Rathcoffey Demesne

12 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Rathcoffey Demesne, from 328 m² to 534,359 m² (53.44 ha, 132.04 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 26 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 Rathcoffey Demesne 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.

• 3 Jul 2025Refused

  for construction of a rotary milking parlour, dairy, plant room, collecting yard, drafting facilities, cubicle shed, roofless cubicles, underground slatted tank, silage pit and lined slurry lagoon, erection of external milk tank, meal bins, water storage tank, internal farm roadway, alterations to existing farm entrance and associated site works necessary to facilitate the proposed development. This application falls within the curtilage of Protected Structures, Castle, RPS No B10-02.

  Permission · Kildare County Council, 2560744

• 10 Jun 2025N/a

  for rotary milking parlour, dairy, plant room, collecting yard, drafting facilities, cubicle shed, roofless cubicles, underground slatted tank, silage pit and lined slurry lagoon, erection of external milk tank, meal bins, water storage tank, internal farm roadway, alterations to existing farm entrance and associated site works necessary to facilitate the proposed development

  Permission · Kildare County Council, 2560648

• 6 Jan 2022Conditional

  construction of a rotary milking parlour, dairy, plant room, collecting yard, drafting facilities, cubicle shed, roofless cubicles, underground slatted tank, silage pit and lined slurry lagoon, erection of external milk tank, meal bins and water storage tank and associated site works necessary to facilitate the proposed development. Revised by Significant Further Information which consists of a proposed alternative access at a different location within the landholding and proposed works at that new entrance

  Permission · Kildare County Council, 225

• 4 May 2021Conditional

  a new detached single storey storage shed and all associated site works

  Permission, 1 home · Kildare County Council, 21603

• 4 May 2018Conditional

  the construction of a single storey standalone extension to the existing school buildings. The proposed extension shall be approximately 370sqm with a ridge height of approximately 5.8m above ground floor level. It shall be located to the North-East of the existing school main accommodation. The proposed works shall comprise of two no. primary classrooms with ancillary wc facilities and one no. multi-purpose hall for PE and assembly purposes. The new extension will accommodate existing staff and pupil numbers currently using the school facilities

  Permission · Kildare County Council, 18520

• 14 Feb 2018Conditional

  constructing a bungalow, detached domestic garage, septic tank effluent treatment system, and all ancillary site-works

  Permission, 2 homes · Kildare County Council, 18146

• 6 Oct 2017Refused

  Constructing a bungalow, detached domestic garage, septic tank effluent treatment system, and all ancillary site-works.

  Permission, 1 home · Kildare County Council, 171113

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 Rathcoffey Demesne.

Recorded monuments

• KD010-016 Ringfort - unclassified
  Description

  In tillage at the E foot of a low ridge carrying Rathcoffey Castle (KD010-018001-) c. 500m to the SW. A slightly raised (H 1-1.5m), sub-circular area (int. diams. 32.1m N-S; 28.9m E-W) is defined by a low, inner earthen bank (int. H 0.3-0.5m; Wth 3m; ext. H 1.9-2.2m) NNW-E-SSE which is reduced to a scarp (av. H 1m) elsewhere, and by an outer fosse (Wth 0.8m; D 0.6-1m) which is reused as a modern drain, with plastic land-drainage pipes visible in the E and W sectors. The interior slopes gently down W-E (H 0.5m) and the E sector is disturbed and contains decaying tree stumps while low thorn and scrub is starting to establish itself in the W sector. Visible, in tillage, on a 2005 aerial photo (OSi Orthophoto) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

• KD010-018001 Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle
  Description

