Rinnaraw

84 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Rinnaraw, from 13 m² to 83,942 m² (8.39 ha, 20.74 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 16 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 Rinnaraw 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.

• 4 Jul 2025Conditional

  EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING GOLF COURSE INTO SHEEPHAVEN BAY, MAKING ALTERATIONS TO THE 5TH, 6TH, 7TH AND 8TH HOLE WITH ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS INCLUDING RESTORATION WORKS TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE SITE. A NATURA IMPACT STATEMENT (NIS) ACCOMPANIES THIS APPLICATION

  Permission · Donegal County Council, 2561143

• 29 May 2024Conditional

  ERECTION OF A NEW DWELLING HOUSE WITH SEPTIC TANK AND ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS

  Permission, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 2460793

• 26 Jul 2022Conditional

  ERECTION OF AN EXTENSION TO THE SIDE OF EXISTING DWELLING HOUSE INCLUDING ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS

  Permission · Donegal County Council, 2251280

• 4 Jun 2021Conditional

  ERECTION OF SEVEN NO. DWELLINGS WITH ON SITE PRIMARY TREATMENT PLANT DISCHARGING INTO THE EXISTING PUBLIC SEWER AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS

  Permission, 7 homes · Donegal County Council, 2151092

• 19 May 2021N/a

  ERECTION OF 7 NO. DWELLINGS WITH ON SITE PRIMARY TREATMENT PLANT DISCHARGING INTO THE EXISTING PUBLIC SEWER AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS

  Permission, 7 homes · Donegal County Council, 2150958

• 31 Oct 2017Conditional

  CHANGE OF HOUSE TYPE PREVIOUSLY APPROVED UNDER PLANNING REFERENCE NUMBER 08/30490 (REF NO. 13/50008 ALSO REFERS) WITH CONNECTION TO PUBLIC SEWER AND DOMESTIC GARAGE

  Permission, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 1751665

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: Sessiagh Lough SAC 000185
• Special Area of Conservation: Horn Head and Rinclevan SAC 000147
• Special Protection Area: Horn Head to Fanad Head SPA 004194
• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: Sessiagh Lough 000185
• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: Horn Head And Rinclevan 000147

Recorded monuments

• DG016-016 Ringfort - cashel
  Description

  In lowlying coastal pasture, encompassing a small bedrock platform located within a few hundred meters of the SW coastline of Sheep Haven Bay. This enclosure is not indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map, but is shown as a roughly circular enclosure, marked as ‘Cashel’, on the 1905 edition. It was recorded as a cashel in the Archaeological Survey of Donegal (Lacy et al. 1983, 151, no. 904) where it is described as follows: ‘Internal diam. c. 20m-25m. A 7m arc of massive stones on edge to the NW is all that survives of the 'Cashel' marked on the 2nd and 3rd editions of the OS 6-inch maps. On the NW interior is the remains of an oval (6m NW-SE and 5m NE-SW) grass-covered stone foundation. The wall is up to 2m wide and 0.5m high. The site is located on a subcircular, flat-topped, grassed-over rock platform surrounded by pasture and close to the coast.’ The site was excavated by Professor Tom Fanning, NUIG over five seasons (1987-90; 1992) as part of a programme of training and research (https://excavations.ie: Fanning 1988; 1989; 1990; 1992). Following the untimely death of the excavator, the post excavation analysis was completed under the direction of Michelle Comber (Comber et al. 2006, 67-124). The enclosure encompasses the level top of a natural rock platform (diam. c. 25m), with a steep fall of ground at W–NW, and a more gradual slope at E. The excavation uncovered low remnants of the original enclosing wall which had been built around the perimeter of the rock platform; it consisted of large, set boulders, but in parts also utilised bedrock outcropping. The entrance was in the western arc of the wall, with stone paving lead from it towards a subrectangular house (DG016-016001-) of drystone construction, notable for its rounded external corners, which occupied much of the space in the W half of the enclosure. Two shell middens (DG016-016002-; DG016-016003-) had accumulated immediately adjacent to the house. The E-SE half of the enclosure is thought to have served as an open haggard or yard area, with paving slabs laid in parts to level the surface. Two small shell deposits were found overlying bedrock in this area. There was clear evidence that iron working was undertaken in the SE quadrant. Here, a shallow pit, interpreted as a ‘fire-pit’, was cut into the underlying bedrock. The rock base of the pit was fire-reddened, and was overlain by a layer of almost pure charcoal. A spread of charcoal-flecked soil and friable stones surrounded the pit, and an area of stone paving and possible wall foundations –perhaps part of a lean-to structure- were close by. Finds from this area included considerable quantities of iron slag, iron ore and fragments of furnace bottoms, suggesting that both smithing and smelting took place. The finds recovered during the excavation throw light on the activities and diet of the occupants of the enclosure. A small assemblage of 33 identifiable animal bones, which included bones of the main domestic species, cattle, sheep, pig and horse, as a well as fish bones from ling and cod, a single bone from a young grey seal, and bird bones probably of domestic fowl. The shells retrieved from the middens were predominately from limpets and periwinkles. The processing of cereals is indicated by the finding of several fragments of quern stones, including rotary querns, two fragments of possible trough querns, and a possible saddle quern. Approximately 100 pottery sherds were recovered. All were identified as souterrain ware, a type of pottery strongly associated with NE Ulster, comprising handmade pots of relatively course texture, burnished black on exterior, with simple, slightly everted rims. The finds assemblage included an array of simple tools: flint artefacts, whetstones, fragments of tanged iron knives, and perforated stones, which may have served as loom, net or line weights. Also recovered were fragments of sepentinite rings or bracelets, stone discs and undiagnostic fragments of worked bone. Several radiocarbon dates were returned for the site, and ‘offer a slightly confused chronology’ (Ibid. 105). A date of late 8th- to early 9th-century was produced by a sample from a layer underlying the wall of the house, and the house walls appear to have been built later in the 9th-century. However, shells from one of the middens produced dates that suggest a phase of occupation in the 11th century or later. Comber (2006, 107) concludes that ‘the main phase of activity at Rinnaraw dates to the ninth century, with the possibility of reuse.' She notes that the house shows interesting similarities in form to Norse houses excavated on Orkney Island, off the N coast of Scotland, and adds that the ninth century saw Scandinavian activity in this part of Donegal, evidenced by documentary references and by various Viking artefacts recovered in this region. The fragments of possible trough querns also hint at a possible link with Scotland. This was a small, self-sufficient settlement, with evidence of on-site iron-working. The form and size of the enclosure and house, and the nature of the finds suggest that ‘the occupants of the house were of relatively modest status, dependent on agriculture and marine resources.’ (Comber et al. 2006, 109). Compiler: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of revised upload: 12 December 2019

