Pre-Famine Mayo barn gets new lease of life
A FARMYARD barn in east Mayo, which dates to before the Famine, has been given a new lease of life.
At almost 200 years old, the stone barn, in Listrisnane, Bohola, was beginning to crumble as the years started to take their toll.
However, owner Gary McNicholas felt he couldn't watch it disintegrate and embarked on what turned out to be a very interesting conservation project.
The restoration was undertaken with the help of the GLAS Traditional Farm Buildings Grant scheme, which is managed jointly by the Heritage Council and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Gary's parents Noel and Sheila were also a considerable help in bringing it to completion.
Gary explained: “I applied for the scheme after reading about it in the Irish Farmers Journal. The barn in question was in a rundown condition and I felt it would not be too long before parts of it would start to collapse.
“I didn’t wish to see this old barn cave in.”
Initially it was felt the barn was around 100 years old.
Under the terms of the scheme, Gary engaged the services of a conservationist who discovered that the building actually dates back to before the 1840s - 'a nice surprise'.
Inside, you can see where it was sectioned out for animals, with stalls, milking parlour drainage, and also storage over the years.
The stone walls of the building were in poor condition, with some severe damage to parts of the masonry, and also some of the roof was damaged.
However, after conservationist Aine Doyle drew up a plan, summer 2022 saw specialist contractors move on-site to give it new life.
They carefully removed the roof, repaired and replaced the stonework, and after the stone walls were pointed, the roof was refitted. Where stones had to be replaced they were sourced on the adjoining lands to be a perfect match, and after being cleaned they were then popped into place by the stonemason.
As a final touch, new doors were also fitted to the front of the building and the field around it was reseeded, to complete the lovely new vista.
It isn't planned to use the barn to house livestock into the future, but it will instead probably be used for storage, such as timber or hay.
The birds, however, are accommodated for with an unobstructed window and an over door space to allow for free flight.
The works themselves saw one 'temporary resident' on-site - a bat survey involved an overnight stay to record any nocturnal happenings.
Gary has saved a building that ultimately was going to fall down in a mass of stone. Instead, it will now stand proudly for another 100 years or more.
He would encourage anyone with similar buildings to explore potential restoration and help keep a heritage legacy alive for future generations.
He thanked all who assisted along the way, the Department of Agriculture, GLAS, Heritage Council of Ireland, Áine Doyle, conservationist, Wild on Foot ecological services, James Murphy, stonemasonry, S.T. Carpentry, and his parents Noel and Sheila.