The weather was a little on the miserable side when Irish Country Living arrived at Pat and Mary O’Shea’s farm near Bunclody, Co Wexford, but that didn’t detract from the beauty of their newly renovated farmyard. The O’Sheas had a problem that is common on many farmyards around the country: old, rundown buildings that are not very pleasing on the eye. However, while many choose to knock down these eyesores, or just completely ignore them, the O’Sheas decided to preserve them.

“They’re too nice to knock down,” smiles Mary.

Back in 2012, the O’Sheas began their journey in the hope of preserving the heritage on their farm.

“We saw an ad in the Farmers Journal for the traditional farm buildings grant under the REPS 4 scheme,” says Mary. They consulted their REPS planner, who urged them to go for it.

The O’Sheas found a local conservation engineer, Ivor McElveen, who helped them with their application. The application has to give a justification for the works planned, and also has to outline exactly what will be done to the buildings. Ultimately, it is about conserving everything that is there, even the slates on the roof.

“Minimum intervention and maximum retention,” says Ivor.

The buildings also have to be used for agricultural purposes both in the past and present. They cannot include dwelling houses. While the application form was due in January, all works had to be completed by November and signed off by the conservation engineer.

Once approved, the O’Sheas started with a bat survey, hiring a specialist to come out to the farm.

“If they find bats in your buildings, it just means that you cannot work during certain months,” says Ivor.

With no bats around, the O’Sheas were free to start work straight away. They began by removing vegetation and stripping the slates from the roof.

“There was a sycamore tree growing up through one of the houses, which dated back to the 1800s,”recalls Pat. “We had to find the source of the ivy and cut it there to let it die back. One of the sources was in the join between two buildings. Then we had to pull it all off.”

Ivor explains that ivy can be an issue: “While lime was used on the outer and inner walls, it was expensive. In order to save, farmers used a clay mortar to sandwich the outer and inner rows of stone together. This works well when dry, but when the roof deteriorates it creates a vertical garden.”

They got an expert in to do the pocket masonry repairs and pointing with traditional lime mortar. The traditional materials, such as lime, must be used. They are breathable and are easy to keep topping up once you know how. The summer job for the younger members of the family – Páidí (12) and Eamonn (10) – is to limewash the buildings again.

Where original slates could not be saved, they sourced reclaimed slates from other buildings and hired a roofer to put them in place. Some of the old timbers had to be replaced and there was an old Massey Ferguson window in the side of one of the buildings which they decided to keep as it tells a story.

At the end of the project, the O’Sheas submitted their final report, which Ivor signed off on to certify that, where possible, all original materials were used. They received a grant of €10,537.50, which was 75% of their overall costs – the maximum amount you can claim.

“While it was more dreaded paperwork to deal with, it was worth it,” says Mary.

“The place looks much better and the buildings will still be there for the next generation.”

Pat still uses them for lambing and as an isolation pen for sick animals.

“While it was labour-intensive,” says Pat, “I would still recommend it to anyone considering it. It’s nice to know that we’ve got a little history in our back yard.”

The traditional farm buildings grant scheme under REPS4 will continue into 2015. But with 17,000 farmers coming to the end of their REPS contracts at the end of 2014 and only 850 left in REPS, there is little scope for others to take on a similar project. However, the new GLAS scheme will include a traditional farm buildings measure.

Support will be available for an amount not exceeding 75% of total costs, up to a maximum grant of €25,000. For further information, visit www.heritagecouncil.ie or talk to your REPS adviser.