# Middlemount, Co. Laois: townland, land parcels and planning Townland in the civil parish of Aghaboe, barony of Clarmallagh, Co. Laois; in Irish An Láithreach. - Area (Tailte Éireann): 749,112 m² (74.91 ha, 185.11 acres) - Land parcels (Tailte Éireann): 22 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in it, median 11,596 m² (1.16 ha, 2.87 acres) - Zoning (national zoning, MyPlan): not in a zoned settlement - Planning (National Planning Applications): 5 applications since 2010 - Civil parish: Aghaboe, https://everytownland.com/laois/parish/aghaboe.md - Barony: Clarmallagh - Electoral division: Grantstown, the unit of the census - Census 2022 (Central Statistics Office): 388 people lived in 137 households in the Grantstown electoral division. 87% of households owned their home. 29% of homes were built since 2001. 7% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 0% were holiday homes. - County: Co. Laois, https://everytownland.com/laois.md - Placenames Database of Ireland: https://www.logainm.ie/en/27993 - Townland number at Tailte Éireann: 100837 - Centre: latitude 52.861521, longitude -7.540932 (WGS 84) ## Land parcels (registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann) 22 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Middlemount, from 110 m² to 197,680 m² (19.77 ha, 48.85 acres); 21 neighbouring parcels touch its boundary. Largest first: - Parcel 225411: 197,680 m² (19.77 ha, 48.85 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/225411.md - Parcel 260720: 155,420 m² (15.54 ha, 38.41 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/260720.md - Parcel 264320: 97,380 m² (9.74 ha, 24.06 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/264320.md - Parcel 5623407: 71,015 m² (7.1 ha, 17.55 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/5623407.md - Parcel 227924: 70,193 m² (7.02 ha, 17.35 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/227924.md - Parcel 228154: 34,000 m² (3.4 ha, 8.4 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/228154.md - Parcel 267306: 13,497 m² (1.35 ha, 3.34 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/267306.md - Parcel 266946: 13,297 m² (1.33 ha, 3.29 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/266946.md - Parcel 3004616: 13,024 m² (1.3 ha, 3.22 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/3004616.md - Parcel 263024: 12,987 m² (1.3 ha, 3.21 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/263024.md - Parcel 226152: 11,733 m² (1.17 ha, 2.9 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/226152.md - Parcel 260727: 11,460 m² (1.15 ha, 2.83 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/260727.md - Parcel 260558: 7,804 m² (0.78 ha, 1.93 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/260558.md - Parcel 4656206: 6,092 m² (0.61 ha, 1.51 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/4656206.md - Parcel 254658: 4,343 m² (0.43 ha, 1.07 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/254658.md - Parcel 5783310: 4,189 m² (0.42 ha, 1.04 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/5783310.md - Parcel 230820: 3,617 m² (0.36 ha, 0.89 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/230820.md - Parcel 258597: 2,790 m² (0.28 ha, 0.69 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/258597.md - Parcel 5749461: 1,913 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/5749461.md - Parcel 358270: 927 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/358270.md - Parcel 5783339: 731 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/5783339.md - Parcel 3935453: 110 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/3935453.md ## Zoning (national zoning of development plans, MyPlan) No zone of a development plan covers Middlemount in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply to each application. ## Planning applications whose site touches the townland (National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage) 5 applications, newest first. - 9 Mar 2026, Laois County Council 2660127: Conditional. Permission, 1 home. construct a two-storey dwelling, a garage, a septic tank and percolation area and associated site works. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/LaoisCC/AppFileRefDetails/2660127/0 - 11 Nov 2024, Laois County Council 2460679: Conditional. Permission, 2 homes. construct New dwelling house, garage, septic tank and percolation area, new site entrance, ancillary site services and all associated site works. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/LaoisCC/AppFileRefDetails/2460679/0 - 7 Nov 2024, Laois County Council 2460675: N/a. Permission. construct new dwelling house, garage, septic tank and percolation area, new site entrance, ancillary site services and all associated site works. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/LaoisCC/AppFileRefDetails/2460675/0 - 28 Jul 2023, Laois County Council 2360294: Conditional. Permission, 2 homes. erect a single storey dwelling, a garage, septic tank and percolation area, a site entrance and associated works. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/LaoisCC/AppFileRefDetails/2360294/0 - 17 Jan 2020, Laois County Council 2021: Conditional. Permission, 2 homes. construct a single-storey dwelling house, entrance, septic tank with percolation area and garage and all associated site works. File: https://www.eplanning.ie/LaoisCC/AppFileRefDetails/2021/0 Applicants are not shown. ## Designated sites (National Parks and Wildlife Service) No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches the townland of Middlemount. ## Recorded monuments (Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service) - LA028-050001: Castle - motte and bailey, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CLA028-050001-. Known as the Mote of Monacoghlan or The Rath of Laragh, this Anglo-Norman earth and timber castle may have been built by Adam de Hereford(Cunningham 1987, 161-2). Situated on a natural hill in otherwise flat land, with excellent views of the surrounding countryside. Kilbreedy Castle (LA028-046---) visible to the NW. A flat-topped motte (summit diam. c. 11.5m; H c. 8-9m) encircled by a berm with the remains of a wide stone wall on its outer edge, except at SE. Slight evidence of a fosse around base of the berm. Ridge to the E may have been utilised as a bailey and possible remains of an outer bailey. (Orpen 1909, 335-7). Described