# Mongavlin, Co. Donegal: townland, land parcels and planning

Townland in the civil parish of Taughboyne, barony of Raphoe North, Co. Donegal.

- Area (Tailte Éireann): 534,018 m² (53.4 ha, 131.96 acres)
- Land parcels (Tailte Éireann): 20 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in it, median 4,023 m² (0.4 ha, 0.99 acres)
- Zoning (national zoning, MyPlan): not in a zoned settlement
- Planning (National Planning Applications): 5 applications since 2010
- Civil parish: Taughboyne, https://everytownland.com/donegal/parish/taughboyne.md
- Barony: Raphoe North
- Electoral division: St. Johnstown, the unit of the census
- Census 2022 (Central Statistics Office): 1,396 people lived in 537 households in the St. Johnstown electoral division. 69% of households owned their home. 40% of homes were built since 2001. 7% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 1% were holiday homes.
- County: Co. Donegal, https://everytownland.com/donegal.md
- Placenames Database of Ireland: https://www.logainm.ie/en/16525
- Townland number at Tailte Éireann: 52073
- Centre: latitude 54.906462, longitude -7.459364 (WGS 84)

## Land parcels (registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann)

20 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Mongavlin, from 1,890 m² to 243,816 m² (24.38 ha, 60.25 acres); 10 neighbouring parcels touch its boundary. Largest first:

- Parcel 1395297: 243,816 m² (24.38 ha, 60.25 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1395297.md
- Parcel 1386883: 95,389 m² (9.54 ha, 23.57 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1386883.md
- Parcel 1339971: 42,766 m² (4.28 ha, 10.57 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1339971.md
- Parcel 1343848: 35,784 m² (3.58 ha, 8.84 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1343848.md
- Parcel 1330408: 35,249 m² (3.52 ha, 8.71 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1330408.md
- Parcel 4873805: 19,702 m² (1.97 ha, 4.87 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/4873805.md
- Parcel 1395091: 10,906 m² (1.09 ha, 2.7 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1395091.md
- Parcel 1346877: 7,674 m² (0.77 ha, 1.9 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1346877.md
- Parcel 1399109: 4,749 m² (0.47 ha, 1.17 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1399109.md
- Parcel 1417191: 4,311 m² (0.43 ha, 1.07 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1417191.md
- Parcel 6114000: 3,734 m² (0.37 ha, 0.92 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/6114000.md
- Parcel 4760506: 3,595 m² (0.36 ha, 0.89 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/4760506.md
- Parcel 2390436: 3,225 m² (0.32 ha, 0.8 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/2390436.md
- Parcel 4760543: 3,203 m² (0.32 ha, 0.79 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/4760543.md
- Parcel 1380498: 2,158 m² (0.22 ha, 0.53 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1380498.md
- Parcel 1398406: 2,086 m² (0.21 ha, 0.52 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1398406.md
- Parcel 1378637: 2,080 m² (0.21 ha, 0.51 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1378637.md
- Parcel 1426731: 2,058 m² (0.21 ha, 0.51 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1426731.md
- Parcel 1410649: 2,048 m² (0.2 ha, 0.51 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/1410649.md
- Parcel 3658692: 1,890 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/3658692.md

## Zoning (national zoning of development plans, MyPlan)

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

## Planning applications whose site touches the townland (National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

5 applications, newest first.

- 27 Apr 2025, Donegal County Council 2560654: Conditional. Retention, 1 home. FIRST FLOOR RENOVATIONS AND PERMISSION FOR (1) DEMOLITION OF EXISTING MICA DEFECTED DWELLING HOUSE AND CONSTRUCTION OF A REPLACEMENT DWELLING WITH CONNECTION TO ALL EXISTING SERVICES, (2) CONSTRUCTION OF A DOMESTIC GARAGE AND (3) ALL ASSOCIATED SITE WORKS. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/DonegalCC/AppFileRefDetails/2560654/0
- 16 Feb 2022, Donegal County Council 2250253: Conditional. Retention, 1 home. (1) DWELLING HOUSE (2) DETACHED SHED (3) VEHICULAR ENTRANCE, BOUNDARY WALLS AND ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/DonegalCC/AppFileRefDetails/2250253/0
- 17 Dec 2021, Donegal County Council 2152540: N/a. Retention, 1 home. (1) A DWELLING HOUSE (2) DETACHED SHED (3) VEHICULAR ENTRANCE, BOUNDARY WALLS AND ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/DonegalCC/AppFileRefDetails/2152540/0
- 22 May 2019, Donegal County Council 1950699: Conditional. Permission, 1 home. DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING HOUSE AND CONSTRUCTION OF A REPLACEMENT DWELLING HOUSE, DETACHED DOMESTIC GARAGE, SEPTIC TANK/SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/DonegalCC/AppFileRefDetails/1950699/0
- 15 Mar 2019, Donegal County Council 1950360: Refused. Permission, 1 home. DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING HOUSE AND CONSTRUCTION OF A REPLACEMENT DWELLING HOUSE, DETACHED DOMESTIC GARAGE, SEPTIC TANK/SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/DonegalCC/AppFileRefDetails/1950360/0

Applicants are not shown.