• DG016-016001 House - early medieval
  Description

  Located in the W half of a cashel (DG016-016----). When first recorded this house appeared as ‘an oval (6m NW-SE and 5m NE-SW) grass-covered stone foundation. The wall is up to 2m wide and 0.5m high.’ (Lacy et al. 1983, 151, no. 904). In the late 1980’s an excavation was carried out at the cashel over five seasons (1987-90; 1992) by Professor Tom Fanning, NUIG (Comber et al. 2006, 67-124). The excavation revealed that the stone-built house was subrectangular in plan (int. dims. 7m NW–SE; 5.5m NE–SW), with right-angles internal corners and rounded external corners. Although the walls (Wth 1-1.3m) had largely collapsed, it was possible to determine that they were of drystone construction, with inner and outer stone faces retaining an earth and rubble core. The NW wall in particular was poorly preserved, with indications that it may have been widened or rebuilt. The doorway was in the middle of the SW wall, and was evident as a stone-faced gap paved with flat stones. The paving continued to the exterior towards the cashel entrance. In the interior of the house, two roughly parallel rows of four postholes each were dug into the floor. The post holes extended the length of the building, and most likely held timber posts that supported the roof rafters. The house interior was subdivided into two spaces of unequal size. The smaller space (2m NW–SE; 5m NE–SW) at the SE end of the house was defined by a carefully constructed stone-paved floor, with a low kerb of stones separating it from the rest of the house. A gap in the kerb may have been an entrance feature, suggesting that the paved area may have been screened off to form a separate room. The larger space to NW was covered by an occupation layer of dark soil overlying a mix of bedrock and intermittent paving. Burnt bone fragments and iron slag were recovered from this layer. A stone-lined hearth was located in this space, roughly in the centre of the house. Four large paving stones, bordering the SE side of the hearth, may have served as a work surface. A stone-lined drain underlay the floor to S of the hearth, and extended to SE under the house wall to the exterior. Two shell middens (DG016-016002-; DG016-016003-) lay immediately adjacent to the house. Radiocarbon dates indicate a 9th-century date for the construction of the house. However, shells from one of the middens produced dates that suggest a phase of occupation in the 11th century (Comber et al 2006, 106). Compiler: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of revised upload: 12 December 2019

• DG016-016002 Midden
  Description

  Located adjacent to a house (DG016-016001-) in the NW quadrant of a cashel (DG016-016----). This midden was discovered in the course of an excavation of the cashel which was undertaken in the late 1980’s (Comber et al. 2006, 84). It was located in the area of the N–NE wall of the house. The stratigraphy here was complicated; midden material was mixed in with wall collapse, and the exact relationship of the midden to the house wall was not clarified. It was composed predominately of limpets and periwinkles shells, and in the lower levels there were animal bones and iron slag, as well as a pot sherd, two bone points, a small iron handle, an iron knife fragment, and a tuyere or furnace lining fragment (Ibid. 84). It may have been a multi-period midden. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the primary phase of occupation was in the 9th-century, but shells from upper levels of the midden produced an 11th-century date (Ibid., 105-6). Another midden (DG016-016003-) was found on the NW side of the house. Compiler: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 12 December 2019

• DG016-016003 Midden
  Description

  Located adjacent to a house (DG016-016001-) in the NW quadrant of a cashel (DG016-016----). This midden was discovered in the course of an excavation of the cashel, which was undertaken in the late 1980’s (Comber et al. 2006, 84). It had accumulated along the external wall face on the NW side of the house, immediately N of the doorway. It was composed predominately of winkles and limpets shells, and overlay a layer of black soil and small stones, in which three sherds of souterrain ware were found. Another midden (DG016-016002-) was found on the NW side of the house. Compiler: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 12 December 2019

Architectural heritage

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

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 high, moderately high, moderately low, low, low (inferred), on the 1:50,000 map; parts are water.

Terrain model

LiDAR of the Office of Public Works, flown in 2011, at 2 m: tile OPW_1567 (ZIP).

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

Name

Rinnaraw

Area

324,570 m² (32.46 ha, 80.2 acres)

Civil parish

Clondahorky, and its townlands

Barony

Kilmacrenan

Electoral division

Ards, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Ards electoral division: 805 people in 270 households; 86% of households own their home; 34% of homes were built since 2001; 4% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 61% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Knocknafaugher, Rockhill, Sandhill, Woodhill

Placenames

Rinnaraw 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.