Clara Upper

42 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Clara Upper, from 9 m² to 440,241 m² (44.02 ha, 108.79 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 23 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 Clara Upper 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.

• 31 Mar 2026N/a

  for the development of a 38kV underground grid connection and all ancillary works at this site situated at: Kilderry and adjoining townlands of Scart, Ballynamona, Rathgarvan (or Clifden), Churchclara, Clarabricken, Clara Upper, Clara, Kilmagar, Feathallagh and Ballysallagh Co. Kilkenny. The proposed development will consist of:- i. National grid connection in the form of a 38kV underground electrical cable and all associated infrastructure including electrical and communication ducting. The proposed grid connection is c. 8.54km in length, located within the public road (L6657, L6662, L6656, L2616, L6735 and R712) and within the permitted Kilderry Solar Farm (Pl. Ref. No. 2360382). The purpose of the proposed grid connection is to transmit electricity from the permitted Kilderry Solar Farm to the existing Kilkenny 110kV substation; ii. All associated ancillary site development works including joint bays and communication chambers. The planning application is accompanied by a Natura Impact Statement (NIS). The NIS assesses both the construction and operation of the Proposed Development, as well as integral elements of the wider project infrastructure, comprising the permitted Kilderry Solar Farm (Pl. Ref. 23/60382) which consists of the construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) farm located in the townland of Kilderry, Co. Kilkenny and all associated works. This development is covered by the provisions of the Renewable Energy Directive III (Directive (EU) 2023/2413) and it is important to note that the planning application may be subject to section 34D of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. When a notice issues in accordance with section 34D(b), the provisions of article 26A of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 to 2025 shall apply.

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 2660186

• 7 May 2024Refused

  for development. The development will consist of: (i) All works (within County Kilkenny) associated with the connection of the proposed Seskin Wind Farm to the national electricity grid, via underground 38kV electrical cabling within the public road corridor to the existing Kilkenny 110kV substation; (ii) Provision of 16 no. joint bays, communication chambers and earth sheath links along the underground electrical cabling route; (iii) Reinstatement of the road and track surfaces above cabling trench along existing roads and tracks; (iv) Carriageway strengthening works at ‘Black Bridge’ on the L1835 / L3037 (Protected Structure RPS Ref. D84); (v) A new temporary access road off the N78 to the L30372 in the townlands of Cloneen, Co. Kilkenny to facilitate the delivery of turbine components and other abnormal loads; (vi) All ancillary apparatus and site development works above and below ground.

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 2460210

• 23 Dec 2023Conditional

  for the construction of a dwelling house, site entrance and all associated site works

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 2360612

• 16 Nov 2023Conditional

  for demolition of a loose house, store house and silage pit and construction of a cubicle house, slatted tank, handling area and associated works

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 2360521

• 25 Aug 2023Conditional

  Kilderry Solar Farm Ltd. seeks a 10 year planning permission with an operational lifetime of 40 years from the date of commissioning for the development of a ground mounted solar array as well as national grid connection and all ancillary works in the townland of Kilderry, and adjoining townlands of and adjoining town lands of Scart, Ballynamona, Rathgarvan (or Clifden), Churchclara, Clarabricken, Clara Upper, Clara, Kilmagar, Feathallagh and Ballysallagh, Co. Kilkenny. The proposed development comprises the following: i. Up to 200,000 sq.m of solar PV panels up to 2.6m in height mounted on metal frames complete with c. 370 string inverters mounted to the rear of the panels; ii. Up to 16 no. Transformer Stations; iii. 38kV Substation compound including 1 no. customer control room (29.25 sq.m), 1 no. ESB control room(22.75 sq.m.) 1 no. switch gear room (29.25 sq.m.) and 1 no. spare room (21.55 sq.m.), 1 no. 38kV cable bay, 1 no. lightning mast (18m in height), 1 no. telecoms pole (11m in height), perimeter palisade fencing (2.6m in height), 7 no. lighting poles (c.3.2m in height) and associated electrical infrastructure; iv. Proposed new entrance from the Johnswell Road (L2616-9) for construction and operational access to the site; v. 2 no. temporary construction compounds for the duration of the construction phase of the project; vi. Internal tracks, site landscaping and drainage works, internal site cabling, security fencing, CCTV and all associated ancillary site development works; vii. National grid connection in the form of an underground 38 kV electrical cable (c. 8.5km in length located in the public road) from the proposed 38kV substation to the existing Kilkenny 110kV substation via the townlands of Scart, Ballynamona, Rathgarvan (or Clifden), Churchclara, Clarabricken, Clara Upper, Clara, Kilmagar, Feathallagh, Ballysallagh and Kilderry. The planning application is accompanied by a Natura Impact Statement

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 2360382

• 18 Nov 2022Conditional

  1. To construct a two- storey, part single -storey dwelling with attached single storey carport and garage. 2. The provision of a new treatment plant and perolation area, a new borehole well. 3. A new vehicular site entrance. 4. All associated site developments works.