## Designated sites (National Parks and Wildlife Service)

- Special Area of Conservation: River Finn SAC, site code 002301, https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/002301
- Proposed Natural Heritage Area: River Foyle, Mongavlin To Carrigans, site code 002067

## Recorded monuments (Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service)

- DG063-009: House - fortified house, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CDG063-009----. Mongavlin Castle: The lands of Mongavlin were granted to the Duke of Lennox in 1610. His assignee, Sir John Stewart, had built a house there before 1619, though it was still incomplete in 1622 (Hill 1877, 293, 505; Treadwell 1953-5, 45). The manner in which these lands subsequently passed into the hands of the Abercorn family was recorded on a slab (now missing but in existence c. 1905; Lecky 1905, 105) which bore the inscription 'The Honble Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of John Lord Colepeper, widow of Coll James Hamilton, who lost his life at sea in the service of his King and Country, purchased this Mannor and annexed it to the opposite estate of the family which paternal estate itself was improved by her prudent management to rere the yearly income of the dower she received thereout. She hath also settled her younger son William Hamilton in an estate acquird in England of equal value in purchase to this, and given everyone of her numerous offspring, descended from both branches some considerable mark of her parental care. Her eldest son James, Earle of Abercorn, and Viscount Strabane, hath caused this inscription to be placed here for the information of her posterity, from whom she hath merited the most grateful acknowledgements and to whom she hath set so valuable an example. Anno 1704'. The inscription and date recorded from a stone in the early 19th century (J.A.H. 1836, 240) and confirming Mongavlin Castle as Sir John Stewart's house must be treated with caution in view of an extended though somewhat incoherent reading preserved among the as Memoirs (See Jope 1954, 169). The ruins of this fortified house, 12.85m by 5.3m internally, are rapidly crumbling and the interior is filled with rubble and clearance from the adjoining field. Though virtually complete and retaining its roof in 1846, the upper section of both gables and most of the W wall had fallen by the turn of the century (photo in Lecky, 1905, 35). In 1954, there was a breach in the N gable and much of the E wall had collapsed. Since then, the NW corner has fallen to c. 2m in height and many of the ingoings and dressings noted on Jope's plan are missing (1954, 171). The three-storey house was built with random rubble with hard sandstone dressings laid in a coarse mortar. It originally had four corner turrets in Scottish style on moulded corbels high up on the angles of the building; only those on the S gable survive. A number of joist-holes are visible at first and second floor levels and the close spacing and depth of the surviving examples indicate that the others must have been responsible to some extent for the collapse of the walls. There is a scarcement at second-floor level. No evidence for any internal divisions remain and the stairs were probably made of wood. Both gables had plain chimneys (Fagan Bk. 11, 1). The rectangular windows had cut-stone dressings with slightly splayed ingoings and the remaining examples pre-serve sinkings for vertical iron bars and the interior sills have shallow chases for wooden frames. The N gable had two windows (Fagan Bk. 11, 1); these were probably above one another on the first and second floors. There is no evidence for a fireplace on the ground floor; it was probably at first floor level to the W of the window. The main entrance to the house was about midway along the E wall; only the N ingoing and lower jamb-stone survive. There is a gun-loop and window N of the doorway, and there were undoubtedly corresponding examples on the S side. The W wall had eight windows (Fagan Bk. 11, 1) but apart from fragments at the S end of the first and second floors no visible trace of these remain. The S gable is the most complete section of the building, and preserves a large kitchen fireplace with adjoining brick-lined oven, on the ground floor. The ragged opening to the E is probably the position of a window; Fagan notes the existence of three in this gable. The other two survive intact; that at the second floor is blocked up. Beside it is a small fireplace; the jambs and lintel have a simple roll-moulded arris. There are three bonding stones projecting from the exterior face of the S gable at the corners on the ground-floor level; they do not appear to be insertions. The roof-line of a single-storey building c. 5.5m wide, visible on this face, and some stone footings in line with the N gable are the remains of secondary structures; those are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map. (Jope 1954, 169-172). 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

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).

## Architectural heritage (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage)

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

## Ground and risks (Radon Risk Map of Ireland, EPA; Landslide Susceptibility Classification and LiDAR, Geological Survey Ireland)

- Radon: at the centre of the townland of Mongavlin, about 1 in 10 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home: https://www.epa.ie/environment-and-you/radon/radon-testing/#d.en.82887
- Landslides: The 1:50,000 map rates the landslide susceptibility here as low, partly inferred.
- Terrain model: no LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Mongavlin.
- Flooding: the flood maps of the Office of Public Works, https://www.floodinfo.ie/map/floodmaps/, linked only: their licence does not allow re-use.

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.

## Downloads

- DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings, for a drawing program: https://everytownland.com/donegal/mongavlin.dxf
- GeoJSON, in WGS 84, for a map: https://everytownland.com/donegal/mongavlin.geojson
- KML, for Google Earth: https://everytownland.com/donegal/mongavlin.kml

## Homes sold (Residential Property Price Register)

No address of the register names Mongavlin with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Donegal: https://everytownland.com/donegal.md

## Neighbouring townlands (National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann)

- Cuttymanhill: https://everytownland.com/donegal/cuttymanhill.md
- Lower Maymore: https://everytownland.com/donegal/lower-maymore.md
- Whitehill: https://everytownland.com/donegal/whitehill-52669.md

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.

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Everytownland reads the registered freehold land and the statutory boundaries of Tailte Éireann, the national zoning, planning file and heritage records of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Residential Property Price Register. A parcel is the land of a title, not an address. The owner's name is in the Land Registry of Tailte Éireann: a copy of the folio can be ordered on landdirect.ie, for a fee; this site names no owner. A price is the price recorded for a past sale, not a valuation.

Sources: Cadastral Parcels Freehold, Townlands, Civil Parishes, Baronies, Electoral Divisions and Buildings, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0; national zoning of development plans (GZT, MyPlan) and National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0, applicants not shown; designated sites, National Parks and Wildlife Service, CC BY 4.0; Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service, CC BY 4.0; National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, CC BY 4.0; Residential Property Price Register, Property Services Regulatory Authority, re-used with the source acknowledged.

- Page: https://everytownland.com/donegal/mongavlin
- In JSON: https://everytownland.com/api/townland/donegal/mongavlin