  National Monument No. 404. According to Leask, lands in the area were granted to the de Wogan's in 1317 and the castle was probably built shortly afterwards (SMR File). The castle was attacked in 1454, fortified in 1641 (Harbison 1975, 126), and the mansion was built post-c.1785 (Bence-Jones 1978, 239). Prominently sited on the SE shoulder of a hill in arable land, with a panoramic view from N clockwise to WSW and overlooking an enclosure (KD010-016----) c. 500m to NE. A gatehouse (KD010-018002-) stands slightly upslope to NW and low earthworks (KD010-018003-), visible on an aerial photograph (CUCAP BDU 36), to the N and E may mark late-18th/19th century garden features. Sections of the Pale Boundary Ditch survive some two miles away to NNW (KD010-001----) and c. 1300m away to SSW (KD010-021----). The site comprises the poorly preserved remains of a 14th century castle subsequently incorporated (above and to W) into a 17th century fortified house (KD010-018004-) which in turn forms part of a late 18th century mansion (KD010-018005-). Render and plaster obscure the detail, especially of the 17th century phase, but the earliest remains, in the NE angle, are of a rectangular structure (int. dims. L 15.5m E-W; Wth 6.18m N-S; wall T 1.9m) built of unbattered rubble masonry with a wicker-centred, barrel-vaulted ceiling (H 3.1m) orientated on an E-W axis over the ground floor. Two loops in the S wall (at E end, and W of centre) are original. Two external doorways, in the N and E walls, are later insertions and the N wall also contains traces of a blocked-up, earlier doorway (Wth 1.15m) to E of centre, and the sill-stone of a blocked-up window at its E end. The S wall contains three doorways giving internal access to the brick-vaulted ground-floor of the later building phase, the W portion of which is accessed via two doorways in the W wall and to which phase three plain windows in the N wall also belong. Back-to back fireplaces are inserted at ground-floor level just E of centre. First-floor level is inaccessible but was served by two wooden stairs, in the SE corner and at the W end of the later building, from where the castle's first floor was subsequently accessed. At second-floor level traces of a blocked twin-light window are visible in the E wall. The three-storied mansion has a S facing front of three bays recessed between two bay projections, linked at ground-floor level by an arcade. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

• KD010-018002 Gatehouse
  Description

  National Monument No. 404. Prominently sited on the SE shoulder of a hill in arable land, slightly upslope, c. 50m to the NW, of a 14th century, de Wogan castle (KD010-018001-) which was later incorporated into a 17th century fortified house (KD010-018004-) and 18th century mansion (KD010-018005-). Low earthworks (KD010-018003-) to N and E may mark late 18th/19th century landscaped gardens associated with an extant walled-garden to the S, and are visible on an aerial photograph (CUCAP, BDU036) Two sections of the Pale Boundary Ditch survive nearby; c. 2 miles to NNW (KD010-001----) and c. 1300m to SSW (KD010-021----). A three-storied rectangular structure with caphouse (ext. dims. L 10.5m N-S; max. Wth 7.1m E-W; av. wall T 1.1m) built of unbattered, coursed masonry with roughly dressed quoins, comprises the E wall of a tall and otherwise robbed-out, central round-arched passageway (Wth 3.2m) orientated on an E-W axis with a loop above at second-floor level, and flanked at S by a small, poorly preserved, roofless rectangular guardroom (int. dims. L 3.06m E-W; Wth 1m N-S) and at N by a larger, fairly well-preserved rectangular tower (int. dims. L 4.7m E-W; Wth 2.5m N-S). The guardroom is entered from the central passageway through a narrow, round-headed doorway at the E end of its N wall. The E wall survives to three stories in height and contains a narrow round-headed doorway at first-floor level. The S and W walls are almost levelled, but traces of a window-jamb in the S wall and an embrasure in the W wall survive at ground-floor level. A late-19th century drawing (Murphy 1890-91, 119) shows a chimney stack atop the S wall, a garderobe-ope in the W wall and short portions of a bawn wall running off to N and S, while in a 1940 sketch-plan (SMR File) Leask indicates a projecting chimney-flue and an ogee-headed window in the S wall at first-floor level, and that the W-arch of the central passageway was intact: none of these features survive. The larger tower is entered from the central passageway through a tall, narrow, round-headed doorway mid-way along its S wall, which also contains two cupboards at its E end. A shallow embrasure in the SW corner contains a plain, lintelled-doorway giving access to a spiral stairs (int. diam. 1.37m) which is accommodated by the slight external projection of the SW angle. There is a broad, flat-arched alcove containing a concrete feeding-trough in the W wall and the N wall contains a blocked-up loop at its E end and a centrally placed blocked-up fireplace whose flue projects externally from second-floor level. The ground-floor has been converted into a carriage-house/stables and a wide (Wth 2.2m) flat, red-bricked archway is inserted into the E wall. A vaulted-arch (orientated E-W) covered the ground-floor but only its scar line is visible in the N wall, and later joist-holes (H 2.7m above ground) in the S wall mark first-floor level. The spiral stairs is lit by four loops (one looking W between ground/first-floor level; one looking S between first/second-floor-level; one looking W at second-floor level, and one looking W between second-floor level and cap-house). The stairs gives access to the first floor via a plain doorway with a missing lintel, in the SW angle. First-floor level is lit by a broad, round-headed window in the E wall and there is a blocked (double-splayed?) loop in the N wall. The S wall is re-faced with red brick, and a broad alcove in the W wall has concrete repair work. At second-floor level two plain doorways lead off the stairs: one to a small garderobe chamber (int. dims. L 1.68m N-S; Wth 0.81m) with a partially robbed, lintelled roof, in the W wall, lit by a double-splayed loop in its N wall, (with the chute-ope on the outer wall face near ground-level); and the other to second-floor level which would have extended S over the central passageway but whose S wall is gone. This level is lit by a fine twin-light, ogee-headed window in the E wall and a broad, round-headed window in the N wall, which also contains a blocked fire place. Corbels projecting inwards from the tops of the E and W walls would have carried a wall walk. The small rectangular cap-house is inaccessible as the top steps of the stairs are robbed-out. It was lit by a loop in its W wall, and two doorways, at N and S, gave access to the now destroyed battlements. May date to late 15th/early 16th century. (Harbison 1975,126; Bence-Jones 1978,239; Quirke 2011, 104-124) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 13 December 2011

