Meenasillagh

5 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Meenasillagh, from 3,494 m² (0.35 ha, 0.86 acres) to 2,547,300 m² (254.73 ha, 629.45 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary. 4 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.

No zone of a development plan covers Meenasillagh 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.

No planning application touches the townland of Meenasillagh in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

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: Slieve Tooey/Tormore Island/Loughros Beg Bay SAC 000190
• Special Protection Area: West Donegal Coast SPA 004150
• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: Slieve Tooey/Tormore Island/Loughros Beg Bay 000190

Recorded monuments

• DG081-017 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 1 (Costello 2016, 341; Costello 2020, 84). Possible sheltering area on fairly steep slope with thick bracken and heather vegetation, 18m E of stream. Cut into slope, measuring 5.5m wide. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-018 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 2 (Costello 2016, 341-2; Costello 2020, 84). Poorly-preserved sod-built sub-rectangular shaped hut site (ext. dims. 2.4m x 1.82m; int. dims. 1.2m x 1.2m; wall wth 0.6m; H 0.25m) aligned NE-SW. Located in grassy, bracken-patch on plateau. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-019 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 3 (Costello 2016, 341; Costello 2020, 84). Possible sub-rectangular, rubble-walled stone hut site (ext. dims. 2.5m x 2m; int. dims. 1.8m x 1m) aligned NW-SE. Located in a small, naturally-occurring spread of stones on a slope that is otherwise dominated by low heather. One patch of stones appears to have manipulated to create a space for human habitation. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-020 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 4 (Costello 2016, 342). Possible shelter located at base of rocky outcrop overlooking valley to south-west. A large naturally-occurring stone appears to have been turned inwards in direction of rock outcrop to enclose a small space (dims. 1.2m x 2.1m; H 0.8m). A low lintel has been placed over part of this space to roof it. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-021 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 5 (Costello 2016, 342). Oval hut site (ext. dims. 5m x 3.2m; int. dims. 2.7m x 1.6m) aligned E-W with walls (avg. H 0.65m; Wth 0.9m) constructed of rubble stone and sods. Possible entrance at SW. Located on slight terrace at head of valley. Waterlogged ground lies just E of structure which is built into slope. Wall material appears to have tumbled into interior over time, lending the structure a bowl-shape. Much moss and bracken overgrowth. Located on slight terrace at head of valley containing Sruthán na mBothóg, i.e. ‘Stream of the Huts’ (Costello 2020, 85). See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-022 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 6 (Costello 2016, 343; Costello 2020, 85). Possible oval hut site (int. dims. 2.3m x 1.74m) with open ends, aligned E-W. A low, sod-topped stone wall (avg. H 0.55m; Wth 0.45m) curves around the edge of a small terrace, as if enclosing it. On the high side of the terrace there is a sod hummock which may have been used as one side of the hut. A solitary rock lying in the middle of structure was perhaps used as a seat. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-023 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 7 (Costello 2016, 343-4; Costello 2020, 86). Roughly square hut site (Ext. dims. 2.5m x 1.6m; int. dims. 1.3m x 1.3m; Wall H 0.8m; T 0.6m) located just under quartz outcrop on a dry, green terrace. Crudely-constructed by arranging two rows of large blocks and utilising the outcrop as a back wall. Southern side left open. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-024 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 9. Triangular-shaped pen (ext. dims. 4m x 3.9m; int. dims. 3.25m x 3.1m) adjoining Mín na Saileach 8. A line of medium to large blocks runs out from said hut site towards a large, upright stone, where it converges with a better-preserved wall (avg. H 0.4m; Wth 0.5m), forming a triangular space. The outcrop again forms the back wall. Probable entrance near the hut site. 1.5m to the S of this pen and the hut site is a low bank which appears to mark off the terrace on which they are situated from a larger patch of dry ground. No cultivation ridges could be found here, however (Costello 2016, 344; Costello 2020, 86). See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-025 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 10 (Costello 2016, 344; Costello 2020, 84). Possible shelter (int. dims. 1.5m x 1m) located between two large boulders. Presence of a line of stones in this space suggests an attempt to create a rudimentary shelter. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-026 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 11 (Costello 2016, 344-5; Costello 2020, 85, 91). Probable sod-built hut site (ext. dims. 4.6m x 3.6m; int. dims. 4m x 2m), roughly rectangular in shape, aligned N-S. Consists of two parallel low banks (Wth 1m; H 0.25m) in close proximity to one another. Lower S end is open and likely to have been an entrance. No bank along N end, but ground is slightly higher here so the edge may blend in with the natural. Located in dry, grassy area 40m N of stream. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-027 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 12 (Costello 2016, 345; Costello 2020, 85, 91). A site consisting of two adjoining stone-walled structures, located on the N bank of stream in a relatively flat part of the valley. Much bracken overgrowth. W structure (ext. dims. 5.7m x 3.65m; int. dims. 4.1m x 2.4m) is roughly rectangular and aligned NW-SE. Entrance in SW corner looking down valley, and another entrance at NE. There is no doorway from this W structure into the eastern. The latter is smaller (ex.t dims. 4.2m x 4.4m; int. dims. 3.4m x 2.9m) and roughly square in shape. It has a possible entrance on its far E side. A well-constructed, coursed wall buttresses the S side of the whole site along the bank of the stream. The rest of the walls (H 0.4m; Wth 0.65m) are constructed of rubble, with the E structure in particular containing peaty material as well. The W structure was probably a roofed dwelling place. The eastern may have been likewise, or else an adjoining shed. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-028 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 13 (Costello 2016, 345-6; Costello 2020, 99-100). Rectangular hut site (ext. dims. 5.6m x 3.9m; int. dims. 4m x 2.7m) aligned NE-SW located on gently-sloping ground a few metres N of stream. Walls (H 0.5m; Wth 0.6m) are mostly of coursed stone with packing and the remains of sods on top. Two opposing entrances, one facing stream and the other upslope. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-029 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 14 (Costello 2016), 346; Costello 2020, 100. Probable rectangular hut site (ext. dims. 4.2m x 3m; int. dims. 2.3m x 1.2m) aligned E-W located 17m SW of a hut site (DG081-028----). Built up against slope to S. Wall (H 0.2m; Wth 0.4m) along N side and W end is ephemeral and constructed of stone and sods. Entrance in E end. Perched beside a stream. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

• DG081-030 Hut site
  Description

  Listed as Mín na Saileach 15 (Costello 2016, 346; Costello 2020, 86). Rectangular cut-away section of peat on flat ground 5m S of meandering stream. Aligned E-W. May simply be the result of trial-cutting for peat but size, execution and presence of possible entrances suggest an alternative – that it was a sunken hut (dims. 3.4m x 2.5m x D 0.6m). There is a green patch of vegetation directly on the other side of the stream, perhaps because of manuring, and possible cultivation ridges were seen just to the north of this. See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello Date of upload: 27 August 2020

Architectural heritage

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

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 Meenasillagh, about 1 in 20 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 high, moderately high, moderately low, low, partly inferred. Parts of the land are water.

Terrain model

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

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 Meenasillagh with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Donegal.

Name

Meenasillagh · Mín na Saileach

Area

2,655,834 m² (265.58 ha, 656.27 acres)

Civil parish

Glencolumbkille, and its townlands

Barony

Banagh

Electoral division

Kilgoly, the unit of the census

Census 2022

365 people lived in 152 households in the Kilgoly electoral division. 84% of households owned their home. 27% of homes were built since 2001. 22% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 26% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Bangort, Glenlough, Kiltyfanned, Port

Gaeltacht

In an Irish-speaking area

Placenames

Meenasillagh 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.