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 22744

• 10 Feb 2022Refused

  for development, to include the following: 1. To construct a part two-storey, part single-storey dwelling with attached single storey carport & garage, 2. the provision of a new treatment plant & percolation area, a new borehole well, 3. a new vehicular site entrance 4. all associated site developments works

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 2276

• 15 Aug 2019Conditional

  of extension to existing dwelling and permission for retention of storage shed and open covered porch and all associated site works

  Retention · Kilkenny County Council, 19581

• 28 Sept 2018Conditional

  for a new single storey four bedroom 181m2 dwelling, new site entrance, wastewater treatment system and all associated site works, at

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 18641

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 Clara Upper.

Recorded monuments

• KK020-002 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and the 1900 revision as a roughly circular enclosure (overall diam. c. 52m) with a field boundary running roughly E-W along and truncating the N edge. The 25-inch OS map depicts the interior as being enclosed by a wide fosse and the W-NW edge has been disturbed by a small quarry which extends beyond the edge of the monument. It is heavily overgrown by scrub and trees. The field immediately N of the monument is under tillage and that surrounding it to the E-S-W is under pasture. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 9 November 2020

• KK020-003 Castle - tower house
  Description

  On level ground in a small river valley with a stream running roughly N-S c. 100m to the E. The view is restricted E by Grange Hill and to the N by Oliver’s Hill. There is a good view elsewhere with Freestone Hill visible to the SE. The castle was built by the Shortall family who were associated with Clara Upper since the 13th century (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 357). In 1596 Nicholas Shortall resided at Clara Upper and following his death in 1600 it was inherited by his brother Patrick and thence, upon his death in 1628, to his son Oliver Shortall (ibid. 357-8). The Shortall family appear to have been in their possession until sometime before 1642 (Leask 1937, 284). Following the Cromwellian grants it was occupied by Henry Johnson and then succeeded by the Byrne family who lived there until the beginning of the 19th century (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 359). It was still inhabited in 1905 (Leask 1937, 284). It was vested in the Commissioners of Public Works by the Irish Land Commission and a thorough repair was carried out under Leask’s supervision in 1929 (ibid.). In the main chambers at 1st, 2nd and 3rd–floor level there are timber floors, with substantial oak beams surviving, resting on wall-plates supported on corbels on the E and W walls. There is a pointed stone vault supporting the 4th-floor level. Dendrochronological dating of two beams at 1st-floor level provided precise felling dates of spring 1523, one beam at 2nd-floor level provided an estimated felling dates of 1524 ± 9 years with a second beam at 2nd-floor level providing an estimated date of 1545 ± 9 years (Brown 2007). These dates, plus the stylistic evidence of the architectural features, provides a construction date in the early 16th century. The tower house was modified in the late 16th/early 17th century as described below. A five-storey tower house (dims. 9.95m above base-batter N-S; 8.2m above base-batter E-W; wall T 1.75m) built of roughly coursed limestone rubble, with a base-batter (H 2.55m; Wth 0.18m). The parapet, with stepped crenellations, is in good condition. On the N side, protecting the entrance, there is a very small bawn (KK020-003001-), described by Leask (ibid.) as a forecourt. The tower house is entered on the N side through a pointed doorway which is defended externally by a machicolation at parapet level. The doorway leads into to a lobby which was likely protected by an overhead murder-hole in the wooden floor of the N 1st-floor chamber, though this wooden floor does not survive. To the W of the lobby a flat-headed doorway opens into a small guard-room with no window and to the E there is a pointed doorway giving access to a short mural stair leading to a spiral-stair which rises in the NE angle to all the upper levels. The stair is lit by simple loops, except between ground and 1st-floor level where there is a cross-loop in the E face. The main ground-floor chamber is entered via a pointed doorway opposite the main doorway. It is lit by three round-headed single-light windows within straight-sided embrasures, one in each of the E, S and W walls, all splaying externally with the base-batter. At 1st -floor