• KD010-018003 Designed landscape - formal garden
  Description

  Recorded on the 1st ed. of the OS 6-inch map (1838) as two, formally laid out, rectangular gardens with internal pathways and divisions, the larger (est. dims. L c. 90m E-W; Wth c. 80m N-S) lying immediately NE of Rathcoffey House (KD010-018005-) is mirrored by a slightly smaller garden (est. dims. L c. 70m E-W; Wth c. 60m N-S) immediately to the SW of the house. Visible on a 1970's aerial photograph (CUCAP BDU036) as low earthworks, but extensive ploughing has removed obvious visible surface traces. An elongated pond or lake (est. dims. L c. 180m; Wth c. 30m), possibly marking the end of a vista, is also recorded on the OS 1st ed., on lower ground c. 450m S of the house. Now dry, it is known locally as the 'decoy', and in the 1890's and 1950's, produced several skulls and antlers of giant Irish deer. (JKAS 1945, 420-24) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

• KD010-018004 House - fortified house
  Description

  National Monument No. 404. According to Leask, lands in the area were granted to the de Wogan's in 1317 and an Anglo-Norman masonry castle (KD010-018001-) was probably built shortly afterwards (SMR File). The castle was attacked in 1454, fortified in 1641 (Harbison 1975, 126), and incorporated into a mansion built post-c.1785 (Bence-Jones 1978, 239). Prominently sited on the SE shoulder of a hill in arable land, with a panoramic view from N clockwise to WSW and overlooking an enclosure (KD010-016----) c. 500m to NE. A gatehouse (KD010-018002-) stands slightly upslope to NW and low earthworks (KD010-018003-), visible on an aerial photograph (CUCAP BDU036), to the N and E may mark late-18th/19th century garden features. Sections of the Pale Boundary Ditch survive some two miles away to NNW (KD010-001----) and c. 1300m away to SSW (KD010-021----). The site comprises the poorly preserved remains of a 14th century castle subsequently incorporated (above and to W) into a 17th century fortified house which was in turn incorporated into a late 18th century mansion (KD010-018005-). Render and plaster obscure the detail, especially of the 17th century phase, but the earliest remains, in the NE angle, are of a rectangular structure (int. dims. L 15.5m E-W; Wth 6.18m N-S; wall T 1.9m) built of unbattered rubble masonry with a wicker-centred, barrel-vaulted ceiling (H 3.1m) orientated on an E-W axis over the ground floor. Two loops in the S wall (at E end, and W of centre) are original. Two external doorways, in the N and E walls, are later insertions and the N wall also contains traces of a now blocked-up, earlier doorway (Wth 1.15m), to E of centre, and the sill-stone of a blocked-up window at its E end. The S wall contains three doorways giving internal access to the brick-vaulted ground-floor of the later building phase, the W portion of which is accessed via two doorways in the W wall and to which phase three plain windows in the N wall also belong. Back-to back fireplaces are inserted at ground-floor level just E of centre. First-floor level is inaccessible but was served by two wooden stairs, in the SE corner and at the W end of the later building, from where the castle's first floor was subsequently accessed. At second-floor level traces of a blocked twin-light window are visible in the E wall. The three-storied mansion has a S facing front of three bays recessed between two bay projections, linked at ground-floor level by an arcade. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

