Castletogher

133 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Castletogher, from 110 m² to 129,357 m² (12.94 ha, 31.96 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 28 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 Castletogher 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.

• 29 Jan 2026Conditional

  of existing permitted dwelling house (Pl. Ref. No. 3779) & domestic garage on revised site boundaries and associated siteworks

  Retention, 1 home · Galway County Council, 2660113

• 9 Nov 2023Conditional

  to construct dwellinghouse & domestic garage, wastewater treatment system & associated siteworks. Gross floor space of proposed works: 227 sqm (House) & 60 sqm (garage)

  Permission, 1 home · Galway County Council, 2361336

• 13 Oct 2017Conditional

  to (1) Retain domestic garage and fuel store, boiler house, wastewater treatment system and percolation area associated site works/services previously granted under planning ref no. 05/191 & 07/1109 (2) Construct dwelling house to be connected to existing treatment system and associated site works. Gross floor space of proposed works 305.80sqm, Gross floor space of work to be retained 43.30.

  Permission, 1 home · Galway County Council, 171491

• 3 Aug 2017N/a

  and completion of dwelling house and associated siteworks/services previously granted under planning ref no. 05/191 & 07/1109 (2) Retain and complete boiler house shed. (3) Retain storage shed (4) Retain mobile home and veranda and associated siteworks. Gross floor space of proposed works 304.60sqm., retention 404.30sqm

  Retention · Galway County Council, 171174

• 20 Feb 2017Conditional

  for a forest access road and entrance.

  Permission · Galway County Council, 17210

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 Castletogher.

Recorded monuments

• GA006-042 Castle - unclassified
  Description

  In level grassland, some 50m S of a stream. In existence in 1574 when it was in the possession of 'Tibbot Vlligs sonnes' (Nolan 1901b, 117) but evidently levelled by 1839 (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 69). No visible surface trace survives. (Knox 1902a, 401) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

• GA006-043 Enclosure
  Description

  On a rise in undulating grassland overlooking bogland to E. An originally circular enclosure (D c. 45m) defined by a scarp from NE through E to SW. No visible surface trace of the enclosing element survives elsewhere as it is cut by a road from SW to NW, and by a field wall at NW and NE. A castle (GA066-042----) lies to N. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

• GA006-044 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  On E-facing slope of a low hill in undulating grassland. Circular rath (D 36m), in fair condition, defined by an overgrown earthen bank breached by numerous cattle gaps. Field walls radiate from the monument at NW and E. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

