Rockhill
Townland in the civil parish of Leck, barony of Raphoe North, Co. Donegal; in Irish Cnoc na Carraige
- Area
- 100.3 ha
- 248 acres
- Land parcels
- 8
- registered freehold, median 40,269 m² (4.03 ha, 9.95 acres)
- Zoning
- —
- not in a zoned settlement
- Planning
- 13
- applications since 2010
Land parcels
Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann
8 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Rockhill, from 250 m² to 160,908 m² (16.09 ha, 39.76 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 40 neighbouring parcels touch it.
Download the townland: DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings; GeoJSON or KML.
Zoning
Development plans, national zoning
No zone of a development plan covers Rockhill 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.
Planning applications
Sites that touch the townland, newest first
23 Jul 2026Refused
ALTERATIONS TO PLANNING PERMISSION REF NO: 24/50022 FOR THE INFILLING OF EXISTING LANDS, TO INCLUDE THE ACCEPTING OF CONCRETE AND DEMOLITION (C&D) WASTE AS WELL AS DEFECTIVE CONCRETE BLOCKWORK (DCB) WASTE ARISING FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES ALONG WITH ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS
Permission · Donegal County Council, 2661373
1 Aug 2025N/a
ALTERATIONS TO PREVIOUS PLANNING REF. NO. 24/50022 FOR INFILLING OF EXISTING LANDS WITH ALTERATIONS TO INCLUDE RECEIPT OF CONCRETE AND DEMOLITION WASTE ARISING FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES WITH ALL ASSOCIATED SERVICES
Permission · Donegal County Council, 2561320
9 Feb 2024Conditional
DEVELOPMENT OF 2 NO. MODULAR ACCOMMODATION UNITS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE FOR ANCILLARY STAFF LODGINGS AND ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS. DEVELOPMENT IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CURTILAGE OF PROTECTED STRUCTURE (ROCKHILL HOUSE RPS, REGISTRATION NO. 40906102)
Permission · Donegal County Council, 2460131
24 Jan 2024Conditional
INFILLING OF 2.27 HECTARES OF LAND WITH INERT, UNCONTAMINATED SOIL, STONE AND EARTH WHICH WILL INCLUDE ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS SUCH AS DRAINAGE WORKS. A NATURA IMPACT STATEMENT (NIS) ACCOMPANIES THIS APPLICATION
Permission · Donegal County Council, 2450022
26 Jul 2023Conditional
(1) THERMAL SPA WITHIN EXISTING WELLNESS CENTRE COMPLEX, (2) CHANGE OF USE FROM FORMER COACH HOUSE TO RECEPTION BUILDING INCORPORATING CHANGING AREA AND ENCLOSED LINKED CORRIDOR LEADING TO THERMAL SPA, (3) RELAXATION / ENTRANCE AREA, (4) COVERED OUTDOOR REFRESHMENTS AREA, BELL TENT AND ASSOCIATED SITE AND ANCILLARY DEVELOPMENT WORKS. DEVELOPMENT IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CURTILAGE OF PROTECTED STRUCTURE (ROCKHILL HOUSE RPS, REGISTRATION NO: 40906102)
Retention · Donegal County Council, 2351103
13 Mar 2020Conditional
(1) CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A WELLNESS CENTRE TO THE WESTERN SIDE OF FORMER STABLES / ARMY ACCOMMODATION (2) CHANGE OF USE FROM SELF CATERING HOLIDAY APARTMENTS APPROVED UNDER PLANNING REF NO'S: 17/50383 & 19/50956 TO CHANGING ROOMS AND TREATMENT AREAS ANCILLARY TO PROPOSED WELLNESS CENTRE, WORKS TO INCLUDE (A) REMOVAL OF EXISTING ENTRANCE PORCH AND CONSTUCTION OF A REPLACEMENT ENTRANCE / RECEPTION AREA, (B) CONSTRUCTION OF DECORATIVE ROOF DORMERS TO EXISTING PITCHED ROOD ON NORTHERN ELEVATION (3) CHANGE OF USE FOR PART OF FORMER COACH HOUSE TO 1 NO SELF CATERING HOLIDAY APARTMENT AND ASSOCIATED SITE AND ANCILLARY DEVELOPMENT WORKS. DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CURTILAGE OF PROTECTED STRUCTURE (ROCKHILL HOUSE RPS REGISTRATION NO 40906102)
Permission · Donegal County Council, 2050326
18 Dec 2019Conditional
