Fortstewart

24 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Fortstewart, from 185 m² to 114,899 m² (11.49 ha, 28.39 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 7 neighbouring parcels touch it.

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

No zone of a development plan covers Fortstewart in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply to each application.

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

• 28 Feb 2026Conditional

  (1) CHANGE OF USE OF THE EXISTING STORAGE AREAS AT GROUND AND FIRST FLOORS OF THE ARTIST STUDIO GRANTED UNDER PLANNING REF. NO. 15/50169 TO AN ARTIST LOUNGE AT GROUND FLOOR INCLUDING SMALL W/C AND KITCHENETTE AND ARTISTS REST AREA AT FIRST FLOOR INCLUDING BATHROOM, (2) SMALL GARDEN STORAGE TO EAST NORTH EAST SIDE OF ARTISTS STUDIO AND (3) LARGER VELUX WINDOWS TO ARTIST STUDIO AND FIRST FLOOR ARTIST REST AREA TOGETHER WITH ALL ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS AND SERVICES

  Retention, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 2660301

• 5 Nov 2021Conditional

  ERECTION OF A NEW DWELLING HOUSE, DOMESTIC GARAGE AND SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT

  Permission, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 2152193

• 6 Aug 2021Conditional

  CONSTRUCTION OF AN EXTENSION TO EXISTING DWELLING HOUSE CONSISTING OF NEW KITCHEN/DINING AREA, FIRST FLOOR BEDROOM AND RELOCATION OF EXISTING SUN-ROOM STRUCTURE AND ANCILLARY WORKS PREVIOUSLY GRANTED UNDER REFERENCE 15/50799

  Permission · Donegal County Council, 2151574

• 16 Jul 2021N/a

  CONSTRUCTION OF AN EXTENSION TO EXISTING DWELLING HOUSE CONSISTING OF NEW KITCHEN/DINING AREA, FIRST FLOOR BEDROOM AND RELOCATION OF EXISTING SUN-ROOM STRUCTURE AND ANCILLARY WORKS PREVIOUSLY GRANTED UNDER REFERENCE 15/50799

  Permission · Donegal County Council, 2151432

• 2 Jun 2017Conditional

  CONSTRUCTION OF A SINGLE STOREY EXTENSION TO SIDE OF MAIN DWELLING HOUSE LINKING THROUGH TO ADJACENT ARTIST'S STUDIO BUILDING, AND A CHANGE OF USE OF ARTIST'S STUDIO BUILDING TO RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION WITH ALTERATIONS TO ELEVATIONS, INCLUDING ALL ASSOCIATED SITE WORKS AND SERVICES

  Permission · Donegal County Council, 1750850

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: Lough Swilly SAC 002287
• Special Protection Area: Lough Swilly SPA 004075
• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: Lough Swilly Including Big Isle, Blanket Nook & Inch Lake 000166

Recorded monuments

• DG046-010 Standing stone
  Description

  There is no trace of the 'Standing Stone' marked on the OS 6-inch maps. Situated on good pasture land close to the shore of Lough Swilly. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008

• DG046-011 Bawn
  Description

  Fortstewart: In 1610, Sir William Stewart was granted 1,000 acres and in the following year, is recorded as having built 'a fort or bawn of lime and stone with two flankers. Under one is a room either for a munition house or a prison and upon that a court of guard and above that an open 'feight' and in the outmost part thereof a centinel house'. By 1619, he had built a thatched house (OF046-011001-) within the bawn which was inhabited by a Scotch minister and his family (Hill 1877, 322-3, 522-3; Treadwell 1953-5, 41). It is simply noted in the Civil Survey as 'a fforte and a stone 'house called forte Stewart' (Simmington 1937, 99). The surviving ivy-covered remains confirm the layout as recorded in Carew's description of 1611 and comprise two rubble-built flankers with adjoining fragments of bawn walls. No visible trace survives of the E bawn wall depicted on the 1903 OS 25 inch plan. It is sited on the shore of Lough Swilly. The S flanker, a two-storey circular tower c. 4.5m high has a battered underpinning on the SE from which there is a steep fall, some 4m, to the shore below. Two gun-loops on each floor provided flanking cover for the E and S walls of the bawn. There is a window at first-floor level; its head has fallen away. The opposing holes for three joists survive at first-floor level and the wall is set back above the second storey and provided with a parapet. Access to each floor was through a door in the NW of the tower; both had timber jambs and heads. The N flanker, a salient-angled bastion, is similarly constructed and is c. 5.5m high. The ground floor has two gun-loops covering the N and W bawn walls, and as access to this chamber was only from the floor above, it is probably that which is referred to in the 1611 description as the possible munition house or prison. The loops at first-floor level allowed for both defensive and offensive gunfire and like the S tower, this flanker was provided with a parapet wall. There is evidence for four joists at first-floor level. The small section of adjoining W curtain preserves the chase for a timber jamb and socket for a large draw-bar, for a door or gate. On 9 March 1998 an archaeological assessment was carried out by Audrey Gahan of Archaeological Development Services Ltd, under licence No. 98E0098 at Fortstewart, Ramelton, Co. Donegal, on the site of a proposed domestic dwelling, in response to planning conditions. The site is close to a National Monument, Fort Stewart Bawn (DG046-011----). Excavation was by mechanical digger using a toothless bucket, along the line of the foundations, septic tank, soak pit and driveway. In all cases the removal of sod and ploughsoil revealed naturally deposited subsoil. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered. (Excavations Bulletin 1998) The proposed development consisted of the extension and refurbishment of a cottage and the construction of a septic tank and ancillary services at Fortstewart, Ramelton. Monitoring of topsoil removal took place on 9 March 2005 by Audrey Gahan of Gahan & Long Ltd under licence No. 05E0226. Two ditches were identified during topsoil removal. The first was found c. 20m south-west of the ruined bastion of Fort Stewart castle. The ditch was only exposed for a distance of 1.88m, the width of the trench. The ditch extended approximately north–south across the trench and was 1.43m wide. It was ceramically dated to the late 18th/19th century. A second ditch was found c. 6m north-west of the first and 22m west of the ruined bastion of Fort Stewart castle. This ditch extended approximately north–south, measured c. 1.08m in width and was exposed in length for only 1.88m. The ditch was roughly V-shaped in section and survived to a depth of 1.04m. Both features were identified as being of late 18th/19th-century date on the basis of the artefactual material contained within their fills. Neither of these ditches, therefore, is likely to have been associated with Fortstewart Bawn. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: 14 November 2011