• GA006-045 Road - class 2 togher
  Description

  In a lowlying situation, exposed in a peat bank, with limited views in all directions. A 22m length togher is exposed along the section face of a peat bank which has been machine cut. It lies 0.8m below the bog surface and 1.35m above the marl below in well humified peats. The togher comprises very densely packed roundwood transverse timbers running from E-W, five to six timbers deep. Measured along a drain at the top of the bog the togher is 3.35m wide and is 0.45m deep in section. While very closely packed there are occasional longitudinal timbers including planks within the togher structure. Roundwoods vary in size from 0,11-0,17m. At the base of the togher, including on an oak plank sampled for dating purposes, is a very fine sand. Portions of damaged timbers are spread on the surface of the adjacent ground comprising roundwoods, half splits and some quartered timbers, many split along radials. There is a high proportion of oak observed but there are other species visible as well. Sampled for wood species, dendrochronology and radiocarbon. This togher may be trackway which provided its name to the townland and which was the boundary between opposing forces at the Battle of Ballymoe (GA006-134----). As recorded in a previous description "In bogland S of the Springfield River. According to local information, a wooden causeway was uncovered in the bog during turf-cutting operations some 40 years ago. It was described as being built of timbers laid flat, edge to edge, with others piled vertically into the bog. Large quantities of horseshoes and iron fragments were also discovered.’ (Alcock, de hÓra and Gosling,1999) At this time the togher was unlocated. It is very likely that this monment is the ‘togher’ referred to in the various sources for the battle of Ballymoe (1316). The Annals of the Four Masters mentions it in this context: ‘A great army was mustered by Felim O’Conor by Mac Feorais [Bermingham] and the English of West Connaught. They marched to Tochar-mona-Coinneadha. Rory the son of Cathal O’Conor, king of Connacht, came against them with all his forces, and a battle was fought between them, in which Rory was defeated and he himself slain, together with Dermot Gall Mac Dermot, Lord of Moylurg, Cormac Mac Keherny, chief of Ciarraighe, and many others of the chiefs of his gallowglasses and of his own particular friends.’ (AFM, iii, 507-8) The account preserved in the Annals of Connacht is a little more specific as to the location of the battle : ‘He [now] saw Fedlim, aggressive and fierce, at the head of his household troops, with his foster-father Maelruanaid Mac Diarmata and his followings by his side, as well as the sons of Domnall Ua Conchobair and the descendants of Donnchad son of Tomaltach [?Mac Donncada] and the Galls of West Connacht in their assembly and marching order, making towards Tochar Mona Conneda. And on the other side were the men of Connacht with their king, Ruaidri son of Cathal Ua Conchobair, Diarmait Gall Mac Diarmata, king of Moylurg, and the rest. They faced each other on the moor of Tochar and Ruaidri was overpowered by the greater force of men and arms and armour and he fell there – the king of Connacht, the most valorous and valiant of the Gaels, the destroyer of marauders and the banisher of foreigners out of Ireland.’ (The Annals of Connacht, ed. A. Martin Freeman (Dublin, 1944), 243-5). The Annals of Lough Cé also confirm this location: ‘Then it was that they perceived Fedhlim advancing towards them vigorously, fiercely at the head of his retainers, accompanied by Maelruanaidh Mac Diarmada with his own kindred and followers. And the sons of Domnall O’Conchobair, and the sons of Donnchadh, son of Tomaltach, together with the Foreigners of the West of Connacht, were also there in his advance and muster towards Tóchar-móna-Coinnedha [the causeway of Coinnidh’s bog]. The Connachtmen were on one side, including Ruaidhri, son of Cathal O’Conchobair, king of Connacht, and Diarmaid Gall Mac Diarmada, king of Magh-Luirg at that time, and the other men of Connacht. And they all faced one another on the bog of the causeway and then delivered a fierce, sudden battle to each other. The superior number of the hands and weapons, together with the mail-armour of the Foreigners, vanquished Ruaidhri so that the king of Connacht, Ruaidhri, son of Cathal – i.e. the head of the valour and bravery of the Gaeidhel, and the extirpator of pirates and bandits, and the expeller of foreigners and stranger-tribes from Erinn – fell there; . . .’ (Annals of Loch Cé, ed. William M. Hennessy (London, 1871), i, 581-3). O’Donovan in his edition of the Annals of the Four Masters provides the following locational details: ‘Tochar Mona Coinneadha, i.e., the togher or causeway of the bog of Coinneadh. The situation of this causeway is still well known. It is in the parish of Templetogher, between Ballimoe and Dunmore, in the north-east of the county of Galway, and the ruins of a church and castle are to be seen near it.’ (AFM, iii, 354, note x) A local website describes the togher as follows: 'The Construction of the Tochar Tochar Mona Conneda is 1.3km. in length and 3m wide and has an east-west alignment. Much of the road has been destroyed by turf cutting, though 50% is still intact. The tochar is located 0.6m below the bog surface which was exposed by turf cutting during the twentieth century. Horseshoes and other ironware were also found from the Medieval Period. (http://bmmyheritagecom.weebly.com/) Based on the above potential location of the ‘togher’ the two monuments mentioned by O’Donovan undoubtedly may be identified as Templetogher church (GA006-122003-) and castle (GA006-042----). It is of interest that the inventory entry for GA006-045---- records ‘Large quantities of horseshoes and iron fragments’ discovered at the togher and it is tempting to speculate that these relate to the fateful Battle of Ballymoe in 1316. On an opposing peat bank to the W is GA006-136---- a gravel road. There was no evidence for the survival of horse-shoes with the wooden togher although a portion of a horse shoe was retrieved from GA006-136---- gravel road. Compiled by: Margaret Keane and Paul Walsh Uploaded on: 5 July 2020

• GA006-134 Battlefield
  Description

  The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To access available information for research purposes please make an appointment in advance with the Archive Unit (open Fridays 10.00 am – 5.00 pm), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, The Custom House, Dublin 1 D01W6XO or email NMarchive@housing.gov.ie.

• GA006-136 Road - gravel/stone trackway - peatland
  Description

  17m long exposure of a gravel roadway in a series of peat banks which have been machine cut. This top of the togher is approximately 20cm below the top of the bog.

Architectural heritage

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

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 5 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

Susceptibility 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 Castletogher.

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 Castletogher with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Galway.

Name

Castletogher · Caisleán an Tóchair

Area

1,734,058 m² (173.41 ha, 428.5 acres)

Civil parish

Templetogher, and its townlands

Barony

Ballymoe

Electoral division

Kilcroan, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Kilcroan electoral division: 596 people in 224 households; 75% of households own their home; 40% of homes were built since 2001; 25% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 2% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ballyglass South, Ballyglass West, Gorteen, Kilsallagh, Monasterowen, Pollaneyster, Straid

Placenames

Castletogher 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.