level there is a small chamber over the entrance lobby, entered from the spiral stair and lit by two windows, one in the N wall and one in the W wall. This arrangement continues at 2nd and 3rd –floor level, each resting on a timber floor supported by corbels in the N and S walls, with a pointed vault over the 3rd –floor chamber. The 2nd-floor chamber differs from that above and below in that it is accessed from the main 2nd-floor chamber rather than from the spiral stair and it has an additional window in the form of an NW angle-loop. The main 1st-floor chamber, entered via a pointed doorway, was lit by three windows, a single-light ogee-headed window in the E and W wall and another window in the S wall which has been broken out and replaced by a crude flat-headed window. A brick fireplace with a crude wooden lintel has been inserted into the embrasure of the E window. There is a wall-cupboard at the E end of the S wall and at the N end of the W wall. The main 2nd-floor chamber, entered via a pointed doorway, is lit by two windows, a round-headed single-light window at the N end of the E wall and a two-light depressed three-centred-headed window, with mullion and glazing-bar-holes. This latter window, with its external hood-moulding, has replaced the original and has been inserted into the original embrasure. At the S end of the E wall there is a hooded fireplace with a flat-arched lintel consisting of voussoirs with a central keystone, supported from below on slender tapering corbels and counter-weighted on the N side by a round-profiled skewback and on the S side by the S wall. In the E wall of the S window embrasure there is a flat-headed doorway giving access to a small mural chamber in the S wall lit by a round-headed SE angle-loop. In the W wall of the same embrasure there is also a flat-headed doorway giving access to a mural garderobe chamber which dog-legs to run along the W wall. It is lit by a SW round-headed angle loop and a narrow loop in the W wall. The garderobe chute, which also serves a garderobe at 3rd-floor level, exits N of center in the W wall at ground level. The 3rd floor has a rather unusual arrangement in the there is a vaulted passage which runs E-W from the spiral stair and terminates in a garderobe in a small alcove to the S at the W end. The stone floor of the passage rests upon closely fitting oak floor beams (Leask 1937, 287). The passage is lit by a single flat-headed window in the W wall. At this level, hidden behind the garderobe, and accessed from a false garderobe in the floor above, is a secret mural chamber or oubliette. The oubliette has a single source of light and air in the form of a small square opening in the W wall. The main chamber at 3rd-floor level was entered from the passage, though this section of walling is completely broken out. The pointed vaulted chamber, with good wicker-centring, is lit by a round-headed single-light window in the S wall within a large straight-sided embrasure. The 4th-floor was originally accessed from via a pointed doorway from the spiral-stair and the stair continued up to parapet level. This access arrangement was altered in the late 16th/early 17th century when the spiral stair was removed, the pointed doorway blocked up and a flat-headed doorway within a boxy entrance was built on top of the former spiral stair. One of the steps of the stairs was retained and is visible in the upper NE angle of the chamber at wall-plate level. The original chamber, which occupies the entire floor level, was lit by a window in each wall, externally these are all within chamfered stone frames. There is also a flat-headed single-light window with slop-stone beneath at the N end of the E wall. The window in the E wall has been blocked up and a polished limestone fireplace inserted with depressed three-centred lintel and chamfered surround with run-out stops. In both the S and W wall there is a two-light round-headed window, with mullion missing, set within a large round-headed straight-sided embrasure. The false garderobe, described above, is located in the S wall of the W window embrasure, the floor of which gives access to the oubliette below. There is a single-light round-headed window in a round-headed straight-sided embrasure in the N wall. The wall E of this embrasure was modified in the late 16th/early 17th century to accommodate a mural stair which rises to parapet level. It is entered via a flat-headed doorway inserted into the E wall of the N window embrasure. There are three wall-cupboards at 4th-floor level, at the S end of the E wall, at the E end of the S wall and at the N end of the W wall. The wall-walk was supported internally by a double corbel course along the E and S wall and the N end of the W wall and by a triple corbel course along the W end of the N wall. The parapet was rebuilt

