Rockvale

40 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Rockvale, from 167 m² to 199,141 m² (19.91 ha, 49.21 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary. 26 neighbouring parcels touch it.

Download the townland as DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings, or as GeoJSON or KML.

• P1Agriculture
  Boston Settlement Plan, Clare · 1 parcels The zoning objective in the plan
• O2Village Growth Area (General)
  Boston Settlement Plan, Clare · 1 parcels The zoning objective in the plan
• R2Existing Residential (Existing residential)
  Boston Settlement Plan, Clare · 1 parcels The zoning objective in the plan

Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.

• 30 Apr 2026N/a

  for the construction of a loose equine housing shed with effluent storage tank, rainwater harvesting tanks, wash down bays and roofed manure pit with all ancillary site works and services and RETENTION of existing aggregate hardstand area

  Permission · Clare County Council, 2660282

• 23 Mar 2026N/a

  for the Construction of a loose equine housing shed with effluent storage tank, rainwater harvesting tanks, wash down bays and roofed manure pit with all ancillary site works and services

  Permission · Clare County Council, 2660187

• 2 Dec 2024Conditional

  to construct a dwelling house with a wastewater treatment plant, percolation area, removal of the partially demolished foundations and remaining debris of demolished house, which was previously granted under Planning Reference No 98/1044, reuse of previous site entrance location of Planning Reference No 98/1044 and all associated site works. The application includes a Natura Impact Statement Report. Gross floor space of proposed works: Dwelling House = 153.75m².

  Permission · Clare County Council, 2460607

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

• Special Area of Conservation: East Burren Complex SAC 001926
• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: East Burren Complex 001926

Recorded monuments

• CL011-007002 Bawn
  Description

  At the N end of a NNE-SSW oriented rocky ridge (L c. 40m), overlooking a generally flat low-lying semi-karstic area and Lough Bunny c. 320m to the S. A modern E-W road is immediately to the N. Indicated as an E-W polygon enclosing ‘Cloondooan Castle (in ruins)’ on the 1842 ed. of the OS 6-inch map, and hachured as a N-S subrectangular area on the 1897 OS 25-inch plan and the 1920 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. This mostly tree-covered and overgrown bawn is not clearly defined. Cloondooan tower house (CL011-007003-) appears to lie at the N edge of the bawn, although Ua Cróinín and Breen (1997) described having seen earthworks immediately to the N, suggesting to them that the modern E-W road cuts through the bawn. The remains of a circular stone tower (diam. c. 4m; H 1.5m) to the SE of the tower house and named ‘Tower’ on the OS maps may demarcate the S extent of the bawn. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 18 January 2023