• DG046-011001 House - 17th century
  Description

  Fortstewart: In 1610, Sir William Stewart was granted 1,000 acres and in the following year, is recorded as having built 'a fort or bawn (DG046-011----) of lime and stone with two flankers. Under one is a room either for a munition house or a prison and upon that a court of guard and above that an open 'feight' and in the outmost part thereof a centinel house'. By 1619, he had built a thatched house within the bawn which was inhabited by a Scotch minister and his family (Hill 1877, 322-3, 522-3; Treadwell 1953-5, 41). It is simply noted in the Civil Survey as 'a fforte and a stone 'house called forte Stewart' (Simmington 1937, 99). The surviving ivy-covered remains confirm the layout as recorded in Carew's description of 1611 and comprise two rubble-built flankers with adjoining fragments of bawn walls. No visible trace survives of the E bawn wall depicted on the 1903 OS 25 inch plan. It is sited on the shore of Lough Swilly. The S flanker, a two-storey circular tower c. 4.5m high has a battered underpinning on the SE from which there is a steep fall, some 4m, to the shore below. Two gun-loops on each floor provided flanking cover for the E and S walls of the bawn. There is a window at first-floor level; its head has fallen away. The opposing holes for three joists survive at first-floor level and the wall is set back above the second storey and provided with a parapet. Access to each floor was through a door in the NW of the tower; both had timber jambs and heads. The N flanker, a salient-angled bastion, is similarly constructed and is c. 5.5m high. The ground floor has two gun-loops covering the N and W bawn walls, and as access to this chamber was only from the floor above, it is probably that which is referred to in the 1611 description as the possible munition house or prison. The loops at first-floor level allowed for both defensive and offensive gunfire and like the S tower, this flanker was provided with a parapet wall. There is evidence for four joists at first-floor level. The small section of adjoining W curtain preserves the chase for a timber jamb and socket for a large draw-bar, for a door or gate. On 9 March 1998 an archaeological assessment was carried out by Audrey Gahan of Archaeological Development Services Ltd, under licence No. 98E0098 at Fortstewart, Ramelton, Co. Donegal, on the site of a proposed domestic dwelling, in response to planning conditions. The site is close to a National Monument, Fort Stewart Bawn (DG046-011----). Excavation was by mechanical digger using a toothless bucket, along the line of the foundations, septic tank, soak pit and driveway. In all cases the removal of sod and ploughsoil revealed naturally deposited subsoil. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered. (Excavations Bulletin 1998) The proposed development consisted of the extension and refurbishment of a cottage and the construction of a septic tank and ancillary services at Fortstewart, Ramelton. Monitoring of topsoil removal took place on 9 March 2005 by Audrey Gahan of Gahan & Long Ltd under licence No. 05E0226. Two ditches were identified during topsoil removal. The first was found c. 20m south-west of the ruined bastion of Fort Stewart castle. The ditch was only exposed for a distance of 1.88m, the width of the trench. The ditch extended approximately north–south across the trench and was 1.43m wide. It was ceramically dated to the late 18th/19th century. A second ditch was found c. 6m north-west of the first and 22m west of the ruined bastion of Fort Stewart castle. This ditch extended approximately north–south, measured c. 1.08m in width and was exposed in length for only 1.88m. The ditch was roughly V-shaped in section and survived to a depth of 1.04m. Both features were identified as being of late 18th/19th-century date on the basis of the artefactual material contained within their fills. Neither of these ditches, therefore, is likely to have been associated with Fortstewart Bawn. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: 14 November 2011

Architectural heritage

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

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

About 1 in 10 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

Susceptibility low, on the 1:50,000 map.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Fortstewart.

Flooding

The flood maps of the Office of Public Works: floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency; Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland; both 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 Fortstewart with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Donegal.

Name

Fortstewart

Area

558,472 m² (55.85 ha, 138 acres)

Civil parish

Aughnish, and its townlands

Barony

Kilmacrenan

Electoral division

Rathmelton, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Rathmelton electoral division: 2,494 people in 938 households; 71% of households own their home; 42% of homes were built since 2001; 11% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 5% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ballygreen, Croaghan, Gortaway

Placenames

Fortstewart 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.