• KD010-018005 House - 18th/19th century
  Description

  A National Monument. According to Leask, lands in the area were granted to the de Wogan's in 1317 and a castle (KD010-018001-) was probably built shortly afterwards (SMR File). The castle was attacked in 1454, fortified in 1641 (Harbison 1975, 126), and the mansion was built post-c.1785 (Bence-Jones 1978, 239). Prominently sited on the SE shoulder of a hill in arable land, with a panoramic view from N clockwise to WSW and overlooking an enclosure (KD010-016----) c. 500m to NE. A gatehouse (KD010-018002-) stands slightly upslope to NW and low earthworks (KD010-018003-), visible on an aerial photograph (CUCAP BDU036), to the N and E may mark late-18th/19th century garden features. Sections of the Pale Boundary Ditch survive some two miles away to NNW (KD010-001----) and c. 1300m away to SSW (KD010-021----). The site comprises the poorly preserved remains of a 14th century castle subsequently incorporated (above and to W) into a 17th century fortified house (KD010-018004-) which was in turn incorporated into a late 18th century mansion (KD010-018005-). Render and plaster obscure the detail, especially of the 17th century phase, but the earliest remains, in the NE angle, are of a rectangular structure (int. dims. L 15.5m E-W; Wth 6.18m N-S; wall T 1.9m) built of unbattered rubble masonry with a wicker-centred, barrel-vaulted ceiling (H 3.1m) orientated on an E-W axis over the ground floor. Two loops in the S wall (at E end, and W of centre) are original. Two external doorways, in the N and E walls, are later insertions and the N wall also contains traces of a now blocked-up, earlier doorway (Wth 1.15m), to E of centre, and the sill-stone of a blocked-up window at its E end. The S wall contains three doorways giving internal access to the brick-vaulted ground-floor of the later building phase, the W portion of which is accessed via two doorways in the W wall and to which phase three plain windows in the N wall also belong. Back-to back fireplaces are inserted at ground-floor level just E of centre. First-floor level is inaccessible but was served by two wooden stairs, in the SE corner and at the W end of the later building, from where the castle's first floor was subsequently accessed. At second-floor level traces of a blocked twin-light window are visible in the E wall. The three-storied mansion has a S facing front of three bays recessed between two bay projections, linked at ground-floor level by an arcade. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

• KD010-043 Enclosure
  Description

  Situated on the demesne lands of Rathcoffey House located 300m to SSE. Cropmark of small enclosure visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph. Could be the remains of a tree-ring of post 1700 date as it is located on the demesne lands of Rathcoffey House. A small grove of trees is depicted at this location on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Colin Flynn Date of upload: 2 August 2018

• KD010-044 Designed landscape - tree-ring
  Description

  Situated on the demesne lands of Rathcoffey House located 225m to NNE. Cropmark of small enclosure visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph. Appears to be the remains of a tree-ring of post 1700 date as it is located on the demesne lands of Rathcoffey House. A small grove of trees is depicted at this location on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map. Outlined as a small enclosure on the current edition of the OS 6-inch map. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Colin Flynn Date of upload: 2 August 2018

• KD010-045 Dovecote
  Description

  Dovectote situated on the demesne lands of Rathcoffey Castle (KD010-018001-) and House (KD010-018004-/005-)standing 260m to ESE. Annotated on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map as 'Old Pigeon Ho.' but not depicted on subsequent editions of the OS maps. No surface remains visible of dovecote on Digital Globe aerial photograph. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 2 August 2018

• KD010-046 Enclosure
  Description

  Cropmark of circular-shaped enclosure (approx. diam. 25m) traversed by field boundary visible on Google earth aerial imagery. Enclosure (KD010-043----) 80m to NE. See attached image taken from Google Earth aerial photographs taken 28/06/2018. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details kindly provided by Edward O'Riordan. Date of upload: 3 November 2018

• KD010-047 Barrow - unclassified
  Description

  Cropmark of small circular-shaped enclosure (approx. diam. 8m) visible on Google earth aerial imagery. See attached image taken from Google Earth aerial photographs taken 28/06/2018. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details kindly provided by Edward O'Riordan. Date of upload: 3 November 2018

• KD010-048 Barrow - unclassified
  Description

  Cropmark of small circular-shaped enclosure (approx. diam. 10m) visible on Google earth aerial imagery. See attached image taken from Google Earth aerial photographs taken 28/06/2018. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details kindly provided by Edward O'Riordan. Date of upload: 3 November 2018

• KD010-052 Barrow - unclassified
  Description

  Cropmark of roughly circular-shaped enclosure/barrow (approx. diam. 10m) visible on Google earth aerial imagery. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details kindly provided by Edward O'Riordan. See attached image taken from Google Earth aerial photographs taken 28/06/2018. Date of upload: 5 November 2018

Architectural heritage

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

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 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_2757 (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 Rathcoffey Demesne with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Kildare.

Name

Rathcoffey Demesne

Area

892,679 m² (89.27 ha, 220.59 acres)

Civil parish

Balraheen, and its townlands

Barony

Ikeathy and Oughterany

Electoral division

Balraheen, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Balraheen electoral division: 2,559 people in 663 households; 87% of households own their home; 36% of homes were built since 2001; 5% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 0% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Graiguesallagh, Rathcoffey North, Rathcoffey South

Placenames

Rathcoffey Demesne 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.