• CL011-007003 Castle - tower house
  Description

  Situated on the N perimeter of a bawn (CL011-007002-) at the N end of a NNE-SSW oriented rocky ridge (L c. 40m) overlooking a generally flat low-lying semi-karstic area and Lough Bunny c. 320m to the S. Named ‘Cloondooan Castle (in ruins)’ on the 1842 and 1920 eds. of the OS 6-inch map. Situated on the Corofin-Gort road (Bealach-an-Fiadhfhail / Bealach Fiodhfail in medieval records) (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997; Healy 1998, 65). A stronghold of the O’Brien family, in 1569 Cloondooan (Cluain Dubhain) castle was laid siege to and captured by British Lord Justice Sir Henry Sidney (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997). In 1580 Mahon O’Brien of Cloondooan led an insurrection against the British, for which he was pardoned. However, he died in 1586, during a siege of the castle led by Sir Richard Bingham, who then demolished the castle (ibid.). The castle lands then changed hands several times, until being seized by Turlough O’Brien in 1599. There is a local story of an Irish flag was being flown from the castle in 1917, until being removed by the RIC (ibid.). The castle ruins were damaged by storms in 1990. Only the N wall and adjoining sections of the E and W walls of this four-storey tower house survive, with a mezzanine over the second floor. The structure is built of limestone blocks set in mortared erratic courses (ibid.) with fine quoins (robbed at the base of the NE corner). The walls have a base batter. The N wall (H 21m; L 8.1m) survives to its full height including the gable and part of the surrounding parapet (ibid.), and is oriented ESE-WNW. The adjoining sections (L c. 4m) of the E and W walls also partly survive, broken along the lines of their loops (ibid.). The walls are progressively narrower by c. 0.3m on each floor. The entrance cannot be recognised, so it must have been in the S wall or an adjacent section of either the E or W wall. The ground floor had narrow loops (ext. Wth 0.05m) and double-splay embrasures in each surviving wall (ibid.), those at E and W with round arches and wicker centring and that at N with a flat arch and plank centring. The top of the N wall window (embrasure Wth 2.05m; H 1.4m) is destroyed but this appears to have been a plain rectangular light. The ingoings are not symmetrical, with the window being located toward the E edge of the embrasure. There is a N-S vault over the ground floor with wicker centring. The first floor has a flat arch with plank centring in the N wall, incorporating a slightly recessed ogee-headed light (ibid.). Embrasures in the E and W walls have been filled in. There is a slit in the N wall to support the floor above. Two ceiling corbels are missing in the E and the W walls. There is an aumbry in the E wall. On the second floor there is a flat arch embrasure in the N wall, with an ogee-headed light. As on the floor below, embrasures in the E and W walls are partly filled in. The W embrasure has an ogee-headed window. On the second-floor mezzanine a rectangular doorway in the N wall is supported on a corbel table of four stones (one missing). This doorway leads to a probable garderobe in the NE corner, with a rectangular light in its N wall. The doorway is set into the scar of a N-S oriented vault, in which are the remains of an arched doorway leading to a chamber or oubliette with its own window within the E wall. This may have been a lock-up chamber, only reachable by a ladder from the 2nd floor (ibid.). The third floor (solar) rests on the second-floor mezzanine vault. A corbel table in the walls at ceiling level carries the wall-walk in over the ceiling all around. There is a round-arched splayed embrasure in the N wall, which has a fine double ogee-headed window with intact mullion and hollow spandrels. There are also aumbrys in the N and W walls (ibid.). The edges of wall embrasures survive in the E and W walls. A gable rises over the inner edge of the N wall, allowing room for the wall-walk outside. The string course of the parapet is visible, with numerous drain-holes above it (ibid.). The ground in the tower house interior is covered by a pile of rubble which spills off the rock outcrop ridge to E and W. The following items have been uploaded: CL011-007003-_01.pdf Details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. CL011-007003-_01.jpg View of exterior of tower house from NE CL011-007003-_02.jpg View of interior from SW CL011-007003-_03.jpg View of upper floor from NE Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 18 January 2023 Healy, J. 1998 Castles or tower houses. In Brew, F., The Parish of Kilkeedy: a local history, 65-69. Privately published. Tubber.

• CL011-008 Children's burial ground
  Description

  Near the top of a gentle NW-facing slope in pasture. Hachured and named ‘Grave Yd. for Children' on the 1842 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. Marked with a cross and named ‘Children’s Burial Ground (Site of)’ on the 1897 OS 25-inch plan. Listed as ‘Burial ground’ in the RMP (1996). This barely traceable subcircular/subrectangular area (c. 42m N-S; 37m E-W) is defined by a slight external scarp (H 0.1-0.4m), except at the S where there is a scarp (H 0.3m) down into the enclosure. A NW-SE oriented field wall and hedge with mature bushes and trees runs through the middle of the interior. There are no visible grave markers. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 18 January 2023

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Rockvale.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

Radon

At the centre of the townland of Rockvale, about 1 in 5 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

The 1:50,000 map rates the landslide susceptibility here as moderately low, low, partly inferred. Parts of the land are water.

Terrain model

LiDAR of the Office of Public Works, flown in 2011, at 2 m: tile OPW_633 (ZIP).

Flooding

The Office of Public Works publishes its flood maps on floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, and Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland, both under CC BY 4.0. LiDAR: contains Irish Public Sector Data (Geological Survey Ireland & the Office of Public Works) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.

No address of the register names Rockvale with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Clare.

Name

Rockvale · Cluain Duáin

Area

1,840,470 m² (184.05 ha, 454.79 acres)

Civil parish

Kilkeedy, and its townlands

Barony

Inchiquin

Electoral division

Boston, the unit of the census

Census 2022

358 people lived in 141 households in the Boston electoral division. 85% of households owned their home. 37% of homes were built since 2001. 10% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 2% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Drumnadeevna, Kilcorkan, Killourney, Kylecreen, Poulroe

Placenames

Rockvale on logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland

Townlands, civil parishes, baronies and electoral divisions, National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. Census 2022, Small Area Population Statistics by electoral division, Central Statistics Office, CC BY 4.0. A townland is the smallest land division of Ireland, and the unit of a rural address. Old registers such as the 1901 and 1911 censuses file it under its civil parish and barony.