duff. Cllr Sarah Reilly also attended. The attendance included building owners, and heritage and community groups. The event was held as part of the preparation for the 2026 grant season.
Cllr Harding said that Meath was known the world over for having many outstanding heritage sites, with some of these benefiting from heritage grants from the Department of Local Government, Heritage and Housing for many years. These grants helped in the repair and upkeep of protected structures and architectural conservation areas. He said he was from the special conservation area, The Square in Slane and the people there were very proud of that fact and described it as the “jewel in the crown” of the Boyne Valley.
Ms O’Connor of the council heritage section took the groups through the grant application process. Mr Miles said that the amount of grant funding was increasing years by year. Applications will be processed initially by the county council and forwarded to the Department. The data put into the applications will also be used as part of a national record of who lived in certain buildings and what they were used for. He said it was important to stress that groups or individuals undertaking repair and conservation work should employ conservation specialists or crafts people before undertaking any work.
The meeting also heard from previous recipients of heritage grants including Larchfield Gardens near Kilcock (Michael de les Casas), Headfort School (Ger Gaughan) and the owner of the old schoolhouse in Kildalkey Derek Fortune.