• KK020-003001 Bawn
  Description

  A small rectangular bawn (ext. dims. 14.6m E-W; 6.4m N-S at E end tapering to 5.8m at W end; H 3.15m; wall T 0.8-0.83m) or ‘forecourt’, as described by Leask (1937, 284), was added onto the N front façade of the tower house (KK020-003----) known as Clara Castle. The bawn, which dates from the late 16th/early 17th century, clearly abuts the early 16th-century tower house at the N end of its E and W walls. Constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble, it is heavily defended with 13 gun loops, c. 1m above ext. ground level. It is entered via a pointed doorway (H 1.93m; Wth 1.16m) in the N wall which is directly opposite the main doorway to the tower house. At the E end there are two gun loops in the S wall, one SE angle loop, two in the E wall, another NE angle loop and one at the E end of the N wall. At the W end there is one gun loop in the S wall, one SW angle loop, a gun loop on either side of the NW angle, one mid-way between the doorway and the NW angle and one W of and protecting the doorway. A undated sketch by George Du Noyer (c. 1850) shows that the forecourt formed the ground floor of two two-storey structures, entered from the existing pointed doorway (Manning 2017, 82). The E building has a steep-pitched N gable while the S gable was attached to the tower house, evidenced by a roof scar in the sketch, as the roof had collapsed. It was lit by a window in the N wall at ground-floor level and by a smaller window in the N gable at first-floor/attic level. The W building, also two-storeys with a similar window arrangement, has a lower pitched roof which was still roofed in the sketch. There appears to be a chimney stack rising from the W wall of the latter building and the former presence of a fireplace there is evidenced by internal masonry infilling. The location of the ground-floor windows are similar infilled. The E half of the interior has a good quality cobbled surface in a diamond pattern, though this is interrupted near the base of the E wall by the foundations of an internal structure, possibly a hearth. The sketch also depicts a single-storey building with cat-slide roof abutting the E wall of the tower house. The only visible evidence of this building are the tie-stones for its E wall (Wth 0.8m) projecting out from the external S face of the bawn and the cobbled surface of the internal floor. See attached photographs: KK020-003001-_01 N and W faces of tower house and N wall of bawn – exterior KK020-003001-_02 W face of tower house and bawn - exterior KK020-003001-_03 Doorway in N side of bawn – exterior KK020-003001-_04 S wall of bawn – exterior KK020-003001-_05 E wall of bawn – exterior KK020-003001-_06 E wall of bawn – interior KK020-003001-_07 W end of N wall of bawn – interior KK020-003001-_08 Patterned cobble stones in interior of bawn – E end Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 6 January 2020

• KK020-004 Enclosure - large enclosure
  Description

  Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map as a large circular enclosure (diam. c. 65m). On the 1900 revision of this map only the SW-W-NE portion is indicated suggesting that the NE-E-S portion had been levelled by this date. On Digitalglobe satellite imagery (viewed 9 November 2020) the SW-W-NE perimeter is evident. A field boundary runs immediately outside, and concentric with, the S sector. There is another similar enclosure (KK020-006----) c. 190m to the SE. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 9 November 2020

• KK020-005 Enclosure
  Description

  Immediately W of a public road. Named 'Knockaunteemeade' and indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and on the 1900 revision as a trapezoidal area (diam. c. 56m N-S. c. 31m E-W at the N, tapering to c. 12m at S) defined by scarp. Visible on Digitalglobe satellite imagery (viewed 9 November 2020) as being overgrown with trees and scrub. There is a large enclosure (KK020-004----) c. 200m to the NE and another one (KK020-006----) c. 300m to the ENE. A mineral spa well is indicated on the OS maps c. 75m to the SW. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 9 November 2020

• KK020-014 Barrow - unclassified
  Description

  In reclaimed pasture. Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and on the 1900 revision as a small circular enclosure (diam. c. 19m). The monument has been levelled and is visible on satellite imagery (Google Earth Pro, imagery date 20 November 2005) as a cropmark. The small size of this enclosure suggests it may have been a barrow. See attached satellite image: KK020-014----_01 Google Earth Pro, imagery date 20 November 2005 Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 17 November 2020

Architectural heritage

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

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 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_2224 (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 Clara Upper with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Kilkenny.

Name

Clara Upper · Clárach Uachtarach

Area

2,260,537 m² (226.05 ha, 558.59 acres)

Civil parish

Clara, and its townlands

Barony

Gowran

Electoral division

Clara, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Clara electoral division: 756 people in 205 households; 88% of households own their home; 28% of homes were built since 2001; 5% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 1% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Baunmore, Clarabricken, Eagleshill, Higginstown, Kilmagar

Placenames

Clara Upper 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.