Tops

9 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Tops, from 153 m² to 337,268 m² (33.73 ha, 83.34 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 20 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 Tops 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.

• 6 Nov 2025Conditional

  (1) GARAGE AND (2) MOBILE HOME AND PERMISSION FOR (1) CONSTRUCTION OF A SINGLE STOREY DWELLING AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITE WORKS WITH CONNECTION TO EXISTING SITE SERVICES APPROVED UNDER PLANNING REF. NO. 11/60127 AND (2) USE OF EXISTING MOBILE HOME FOR A TEMPORARY PERIOD DURING CONSTRUCTION

  Retention, 2 homes · Donegal County Council, 2561936

• 9 Oct 2025Conditional

  CONSTRUCTION OF A DWELLING HOUSE WITH CONNECTION TO SEPTIC TANK AND PERCOLATION AREA AND ALL ASSOCIATED WORKS

  Permission, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 2561766

• 8 Oct 2025N/a

  (1) GARAGE AND (2) MOBILE HOME AND PERMISSION FOR (1) USE OF EXISTING MOBILE HOME FOR A TEMPORARY PERIOD DURING CONSTRUCTION, (2) CONSTRUCTION OF A SINGLE STOREY DWELLING AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITE WORKS AND (3) CONNECTION TO EXISTING SITE SERVICES APPROVED UNDER PLANNING REF. NO. 11/60127

  Retention, 2 homes · Donegal County Council, 2561755

• 22 Jul 2025Refused

  EXISTING MOBILE HOME AND PERMISSION FOR (1) REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING MOBILE HOME WITH LARGER MOBILE HOME WITH EXTERNAL CLADDING, (2) CONNECTION TO EXISTING SITE SERVICES APPROVED UNDER PLANNING REF. NO. 11/60127

  Retention, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 2561249

• 15 Jul 2025N/a

  MOBILE HOME (PLANNING REF. NO. 11/60127 REFERS) AND PERMISSION FOR REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING MOBILE HOME WITH LARGER MOBILE HOME WITH EXTERNAL CLADDING AND CONNECTION TO EXISTING SITE SERVICES

  Retention, 1 home · Donegal County Council, 2561199

• 11 Apr 2025Conditional

  CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW TRANSFER TO LABORATORY BUILDING, INSTALLATION OF A PROPRIETARY WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM, ENCLOSED YARD, NEW GATES, ACCESS ROADWAY, MODIFICATION TO EXISTING FARM ENTRANCE, PLUS ASSOCIATED SITEWORKS, ALL ADJACENT TO THE EXISTING FARMYARD

  Permission · Donegal County Council, 2560550

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches the townland of Tops.

Recorded monuments

• DG070-026001 Stone circle
  Description

  This monument, on a hilltop with an extensive outlook in all directions, is known as Beltany Stone Circle. It lies 3.2km NNW of the cemetery of megalithic tombs centred on Kilmonaster Middle townland. It consists of a disturbed artificial platform now c. 0.5m high, perhaps the base of a cairn, bounded by a circle of large stones. The circle is c. 45m in diameter. At present 64 stones stand in the circle, and there may originally have been up to 80. Some large stones are exposed in the disturbed interior. It has been suggested that there may have been a megalithic chamber within the circle (O.D. 1939), perhaps a passage tomb (Ó Nualláin 1995, 15). The earliest accounts of the site seem to be those in the unpublished documentation of the Ordnance Survey dating to the years shortly before the mid-19th century. It is clear that the monument was considerably disturbed at this stage. According to the OS Memoir (1836), there had been a cairn or 'vast heap of stones' within the circle, but it had been removed to form fences in the vicinity. Thomas Fagan (1845-8), who saw the monument in 1846, observed that both the interior and the enclosing circle of stones were much disfigured. He was informed that 'the interior was raised with earth and stones covering and encircling sepulchral graves' and that decayed bones were unearthed here. Excavation would be required to determine whether the enclosed platform is the base of a cairn and whether there was any form of megalithic chamber here.OS Mem oirs, Raphoe parish (1836), 1, 27; Fagan 1845-8, book 10, 28; H. Morris 1939 (Beltany); O.D. 1939 (Beltany); Lacy 1983, 72-3, no. 329 (fig.); SMR 1987, 70:26B; Ó Nualláin 1995, 15; RMP 1995, 70:26/1. The above description was published in the 'Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI, County Donegal.' Compiled by: Eamon Cody (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). The Beltany Stone Circle (National Monument Number No. 463), consists of a disturbed artificial platform c. 0.5m high defined by a circle of large stones of which sixty-four remain but which originally may have numbered about eighty (Boyle-Somerville 1922-3, 212). The stones are of varying sizes and one of them on the NE is covered on the internal side with cupmarks (there is possibly one cupmark on the external side also). The interior of the site was considerably interfered with in the 1930's (Davies 1939b, 293). Great numbers of loose stones are now lying up against the perimeter megaliths and dotted about the surface of the interior. Several stones protrude from the surface of the interior and in the SW sector there is a standing stone 1m high, almost an equilateral triangle in plan, each side .6m. Partially exposed in the ground to the W of the standing stone is the top of a long stone, possibly that referred to by Davies as suggesting a megalithic chamber. To the SE of the circle is an out-lying standing stone (DG070-026002-) 2m high. Boyle-Somerville suggested that this outlier as well as other features of the adjacent horizon were employed by the circle builders to determine astronomical alignments. The circle is situated on the summit of Beltany Hill in good land with excellent views. Sixty metres to the SW of the stone circle and on a slight terrace just below the summit of the hill, is a circular area (DG070-025----) 35m in diameter, open on the W side but defined elsewhere by stone-wall field boundaries. The area is marked as a 'Graveyard' on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch maps and as an 'Old Graveyard' on the 2nd edition. It is not clear what the exact nature of this site was but its proximity to the stone circle might suggest that they were in some way related. 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

