Open Call: Heritage Stewardship Funding Scheme 2025 (Ireland)

This fund is intended to support staff in such organisations who have not always had access to Heritage Council or indeed wider funding.

Objectives

• The objective of the Heritage Stewardship Fund is to support and build the capacity of staff who play a key role in the heritage infrastructure of Ireland and are vital to the delivery of national policy and plans. Such staff may be operating in organisations whose core remit may not be fully focused on heritage, but which may have an impact on heritage, or which may possess significant collections of portable objects, archives or buildings and habitats.

Funding Information

• The minimum amount available is €5,000 up to a maximum of €30,000.
• They envisage the average offers to be in the €20,000 – €30,000 range and that about 20 projects will be supported by this scheme.

Eligible Costs

• Eligible costs include:
  • Third party supplier costs e.g., professional fees to undertake a heritage audit, plan, or training, contractor costs for conservation of a building, object, habitat or site.
  • Purchase of specialised equipment e.g., museum grade cases, monitoring equipment for humidity, temperature or light, interpretation, digital, or multimedia equipment, archival boxing for vulnerable documents etc
  • Travel and subsistence costs for volunteers.

Ineligible Costs

• Overheads
• Administration fees
• Salaries of existing employees
• International travel

Eligible Projects

• Projects that support the management and conservation of heritage objects to accepted professional standards.
• Projects that facilitate increased access to heritage with a special focus on inclusion and diversity.
• Projects that relate to climate change preparation for resilience through conservation planning.
• Projects that support partnership and networking events that address common challenges and needs.
• Projects that provide community training, traditional buildings skills, advice, and support to increase access to and awareness of heritage.
• Projects that support decision making and policy development for the management of heritage assets.
• Data collection and research relating to Ireland’s heritage that can be used for formulating future policy and advice particularly urban initiatives.
• Projects that use digital technology to document, record, display, interpret and preserve both tangible and intangible heritage.

Ineligible Projects

• Public sector responsibilities
• Academic Studies
• Archaeology
• Primary school projects
• DNA Analysis
• Installations
• Signs and Information Boards
• Amenity Landscaping Works
• Retrospective projects

Eligibility Criteria

• This scheme is open to employees who play a key role in the heritage infrastructure in public sector bodies of the state, such as:
  • local authorities
  • state agencies
  • educational institutions

Application Requirements

• Applicants are expected to upload supporting information with their application as follows:
  • Quotations, estimates or other evidence to support your costs, this can be a copy of the previous year’s costs.
  • Clear and current photographs of the building, place, or object/collection.
  • Relevant approvals, permissions, licences, or consents if required.
  • For conferences/events: programme outline, proposed speakers, venue/date etc.
  • For commissioned reports/surveys/audits: a copy of draft brief
  • Publications: a draft text, proposed illustrations, layout, graphic design.
  • For building/object/habitat conservation: a specification of works, clear & current photographs, and a map (for works to a building/habitat)
  • For digital resources: a user journey, sample of graphics and other visual content, draft text, technical specifications, metadata standards to be used, copyright, clarity on the treatment of personal data including imagery.
  • Where digitization of archives is taking place an outline of how the original material will be treated during the digitization and the plans for its care post digitization.
  • Letters of support from your local Heritage Officer and any other key stakeholders.

For more information, visit The Heritage Council.