Park Avenue, Athy

Area

242 m²

Buildings

2 buildings touch it, 111 m² on the ground

Zoning

M2 Town Centre (Athy Local Area Plan 2021 - 2027) The objective

Townland

Athy

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

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 this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 17 recorded monuments.

• KD035-021004 Settlement deserted - medieval
  Description

  Possible deserted medieval settlement located on the W bank of the River Barrow between the religious house (KD035-022006-) of the Crutched Friars founded by Richard de St. Michael in the thirteenth century and Woodstock Castle (KD035-021----). A series of linear earthworks forming rectangular features in the poorly drained field to SE may represent the remains of medieval fish-ponds (KD035-021002-). The 1656 Down Survey map of Kildare depicts a settlement in the form a cluster of buildings standing on the W bank of the River Barrow between Woodstock Castle (KD035-021----) and the religious house (KD035-022006-) of the Crutched Friars (downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php#c=Kildare). This would place the settlement in the area which today is used as a recreational council owned park. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 28 April 2016

• KD035-022 Historic town
  Description

  At a strategically important crossing point of the River Barrow. According to Bradley et al. (1986a vol. 1, 35), The placename ‘Athy’ is derived from ‘Ath I’, “the ford of Aei”, a warrior killed here in legendary combat. The Anglo-Norman settlement at Athy appears to date from at least the mid 13th-century when two priories (Dominican: KD035-022004- and Fratres Cruciferi: KD035-022006-) and a church (St. Michael’s: KD035-022014-) are known to have been in existence. The Michael family, lords of the barony of Reban since the conquest, were also the Lords of Athy. An early castle (KD035-022001-) was also likely to have existed – the sergeant of the ‘ward of Athy’ is mentioned in 1297 (ibid.) – although its precise location is not recorded. The nascent Anglo-Norman settlement must also have enjoyed a level of protection from Woodstock Castle (KD035-021----), a 13th-century structure near the W-bank of the Barrow. Athy also developed as an inland port; the passage of boats from New Ross to Athy is first referred to in the 13th-century. Although a borough is likely to have been established at an early date, (Athy was burnt in 1308), the earliest recorded evidence for its existence is not until 1326 when Geoffrey de Hereford is referred to as ‘burgess of Athy’ (op. cit 36). Although well outside the Pale, Athy was an important outpost on the route between Dublin and the Anglo-Irish territories of the south-east. Greater exposure to attack by the Irish in the later medieval period led the government to make extra provision for the defence of the town, and new fortifications were constructed in 1417. In 1431, Athy was described as the “greatest fortress and key of the countryside” (op. cit. 37). While the town is likely to have been enclosed earlier, the first specific reference to town defences (KD035-022002-) does not occur until 1515, when Athy belonged to the earl of Kildare. Athy and Kildare were granted charters by Henry VIII giving inhabitants the right to elect a provost and hold a weekly market, and authorising them to fortify their towns. Athy was a Silken Thomas stronghold in his revolt of 1534-5, and was subsequently forfeited by the earl of Kildare. The town came under repeated Irish attack in the later 16th-century. A new charter of incorporation was granted by James I in 1613 and the town was heavily garrisoned during the rebellion of 1641-2. In 1648, Athy was held by troops of Owen Roe O’Neill and was unsuccessfully besieged by Preston. In 1650, Catholic forces under Dillon blew up the castle and the bridge on the approach of the Cromwellians under Hewson. The census of 1659 recorded a population of 452 in the borough of Athy. Two serious fires occurred around 1670 when many of the inhabitants were described as “English tradesmen”. In 1682, Thomas Monk described Athy as “every way commodious for Trade, but noe manifacture being driven, poore”. The town is divided in two by the S-flowing River Barrow, but its main street pattern is linear E-W: Leinster St. to the E of the river (intersected by Stanhope St. to the N and Offaly St. to the S) and Duke St. to the W of the river (off which Woodstock St. runs to the N). Athy’s surviving street pattern is difficult to date and original elements were probably altered in the 18th-century (Bradley et al. 1986a vol. 1, 35-40). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022002 Town defences
  Description

