Almost €23k allocated to Killeshin waterworks

KILLESHIN Waterworks Committee has secured €22,863 under the Heritage Council’s 2025 Community Heritage Grant Scheme.

The Heritage Council is distributing more than €1.9 million through the scheme this year to support 132 heritage initiatives across Ireland.

These grants will enable local communities to conserve and celebrate Ireland’s built, cultural and natural heritage. The allocation follows a national call for applications in February, which attracted hundreds of proposals from heritage groups, volunteers and community organisations across the country.

The funding awarded to Killeshin Waterworks Committee will be used to support an initiative to restore sluice gates in order to enhance biodiversity.

All funded projects can begin work immediately and are expected to be completed by the end of the year. Previous recipients in Laois have used this funding to restore architectural features, digitise local archives and carry out conservation training – strengthening both the preservation of heritage and the local economy.

In 2024, the scheme funded the Rath Ballybrittas Development Association to undertake conservation work at the Old School in Rath. The fund also supported Abbeyleix Tidy Towns in the development of a 'Tree opportunity plan' for the town that will guide future planting programmes and the management and conservation of trees in the area.