Community Monuments Fund to invest €8 million to protect archaeological monuments
- Published on: 16 April 2026
- Last updated on: 16 April 2026
104 projects nationwide set to benefit
Funding increased by almost €500,000
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD, and Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, have today (April 16th 2026) announced the award of over €8 million to 104 heritage projects under the 2026 Community Monuments Fund.
These grants help owners and custodians of archaeological monuments to safeguard them into the future and improve access.
First established in 2020, the Community Monuments Fund supports a range of initiatives to conserve, maintain, protect and promote local monuments and historic sites. This investment safeguards monuments for the benefit of communities and the public. It does so by enabling conservation works and repairs as well as building resilience through protecting monuments from the effects of extreme weather and climate change. The scheme also helps facilitate public access and improvements to the presentation of local monuments.
Minister Browne commended the network of heritage professionals whose stewardship make this scheme so successful each year, saying:
“I want to acknowledge the work of the National Monuments Service of my Department for their diligence, dedication and hard work in managing the Community Monuments Fund. I would also like to recognise the Local Authorities and their heritage professionals for their immense work in administering these awards and for their overall crucial role in heritage protection and promotion.
“The €8 million I’m announcing today under this year’s Community Monuments Fund will help 104 heritage projects across the country, supporting custodians and communities and ensuring the protection of our archaeological heritage as a community asset for our collective benefit.”
With an overall increase in grant funding available through the Community Monuments Scheme this year, Minister of State O’Sullivan commented on the impact of the scheme:
“I’m delighted to be continuing the positive funding trajectory for archaeological heritage with the increase of this year’s Community Monuments Fund to just over €8 million, a step up from €7.5m in 2025. The CMF is a hugely impactful grants scheme that supports custodians to protect and restore the towers, graveyards, churches, castles, forts and other monuments that are valued so highly by communities all over the county.
“As Minister for Heritage, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the individuals and community groups who have stepped up to care for their local monuments and volunteered their time, energy and enthusiasm to ensure their conservation. I wish all of the award recipients the best of luck in rolling out their projects and I look forward to seeing the progress for myself in the coming months and years.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors / Further Information
The full list of awards is available at this link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/community-monuments-fund-list-of-awards-2026/
Community Monuments Fund
The Community Monuments Fund was first established in July 2020, with an allocation of €1.4m for expenditure on improvements to archaeological monuments.
The main aims of the Community Monuments Fund are the conservation, maintenance, protection and promotion of local monuments and historic sites. It has a number of funding streams aimed at enabling conservation works to be carried out on monuments which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support, encouraging access to monuments and improve their presentation and also to build resilience in monuments to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.
The Community Monuments Fund invests essential capital in Ireland’s valuable archaeological heritage and helps owners and custodians of archaeological monuments to safeguard them into the future for the benefit of communities and the public.
The Community Monuments Fund is administered by the National Monuments Service of the Department through the Local Authorities.
Funding
The Community Monuments Fund has three streams:
Stream 1: grants up to €100,000 aimed at essential repairs and capital works for the conservation and repair of archaeological monuments. Exceptional projects may be awarded up to €130,000.
Stream 2: grants of up to €30,000 for development of Conservation Management Plans/Reports that are aimed at identifying measures for conservation of archaeological monuments and improving public access.
Stream 3: grants of up to €30,000 for enhancement of access infrastructure and interpretation (including virtual/online) at archaeological monuments.
Eligible projects
Eligible projects are drawn from the following categories:
- projects proposed by a Local Authority in relation to archaeological monuments in public ownership, where a clear heritage focus and community or public benefit has been demonstrated.
- projects proposed by a Local Authority on foot of applications from private applicants who are the owners or custodians of relevant archaeological monuments where there is a tangible public benefit.
- projects with a clearly defined heritage focus and community or public benefit proposed directly to the Department by a State-funded organisation working in the heritage area.