In early 2017 a group of Irish SPAB Scholars and Fellows joined together to form SPAB Ireland. SPAB Ireland is the newest branch of the SPAB, and is an active and friendly community that aims to protect and promote the wonderful national built heritage on the whole island of Ireland. SPAB Ireland has its own committee, which currently consists of 14 members. SPAB Ireland is always looking for new volunteers to get involved in activities so don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to take part.

If you join the SPAB, members in Ireland get all of the benefits of the SPAB and SPAB Ireland membership. Membership administration is handled by the SPAB in London, so please join online.

SPAB Ireland has its own Committee, which is currently made up of eight members. There can be up to twelve Committee members, and the term of appointment is three years, with the option to extend for a second term. Key posts may require availability for up to eight meetings a year outside of working hours.  If you would like to know more about being part of the committee or simply helping out with one or two events, please get in touch with us. Our current chair is Shóna McGuirk-O’Keeffe.

Guardians for SPAB Ireland 2024 are: Shóna McGuirk-O’Keeffe, Gissella Renolfi, James Powell, David McFerran, Livia Artibani, Evan Connon, Tara Murphy and Aoife Howard. Our corresponding members are Sinéad Scullion, Johanne O'Neill and Gerard Edwards. 

Stay in touch

If you would like to find out more about SPAB Ireland events and activities, or become a volunteer with SPAB Ireland, please join our mailing list to receive our monthly newsletter and be kept up to date with current opportunities. Email us at ireland@spab.org.uk if you have something you would like to be included. You can also follow SPAB Ireland on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram.

Donations

We need your help to continue our campaign to protect Ireland's built heritage and promote traditional crafts. Membership is the best way to become a regular supporter of SPAB Ireland and we also welcome donations towards our work.

Casework

We are always pleased to hear from you if you wish to inform us of a planning application / listed building consent application that you believe will negatively affect an old or historic building in Ireland. Please complete our casework submission form to alert us to cases. You can also use this form to let us know about a building at risk from neglect or development. Not only does this form alert us of the risk to the building, but allows us to quickly respond to the case and begin campaigns where deemed necessary and appropriate. 

We do ask that you please only use this form if the building you are concerned about is in Ireland. (You can find out more about how to alert us to a case in England, Scotland or Wales in our Casework Section.)

All requests submitted via this form will be considered by our Ireland Officer and our Ireland Committee. While we endeavour to respond to every one, we are primarily driven by volunteers, which can sometimes limit our capacity. If we are unable to directly respond to the case, we may forward it on to other organisations throughout Ireland. 

SPAB Ireland Podcast

In 2021, SPAB Ireland launched the first ever Podcast series, 'Heart to Hearth: Chats about Irish vernacular buildings', a project supported by the Heritage Council. Season 1 - 3 is available to listen back now, with season 4 now in production.