• DG070-026002 Standing stone
  Description

  Located to the SE of Beltany stone circle (DG070-026002-) (National Monument Number No. 463), which is situated on the summit of Beltany Hill, is an out-lying standing stone 2m high. Boyle-Somerville (1909) suggested that this outlier as well as other features of the adjacent horizon were employed by the circle builders to determine astronomical alignments. The above description was derived (p. 73, no. 329) 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.

Architectural heritage

• Outbuilding, 1830–1860 · Regional interest
  Description

  Possibly originally in use as a corn store/warehouse associated with corn mill to site, now demolished. Pitched natural slate roof with projecting cut stone eaves course, and with cast-iron rainwater goods. Random rubble stone walls with remains of roughcast lime render over; flush red brick margin to the bottom half of the south-east margin. Segmental-headed window openings with painted red-brick surround and voussoirs, flat stone sills, and with replacement timber casement windows at ground floor level and batten timber shutters at first floor level having wrought-iron security bars. Square-headed carriage-arch to the north end of the east elevation having metal double-doors. Set slightly back from road with rubble stone boundary wall to road-frontage to the east having rubble stone coping over. Detached three-bay two-storey house adjacent to the north (not in survey).

• Tops, house, 1840–1860 · Regional interest
  Description

  Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c. 1852, having central decorative open cast-iron porch to front elevation (east) added c. 1880, and with single-bay two-storey wing to the rear at the south end having single-storey entrance porch to south. Single-storey with attic level and single-storey flat-roofed extensions to rear (west). Hipped slate roof with overhanging eaves having paired corbelled brackets, smooth rendered eaves course, cast-iron rainwater goods, and with a central pair of smooth rendered chimneystacks having smooth rendered coping and clay pots over. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth course, and having smooth rendered block quoins to the corners. Square-headed window openings with smooth rendered surrounds, stone sills, and having six-over-six timber sliding sash windows; vermiculated keystones over ground floor window openings and curvilinear smooth rendered apron panels to base of ground floor window openings. Central segmental-headed door opening having timber panelled double-doors flanked by sidelights over timber panels with bolection mouldings, spoked fanlight over, and with cut stone steps; doorway flanked by smooth rendered panels having inset circular and shouldered rectangular motifs. Decorative open cast-iron porch to front having cast-iron Composite columns (on circular-plan), decorative cast-iron spandrels, decorative ridge cresting with alternating shamrock and fleur-de-lys motifs, and with wrought-iron floral finials to corners. Set back from road in own grounds in the rural countryside to the south of Raphoe. Garden to front and two-storey outbuilding to the rear (west) having hipped natural slate roof, rubble stone walls, and square-headed openings. Additional two-storey outbuilding to the north, c. 1860, now ruinous, having formerly hipped and pitched roof, rubble stone walls, and square-headed window and door openings, red brick voussoirs over ground floor openings and shallow segmental-headed carriage-arch with red brick voussoirs. Rubble stone boundary walls surrounding house with soldier coursing over. Gateway to the east of house comprising a pair of decorative cast-iron gate posts (on octagonal-plan) with urn finials over, and with a pair of decorative cast-iron gates with fleur-de-lys finials over.

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 moderately high, moderately low, low, low (inferred), on the 1:50,000 map.

Terrain model

LiDAR of the Office of Public Works, flown in 2011, at 2 m: tile OPW_1835 (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 Tops with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Donegal.

Name

Tops

Area

1,058,527 m² (105.85 ha, 261.57 acres)

Civil parish

Raphoe, and its townlands

Barony

Raphoe North

Electoral division

Raphoe, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Raphoe electoral division: 1,521 people in 591 households; 59% of households own their home; 33% of homes were built since 2001; 12% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 2% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Beltany, Bogagh, Cooladerry, Drumineney, Lismontigley, Magherahaan, Stranorlaghan, Tops Demesne

Placenames

Tops 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.