by Carrigan as, 'the 'Moat of Middlemount', properly called the 'Moat of Laragh', a truncated cone 16 yards (16m) in diameter at the top, 25 to 30 ft. (8.7m-9.1m) high, and seated on an elevated ridge; around the base are remains of a fosse and rampart, while the ridge to the west is intersected by several artificial trenches (LA028-05002-)' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 61). An 18th century illustration of the motte and bailey depicts a very different monument to the one that survives today (Cunningham 1987, 162). Edward Ledwich in his 'Antiquities of Ireland', depicts the monument as consisting of a flat-topped mound or motte located at the N end of a ridge with an upper bailey the base of which is enclosed by a fosse except at SE where there is a lower second bailey the interior of which contains a well. This second outer bailey was entered via an entrance located on the E side of the bailey. A wall is depicted running off the SE side of the motte toears the outer bailey. The motte was located at the N end of a ridge and the SW side of this ridge was defended by three earthen banks or ramparts with corresponding fosses. The innermost bank appears to have enclosed the outer bailey (Ledwich 1804, 278-9). In 1905 Canon Carrigan recorded that on 'the north side of the Moat, about 20 yards from its base, is a plot, a quarter of an acre in extent, called "the Friar's garden"; its fences are still well marked. In the small space between it and the Moat, are some slight traces of a house, evidently the residence of the friar from whom the garden is named' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 61). These earthworks may be the remains of a deserted medieval settlement (LA028-050002-)associated with the motte and bailey. Ledwich, E. (1804) Antiquities of Ireland. Printed by John Jones, Dublin. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: 12 December 2011 - LA028-050002: Settlement deserted - medieval, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CLA028-050002-. No visible surface remains of earthworks to W of motte, a silage pit and a quarry are now located in the vicinity of these earthworks. The earthworks were described by Carrigan as 'the 'Moat of Middlemount' (LA028-050001-), properly called the "Moat of Laragh" (LA028-050001-), while the ridge to the W is intersected by several artificial trenches' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 61). These earthworks form part of the outer defences of the motte (LA028-050001-), however there are earthworks to the N of the motte which were recorded by Canon Carrigan in 1905 and which show up on 2009 aerial photographs (Google Earth 2009). In 1905 Canon Carrigan recorded that on 'the north side of the Moat, about 20 yards from its base, is a plot, a quarter of an acre in extent, called "the Friar's garden"; its fences are still well marked. In the small space between it and the Moat, are some slight traces of a house, evidently the residence of the friar from whom the garden is named' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 61). These earthworks may be the remains of a deserted medieval settlement associated with the motte and bailey (LA028-050001-). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: 04 July 2012 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). ## Architectural heritage (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Middlemount. ## Ground and risks (Radon Risk Map of Ireland, EPA; Landslide Susceptibility Classification and LiDAR, Geological Survey Ireland) - Radon: at the centre of the townland of Middlemount, about 1 in 10 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home: https://www.epa.ie/environment-and-you/radon/radon-testing/#d.en.82887 - Landslides: The 1:50,000 map rates the landslide susceptibility here as moderately low, low, partly inferred. - Terrain model: LiDAR of the Office of Public Works, flown in 2011, at 2 m: tile OPW_1945, https://gsi.geodata.gov.ie/downloads/LiDAR/OPW_NASC/OPW_1945.zip (ZIP). - Flooding: the flood maps of the Office of Public Works, https://www.floodinfo.ie/map/floodmaps/, linked only: their licence does not allow re-use. 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. ## Downloads - DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings, for a drawing program: https://everytownland.com/laois/middlemount.dxf - GeoJSON, in WGS 84, for a map: https://everytownland.com/laois/middlemount.geojson - KML, for Google Earth: https://everytownland.com/laois/middlemount.kml ## Homes sold (Residential Property Price Register) No address of the register names Middlemount with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Laois: https://everytownland.com/laois.md ## Neighbouring townlands (National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann) - Ballycoolid: https://everytownland.com/laois/ballycoolid.md - Baunoge: https://everytownland.com/laois/baunoge.md - Coolkerry: https://everytownland.com/laois/coolkerry.md - Kilbreedy: https://everytownland.com/laois/kilbreedy.md - Middlemount or Ballyvoghlaun: https://everytownland.com/laois/middlemount-or-ballyvoghlaun.md - Oldglass: https://everytownland.com/laois/oldglass.md 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. --- Everytownland reads the registered freehold land and the statutory boundaries of Tailte Éireann, the national zoning, planning file and heritage records of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Residential Property Price Register. 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; this site names no owner. A price is the price recorded for a past sale, not a valuation. Sources: Cadastral Parcels Freehold, Townlands, Civil Parishes, Baronies, Electoral Divisions and Buildings, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0; national zoning of development plans (GZT, MyPlan) and National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0, applicants not shown; designated sites, National Parks and Wildlife Service, CC BY 4.0; Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service, CC BY 4.0; National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, CC BY 4.0; Residential Property Price Register, Property Services Regulatory Authority, re-used with the source acknowledged. - Page: https://everytownland.com/laois/middlemount - In JSON: https://everytownland.com/api/townland/laois/middlemount