  The Anglo-Norman settlement at Athy appears to date from at least the mid 13th-century when two priories (Dominican: KD035-022004- and Fratres Cruciferi: KD035-022006-) and a church (St. Michael’s: KD035-022014-) are known to have been in existence. The Michael family, lords of the barony of Reban since the conquest, were also the Lords of Athy. An early castle (KD035-022001-) was also likely to have existed – the sergeant of the ‘ward of Athy’ is mentioned in 1297 – although its precise location is not recorded. While the town is likely to have been enclosed earlier, the first reference to town defences does not occur until 1515, when Athy belonged to the earl of Kildare. Athy and Kildare were granted charters by Henry VIII giving inhabitants the right to elect a provost and hold a weekly market, and authorising them to fortify the town with ditches and walls of stone and lime. Customs and other income were granted to pay for the construction and upkeep of the defences (Bradley et al. 1986a, vol. 1, 37). No structural evidence of town walls survives, but a 19th-century manuscript account (NLI Ms. 16172) indicates some of their former course. A D-shaped area (est. c. 290m N-S; c. 200m E-W) on the E bank of River Barrow was enclosed and had three gates: Tubber Muilland Gate to the N on Stanhope St., St. Michael's Gate to the E on Leinster St. and Preston's (or Postern) Gate) to the S on Offaly St. This latter gate was probably named after the family which occupied it. A Du Noyer drawing (c. 1840) shows it as a rectangular gatehouse of 15th or 16th-century type, with a segmental arch. It was levelled in 1860. The Black Castle, to the E of Tubber Muilland Gate, appears to have been a mural tower, while the White Castle (KD025-022010-), within the town, defended the bridge (KD035-022008-). The area enclosed on the W bank of the Barrow is more conjecture. It appears to have been roughly square (est. c. 200m; N-S; c. 200m E-W) with one gate: Miss Helen's Gate at the W end of Duke St., possibly near the junction with St John’s Lane. No visible surface trace of any of the town’s mural defences survives (op. cit. 48). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022004 Religious house - Dominican friars
  Description

  Formerly stood near the E bank of the River Barrow inside the town defences (KD035-022002-), to the S of the later Town Hall. A Dominican Priory founded either in 1253 or 1257 by the Boisles or Ouganos (Wogans), although a de St. Michael is also a suggested founder. Suppressed in 1539 and in 1540, jurors found that the buildings had been burnt in the previous June by Donald McCare Kavanagh. An inquisition of 1542 described the friary as a church and belfry, a chapterhouse, dormitory, hall, three chambers, a kitchen, a cemetery, and a garden and orchard. It was garrisoned during the Confederate Wars and destroyed in 1650. Athy was one of the friaries re-established by Fr. Ross Mageoghegan, who became Provincial in 1622, and there were Dominicans in Athy until the mid 19th-century. (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 222; Bradley et al. 1986a, vol. 1, 54-5) No visible surface trace survives. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022006 Religious house - Fratres Cruciferi
  Description

  The Priory of St. Thomas and Hospital of St. John (Fratres Cruciferi) stood near the W bank of the River Barrow, possibly on, or just inside, the line of Athy’s town defences (KD035-022002-). Built by Richard de St Michael, Lord of Rheban, either in the reign of King John (1199-1216) or later, in 1253, and described in a document of c. 1270-80 as 'The Priory of St. Thomas the Martyr with its hospital containing brothers, sisters and sick'. The priory was dissolved by 1540, but no extent of its possessions is known. However, a deed of 1603 noted that in 1568, James Foster had been granted the Priory of St. John with a church, a hall, a garden, a stable, five cottages and a ruinous tower. Today the site is occupied by a modern monastery, a private house and a disused graveyard, the N wall of which includes a portion of wall (L 12m E-W; T 0.9m; int. H 1.8m; ext. H 3.8m) of uncoursed limestone, with the splays of a blocked window, possibly the remains of the original priory. Some dressed limestone and granite pieces in the graveyard together with an architectural feature (KD035-022019-) - a window - incorporated into an adjoining garden wall, all probably came from the levelled priory. (Bradley et al. 1986a, vol. 1, 56-8; Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 210-11) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022008 Bridge
  Description

  Spanning the broad S-flowing River Barrow, and a strategically important crossing point. While the first bridge was probably constructed by the Anglo-Normans during the 13th-century, linking the settlements on both sides of the river, the first direct reference to a bridge is not until 1423. The bridge, defended by the adjacent White Castle (KD035-022010-) on the E bank of the Barrow, was damaged and repaired on several occasions in the late medieval period and later, in 1650, during the Confederate Wars. The present bridge was built in 1794 (Bradley et al. 1986a, vol. 1, 43). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022010 Castle - tower house
  Description

