The Heritage Council is calling for a climate risk register for heritage, saying extreme weather events have already demonstrated vulnerability.
The council's Chief Executive, Virginia Teehan, said the country's "wonderful historic landscapes are really threatened".
"The storms knocked many trees in north Leinster, many of the grand estates and demesnes, I know hundreds of trees were knocked, and these are all part of the history of that place," she said.
"Equally, buildings which are built on flood plains, for example, in 2009 the massive flooding that devastated Cork city, it also impacted a leading cultural institution, the Glucksman gallery."
The Taoiseach attended the council’s Heritage Horizons conference at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham and promised continued Government support.
"Ireland’s heritage is central to our identity and sense of place - it connects our communities, strengthens our society and shapes how we see ourselves in the world," Micheál Martin said.
"But it also faces significant challenges, including the impact of climate change on our natural and built environment.
"The Government is committed to addressing these through sustained investment and targeted policy development, ensuring heritage continues to contribute to our economic, social and environmental well-being," he said.
Heritage funding did increase by 174% in the years from 2019 to 2024 and the number of staff in the Heritage Council doubled.
There has also been an increase in heritage-related staff in local authorities and the council is calling for this to continue.
The Heritage Council is arguing there is a credible economic argument for supporting the sector, saying it contributed €4.6 billion every year to the economy and supported 62,000 jobs in 2022.
It is also calling for a review of the 1995 Heritage Act "to reflect Ireland’s evolving heritage landscape, particularly the need to better protect intangible cultural heritage, biodiversity, and digital heritage".
Climate already a 'live issue'
Musician Iarla Ó Lionáird, who was keynote speaker at the KIlmainham event, said climate is already a live issue.
"The fallacy is that we, we go around thinking that these changes are coming downstream, that they're not here now, that they won't affect us. They do affect people in rural Ireland in very profound ways, flooding, difficulties with harvesting, with agriculture, very, very serious difficulties with water quality," he said.
"These are puzzling to me, profound difficulties that we tend to make light of. But they're very serious, very serious for public health, very serious for long term well being of our own health, our own well-being, and other creatures we share the space with," he said.
Another speaker, ecologist and writer Anja Murray, said one of the tragedies of losing parts of natural heritage is that subsequent generations do not even know what it is missing - a phenomenon known as the shifting baseline syndrome.
"For example, we know now that there has been a 70% decline in many of our commonest butterfly species.
"The teenagers of today won't realise the difference, the dearth of butterflies that there would be compared to, say, 20 years ago, and each new generation comes at this without the perspective of what we've actually lost," said Ms Murray
Ms Teehan believes that heritage is essential for climate resilience.
"Heritage is not only at risk from climate change - it is also part of the solution," she said.
"While rising temperatures, extreme weather, coastal erosion and increased rainfall already pose significant threats to elements of our national heritage - from coastal sites and wetland habitats to traditional building stock - heritage also offers powerful tools for resilience.
"Traditional skills, nature-based solutions and cultural knowledge can help strengthen climate adaptation and support Ireland’s transition to a more sustainable future," she added.
Community theme central to discussions
That community theme was central for one speaker on the Identity panel discussion at Kilmainham.
Musician Breandán Ó Beaglaoich from the Chorca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht says planning policy which prevents young people building a home in their own area threatens Gaeltacht communities.
"I didn't really hear anything about the Irish language being strangled at source," he said.
"It has flowed down through the generations. There's an interest and a love for it by the young people, and they're being caused to suffer by these laws, and it's killing the language at source."
He agrees climate must be a priority, but says Gaeilge and Gaeltacht communities must be protected.
Mr Ó Lionáird, who is from Gaeltacht Mhúscraí in west Cork, agrees that language, heritage and environment are intertwined.
"Everything we do that embraces heritage has to do with the living space that we occupy, and you can't divorce it from issues to do with how we treat the planet, how we treat our environment, whether it be local, or national, or global.
"We have tremendous challenges here in Ireland with regard to the stewardship of the lived environment, industrial policy, agriculture and in fact, all of the human activities that we associate with modern living have a direct impact on the environment," said Mr Ó Lionáird.