DEVELOPMENT OF A BIODIVERSITY EDUCATION CENTRE CONSISTING OF CONSTRUCTION OF (A) A SINGLE STOREY RECEPTION/MUSEUM BUILDING (B) A YURT BIODIVERSITY CLASSROOM BUILDING (C) A FARMYARD BARN BUILDING FOR HOUSING BIODIVERSITY DISPLAYS AND RELATED SMALL ANIMAL WILDLIFE SPECIES AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS TO FACILITATE THE PROPOSAL
Permission · Donegal County Council, 1951994
31 Jul 2019Conditional
CONSTRUCTION OF A DWELLING HOUSE WITH DETACHED DOMESTIC GARAGE, WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM AND ALL OTHER ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT WORKS
Permission, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 1951177
19 Jun 2019Conditional
AMENDMENT TO THE INTERNAL LAYOUT AND DESIGN OF ACCOMMODATION PREVIOUSLY APPROVED UNDER PLANNING REF: 17/50383 WITHIN FORMER STABLES/ARMY ACCOMMODATION TO PROVIDE 12 NO. EN-SUITE BEDROOMS AND 5 NO. 2 BEDROOM SELF- CATERTERING HOLIDAY APARTMENTS. WORKS INCLUDE PROVISION OF A COVERED WALKWAY, ADDITIONAL WINDOWS AND DOORS, ROOFLIGHTS, EXTERNAL SEATING AREAS, ALL WORKS TO BUILDING FACADE AND ASSOCIATED SITE AND ANCILLARY DEVELOPMENT WORKS. DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CURTILAGE OF PROTECTED STRUCTURE (ROCKHILL HOUSE RPS, REGISTRATION NO: 40906102)
Permission · Donegal County Council, 1950956
16 Apr 2019Conditional
A CAR/BUS PARK TOGETHER WITH A SINGLE STOREY EXTENSION TO THE REAR AND SIDE OF THE ORIGINAL KITCHEN AND A COVERED PATIO AREA TO THE REAR OF THE EXISTING BAR AND RESTAURANT
Retention · Donegal County Council, 1950527
16 Mar 2017Conditional
FORMER STABLES/ARMY ACCOMMODATION IN CURTILAGE OF PROTECTED STRUCTURE (ROCKHILL HOUSE RPS, REGISTRATION NUMBER: 40906102) TO BE CONVERTED TO APARTMENT ACCOMMODATION ANCILLARY TO PROPOSED HOTEL USE WITH EXTERNAL WORKS AND CARPARKING
Permission · Donegal County Council, 1750383
8 Mar 2017Conditional
INFILLING APPROX. 26,500 CUBIC METRES OF INERT, UNCONTAMINATED SOIL AND STONE TO COVER AND RAISE SITE LEVELS OF 2.27 HECTARES OF AGRICULTURAL LAND. WORKS SHALL INCLUDE PROVISION OF SUITABLE DRAINAGE, SITE ACCESS AND ALL ASSOCIATED WORKS. THE SITE WILL BE FINISHED BY PLACEMENT OF COVER SOILS AND SEEDING IN ORDER TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF THE LANDSCAPE AND HABITAT AND TO CONTINUE USE AS AGRICULTURAL LAND, ALL ON THIS SITE. THIS DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES A WASTE FACILITY PERMIT. A NATURA IMPACT STATEMENT (NIS), LAND REPORT AND FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT (FRA) WILL BE SUBMITTED WITH THE APPLICATION
Permission · Donegal County Council, 1750343
22 Feb 2017N/a
FORMER STABLES/ARMY ACCOMMODATION IN CURTILAGE OF PROTECTED STRUCTURE TO BE CONVERTED TO APARTMENT ACCOMMODATION ANCILLARY TO PROPOSED HOTEL USE WITH EXTERNAL WORKS AND CARPARKING
Permission · Donegal County Council, 1750248
Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.
Nature and heritage
Designated sites and recorded monuments
Designated sites
- Proposed Natural Heritage Area: River Swilly Valley Woods 002011
Recorded monuments
- DG061-002 Ringfort - rath
Description
There is no trace of the 'Fort' marked on the 1st and 2nd editions of the OS 6-inch maps. A previous report (NMI) recorded the site as an oval earthwork 110ft N-S and 100ft E-W. The area is now forested. 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
Architectural heritage
- Rockhill House, gates/railings/walls, 1840–1880 · Regional interest
Description
Gateway serving Rockhill House (see 40906102), c. 1853, comprising a central pair of painted gate piers (on square-plan) flanked to either side (east and west) by curved sections of rubble stone boundary wall having rubble stone coping over. Located to the north of Rockhill House, and in the rural countryside to the south-west of Letterkenny.