  On the E bank of the River Barrow, beside Cromaboo Bridge (KD035-022008-). In 2006 and 2008, Mr. Ben Murtagh was engaged by the owner to conduct a historic building study of the structure and identified at least four construction phases (Murtagh 2011, 145-81). In the primary phase, in the first-half of the 16th-century, a four-storied rectangular (ext. 11.75m N-S; 9.35m E-W) ‘urban tower house’ with battlements and roof was constructed, and now forms the S-half of the present building on the site. Built of quarried roughly dressed grey limestone blocks laid in irregular courses with lime mortar, the walls have a base batter and well-dressed quoins on each corner. Although a modern render obscures many original features, and a later building obscures the N gable-wall face, some fine punch-dressed stones are visible on surviving original windows. On the W sidewall, an original cross-loop has a direct line of fire onto the adjoining bridge and two further blocked loops were identified in this wall. On the S gable wall, there are two single light windows; a round-headed one on the first floor and, directly above, an ogee-headed one. There is an angle loop in the SE corner, and a second possible blocked angle loop in the NE corner. The E sidewall contains two blocked single-light windows, one above the other. A pointed-arched doorway, with an external rebate for an iron grate, in the S gable wall - off the street - gave to a lobby with a guard room to the W and a staircase to the E. This doorway was subsequently closed down and a window inserted into it when a later doorway was inserted at the S end of the E sidewall. A crucifixion plaque (KD035-022018-) and a memorial stone (KD035-022023-) were inserted into the outer face of wall on either side of the original doorway. Later internal renovations and dry-lining obscured some original features. The main ground floor room, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, is almost square (5.2m N-S; 4.7m E-W), and was originally lit by three tall loops: one in the W wall which was replaced by a larger window, a round-headed loop in the N wall which had a later fireplace inserted into its embrasure, and an ogee-headed loop in the E wall. Large beam-sockets in the N wall indicate the original 4th floor-level. ‘Phase II’ occurred c.1802, when a three storey rectangular extension (9.45m N-S; 9m E-W) was added at the N, and doubled the size of the structure to facilitate its use as a prison in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion. Three uniform floor levels were created throughout the entire structure, and the present battlements and hipped roof were constructed. On top of the W wall, some original gutter stones survive and indicate that the original wall-walk and roof was more-or-less at the same level as the present one. A passage way was created at ground floor-level in the N wall of the tower house to access the new structure in which vaulted cells lit by narrow loops were constructed to keep prisoners. Larger windows with iron bars were used at first and second floor-levels, and a number of similar windows were also inserted into the tower house, where it can be seen that they don’t match its original floor levels. ‘Phase III’ occurred between c. 1830, when the building become an RIC police barracks, and 1872, when renovations included the insertion of sash windows and the construction of a further small extension at the N end. ‘Phase IV’ lasted from the late19th-century to the present, when the structure was used as a private residence. The small N extension was removed and the interior was dry-lined. In 2006, archaeological excavation (Excavation Licence No. 06E0426) in the garden adjoining the castle to the E revealed an in-filled mill-race of apparently 18th-century date (Devine 2009, 236-7). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022014 Church
  Description

  In a graveyard (KD035-022014-) to the E of and outside the medieval town of Athy (KD035-022----). According to Bradley et al. (1986a vol. 1, 50-54), the foundation date is uncertain, the earliest reference being in 1297 or 1298 when the dedication to St. Michael is given, probably in deference to the S. Michael family, Lords of Athy, and the likely founders. In 1311, John PouKoc and Alice Heyne were charged with entering the church “by a window which he first broke” and stealing goods including silver, textiles and foodstuffs from various chests deposited by different individuals. In 1569, a reference to the rectory of St. Michael notes that it had belonged to “the late hospital of St. John” [KD035-022006-]. The Royal Visitation of Dublin, 1615 (Ronan 1941a, 48) and Archbishop Bulkeley’s Visitation of Dublin, 1630 (Ronan 1941b, 93) both note that the church was in good repair, and in 1630, those who frequented divine service were numbered at 150. The earliest register of the parish of Athy notes that subscriptions for repairing the church were collected in 1677. The ivy-clad remains of a ruined rectangular structure (27.8m E-W; 9.8m N-S) built of roughly coursed mortared limestone rubble survive. Entered originally through a round-arched doorway in the S wall which was subsequently blocked, probably in the 15th-century, when a smaller arch was inserted. This also probably coincided with the insertion of a second doorway in the N wall opposite. The N wall also contains two robbed out windows. The E gable wall is reduced to foundation level, apart from the NE angle, while the W gable wall (T 1.2m) survives to full height and contains a square-headed window, with a second similar window above suggesting the existence of a loft. A font is said to have been buried within the church and two 13th-century grave slabs (KD035-022016- and KD035-022017-) and a 16th/17th-century crucifixion plaque in the church were removed to the Athy Heritage Centre and Museum in Emily Square. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022015 Graveyard
  Description

  To the E of and outside the medieval town of Athy (KD035-022----). Formerly a rectangular area (est. c. 60m N-S; c. 40m E-W) surrounding St. Michael’s parish church (KD035-022014-), but extended significantly to W and N in modern times. The earliest legible gravemarkers date from the 18th-century. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

• KD035-022016 Graveslab
  Description

  Formerly in St. Michael’s parish church (KD035-022-014-) but now housed in the Athy Heritage Centre and Museum in Emily Square. The lower half of a tapering slab (L 1.07m; Wth 0.42-0.53m; T 0.16m) is decorated in false relief with the shaft of a cross terminating in a fleur-de-lys. Probably 13th-century in date. (Bradley et al. 1986a, vol. 1, 53). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013

And 7 more.

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

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).

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Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. 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.