Minister Calleary announces the purchase of ‘Stuarts Shop’, Killeshandra, County Cavan funded by the Building or Land Acquisition Measure under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme
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From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 29 January 2026
- Last updated on: 29 January 2026
- Minister officially confirms funding to allow the purchase of ‘Stuarts Shop’ by Cavan County Council
- Funding of €240,000 provided under the Building or Land Acquisition Measure of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme to purchase this former retail property to facilitate it’s redevelopment as a multi-use community space
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, today (Thursday, 29 January 2026) announced the purchase of the former Stuarts Shop, Killeshandra by Cavan County Council which was funded through the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
Funding of €240,000 was provided to Cavan County Council under the 2025 Building or Land Acquisition Measure to cover the full cost of purchasing Stewarts Shop.
This property, Stuarts Shop, an 18th Century building, is situated in a prominent position on Main Street in Killeshandra and has played an important role in the traditional retail life of the town up to its closure in 2005. It is intended that the property will be repurposed as a multi-use community space incorporating a cultural centre that will support the return of Irish language and dance classes. The grounds to the rear of the property will be used to extend the existing community garden and the produce will be sold in the farmers’ market. The outbuildings will be repurposed for use by the local men’s and hen’s shed and tidy towns group.
Cavan County Council’s will first maintain the integrity of the building, restoring its traditional appearance and the overall streetscape.
The investment from the TVRS in the town is consistent with the Our Rural Future and Town Centre First objectives of attracting more people to live, work, invest in and enjoy rural towns.
Speaking of the announcement, Minister Calleary said:
“It gives me great pleasure to announce the purchase of ‘Stuarts Shop’ by Cavan County Council under the 2025 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. Since the closure of Stuarts Shop as a retail outlet in 2005 it continued to serve the local community by hosting art exhibitions, Irish language classes, providing space for the local Men’s Shed and many other activities until its closure during the Covid pandemic. The purchase of this building now means it can be redeveloped with a transformative effect on the town.”
The Minister added:
“This project received funding under the 2025 Building or Land Acquisition Measure. It is one of 33 projects across the country that were awarded over €6.7 million in funding under this measure. This funding is supporting the purchase of vacant or derelict buildings, or land in towns and villages which will be used in the future to provide multi-purpose community spaces in line with the aims of the Town and Village Renewal scheme.”
Notes
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) is part of a range of measures to support the revitalisation of rural Ireland. The programme is funded under Project Ireland 2040 as part of Our Rural Future, Ireland's Rural Development policy. Since the introduction of the Scheme in 2016, over €210 million has been approved for over 1,900 projects across the country.
The 2025 scheme includes three funding streams, the Building or Land Acquisition Measure (BLAM), the Main Scheme and the Project Development Measure (PDM).
The BLAM closed for applications on 2 May 2025, and local authorities have been informed of successful applications. For reasons of commercial sensitivity, details of individual projects receiving support will released only after the purchase of properties or lands in question have been completed.
Under the 2025 Building or Land Acquisition Measure of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, Cavan County Council was approved for funding of €240,000 for the purchase of Stuarts Shop, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan.
The 2025 Main Scheme and PDM closed for applications at the end of July and the outcome of the competitive assessment process was announced on 22 December.
Minister Calleary announced €26 million in funding for over 100 projects nationwide. (press release here) The scheme will support 77 projects who have been successful under the TVRS ‘Main Scheme’ receiving funding of €24.4 million. In addition, €1.85 million is being provided for 39 under the TVRS ‘Project Development Measure’. This measure supports local authorities to develop a pipeline of projects and provides funding towards the costs to bring projects to a point where they are shovel ready.
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme is administered on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development by the local authorities. For more information, go to: Town and Village Renewal Scheme.