- Rockhill, country house, 1750–1860 · Regional interest
Description
Detached five-bay two-storey house, built c. 1853, incorporating fabric of earlier house, c. 1760, within and three-storey over basemen extension, c. 1825, with full height bow to rear (south-west) and triple-height hall within, and with three-storey over basement extensions to rear, c. 1930. Bowed elevation to the south-east side elevation of main house. Single-bay single-storey ashlar sandstone prostyle tetrastyle Doric porch to the centre of the front elevation (north-east), c. 1853, having engaged Doric columns and pilasters supporting entablature over with triglyph frieze. Later in use as a school\college from 1927-30 and later as a military barracks from 1969. Hipped natural (purple) slate roof to main block having overhanging eaves with modillions to eaves, and with smooth rendered chimneystacks. Some cast-iron rainwater goods. Stipple rendered walls over projecting plinth with sandstone plat band\stringcourse at first floor level, and with ashlar sandstone block-and-start quoins to corners of main block. Square-headed window openings having moulded ashlar sandstone sills on brackets, and with nine-over-nine pane timber sliding sash windows at ground floor level and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows over at first floor level. Recessed round-headed doorway to porch having replacement timber panelled door, sidelights, and with radial\spoked fanlight over. Prostyle tetrastyle ashlar sandstone Doric porch with unfluted columns and pilasters, stone steps and perron. Triple-height hall to interior with panelled lower level surmounted by arcade of paired Corinthian pilasters with dentilled cornice over and moulded panelled ceiling, run cornices and moulded plaster centre pieces, cast iron stair balustrade. Set well back from road in extensive mature landscaped grounds in the rural countryside to the south-west of Letterkenny. Detached eleven-bay two-storey outbuilding to south-west having pitched artificial slate roof with ashlar chimneystack, roughcast rendered walls, and square-headed window openings with steel casement windows. Remains of walled garden to the south-east having rubble stone boundary walls. Former gate lodge (see 40906130) to the south, now ruinous. Main gateway to the north\north-east (see 40905395).
- Back Lodge, gate lodge, 1850–1860 · Regional interest
Description
Detached three-bay single-storey former gate lodge associated with Rockhill (see 40906102) having dormer attic level, built c. 1853, with projecting full-height bay to the south-west end of the main elevation (north-west) and with single-bay single-storey box bay windows to the north-east gable end and to the gable-fronted projection to the front elevation having crenellated parapets over. Later in use as a land agent’s or steward’s house associated with the Rockhill estate c. 1900, and later as a private dwelling. Now out of use and dilapidated. Steeply-pitched natural slate roof with scalloped slates, overhanging eaves with bracketed eaves and decorative wavy\fretted timber bargeboards to gable ends, projecting bay and dormer openings, timber finials to gable apexes, and with two ashlar chimneystacks having ornamental brick chimney pots over (on octagonal and square-plan). Some surviving sections of cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast rendered walls, now filing in places exposing rubble stone construction. Square-headed window openings having chamfered smooth rendered surrounds, stone sills, mostly with stucco hoodmouldings over, and with remains of cast-iron diamond pane casement windows. Paired window openings at ground floor level with central mullion. Pointed-arched doorway to the central bay having chamfered smooth rendered surround, remains of timber door, and with lattice-paned cast-iron overlight, now dilapidated. Round-headed niche adjacent to the south-west side of door (to north-east side of gable-fronted projection) having chamfered smooth rendered surround. Remains of dog-leg timber staircase and landing to interior. Set back from road in mature grounds to the south of Rockhill and the south-west of Letterkenny. Located at start of long disused approach avenue to estate from the south. Gateway adjacent to the south-west having rendered rubble stone gate piers and wrought-iron gates.
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).
Ground and risks
Radon, landslides, flooding
- Radon
- About 1 in 10 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home
- Landslides
- Susceptibility moderately high, moderately low, low, low (inferred), on the 1:50,000 map.
- Terrain model
- No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Rockhill.
- 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.
Homes sold
Property Price Register
No address of the register names Rockhill with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Donegal.
The townland
- Name
- Rockhill · Cnoc na Carraige
- Area
- 1,003,290 m² (100.33 ha, 247.92 acres)
- Civil parish
- Leck, and its townlands
- Barony
- Raphoe North
- Electoral division
- Ballymacool, the unit of the census
- Census 2022
- Ballymacool electoral division: 2,741 people in 963 households; 62% of households own their home; 66% of homes were built since 2001; 8% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 2% were holiday homes.
- Neighbouring townlands
- Ballymacool, Bomany, Brownhall, Conwal, Creeve Glebe, Letterleague, Rann
- Placenames
- Rockhill 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.