Formoyle (Newcomen)

36 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Formoyle (Newcomen), from 97 m² to 105,532 m² (10.55 ha, 26.08 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary. 30 neighbouring parcels touch it.

Download the townland as DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings, or as GeoJSON or KML.

No zone of a development plan covers Formoyle (Newcomen) 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.

• 14 Aug 2026Conditional

  the proposed construction of a detached residential garage to accommodate general storage and solid fuel storage for dwelling, inclusive of all ancillary site works

  Permission · Longford County Council, 2660258

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

• Special Area of Conservation: Fortwilliam Turlough SAC 000448
• Special Area of Conservation: Lough Ree SAC 000440
• Special Protection Area: Lough Ree SPA 004064
• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: Lough Ree 000440

Recorded monuments

• LF021-010001 Enclosure
  Description

  Associated with Formoyle House (LF021-010002-), which lies c. 130m to the ESE. According to local folklore, in 1682 this enclosure or ‘fort’ was believed to be ‘the dwelling place of the Famous Giant Henry Macoole and his Offspring and is called in Irish writings fformalenetiene which signifies the Chief place of the Giants; here was a very large round Rampier which men commonly called [blank] Fort, where the said Giants lived there was likewise under it ' (Gillespie and Moran 1991, 208). In May 1642 Dame Mary Browne, wife of Sir Silvester Browne of Formoyle, stated that Irishmen came 'to the gate of the said Fermoil, and desired to have them opened, which she refusing, they came over the fence, or great ditch [bank and fosse], into the base court [bawn]' (Hickson 1884, vol. 1, 358). Depicted on the 1914 edition of the OS 6-inch map as a substantial bank and fosse extending from S-W-NNE, with a NW-SE running field boundary running between the bank and fosse from S-WSW. All that survives of the bank along the line of the NW-SE running drystone field boundary is its external stone facing, which is visible on the inner face of the fosse. From WSW-N and at NNE the bank of earth and stone (base Wth 8m; top Wth 4m; H 1.5 max.), stone-faced externally, is clearly visible. The fosse (Wth 3.6m; D 0.6m) is largely infilled. From NNE-E the bank and fosse have been levelled but the line of the monument is defined by a low scarp. On the basis of the extant remains it would seem that the enclosed area was originally polygonal in plan (dims. c. 115m N-S; c. 100m E-W). The enclosure may have been reused as a bawn or outer courtyard to the rear of Formoyle House, and it may have acted as an outer fortification protecting the orchards that were formerly located within it (Kenny 1995, 57) and the gardens (LF021-010003-) immediately to the S of the house. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 26 August 2011

• LF021-010002 House - 17th century
  Description

  On a very gentle SW-facing slope on a prominent rise in rolling pasture. This house, which appears to be of multiperiod construction, may initially have been built around 1620 as the Commissioners for the Plantation of Longford note that Thomas Clarke, who received a grant of 500 acres of land, 'hath begun a good stone house which is two stories high and will finish it shortly, having all the materials ready for it in place' (BL, Milles Collection Vol. II, MS 4756, f. 126; Kenny 1995, 52). In 1642 it was the home of Sir Silvester Browne of Formoyle. In May of that year it is recorded that Dame Mary Browne, his wife, stated that Irishmen came 'to the gate of the said Fermoil, and desired to have them opened, which she refusing, they came over the fence, or great ditch [LF021-010001-], into the base court' (Hickson 1884, vol. 1, 358). Described by Nicholas Dowdall in 1682 as 'now the state of Sir John Parker, Knt. where his father John, Lord ArchB[ishop] of Dublin, built a fair house with stables and all necessary houses and planted a pleasure Garden [LF021-010003-] and Orchards’ (Gillespie and Moran 1991, 208). By 1681 the house had become a weekend or countryside retreat where one could 'rest contented and enjoy the full pleasure and satisfaction of the country in hunting venison and then eating it' (Kenny 1995, 58). This house may have been built on the site of or may have incorporated the earlier house. In 1893 the house was described as a 'modern erection but of interest in many ways, one being that the two ends of the house have no windows at less than 30 feet from the ground' (ibid., 52). An old black and white photograph indicates it was a double-pile, two-storey house with six chimney stacks. The dormer attic was lit by flat-headed windows located on either side of two tall, rectangular, gable-ended chimney stacks. A central block was surmounted by two more chimney stacks (ibid., 49). It was partially demolished in 1946 (ibid., 52). The house was orientated on a NE-SW axis. Only the SW gable (ext. L 11.35m; wall T 2.1m) and the return of the NW wall survive. It is constructed with limestone rubble and a cut-stone plinth (H 0.6m) runs along its base. Internally a spine wall (T 0.73m) indicates that it was divided into two rooms. The SE room (Wth 4.5m) has a large centrally located fireplace at ground-floor level, while at first-floor level there is a large, blocked-up, floor-to-ceiling window off-centre to the NW. High up in the wall, at attic level, single-light windows are visible on either side of the destroyed chimney stack. An outhouse is built up against the internal face of the NW room (Wth 4.45m). At first-floor level there is evidence of a centrally located fireplace. The return of the NW wall (T 0.7m; L 0.4m) indicates that the house had large, floor-to-ceiling windows at the ground and first-floor levels. No other features are visible. The associated gardens (LF021-010003-) adjoined the house to the SW and a possible enclosure (LF021-010001-), which may have been reused as a bawn or courtyard, is located c. 130m to the WNW. A deer park (LF021-062----) is also associated. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2012

• LF021-010003 Designed landscape - formal garden
  Description

  Associated with a 17th-century house (LF021-010002-) and adjoining it to the SW. In 1682 Nicholas Dowdall noted that Sir John Parker’s father ‘John, Lord ArchB[ishop] of Dublin, built a fair house with stables and all necessary houses and planted a pleasure Garden and Orchards.' (Gillespie and Moran 1991, 208). The orchards were located in the field to the NW of the house within the possible enclosure (LF021-010001-) (Kenny 1995, 57). On the 1837 ed. of the OS 6-inch map the gardens are shown as two roughly rectangular fields aligned NW-SE (dims. NW field: c. 75m ENE-WSW; 60m N-S; dims. SE field: 95m NNW-SSE; 80m E-W) separated by a narrow pathway or avenue. The enclosing S and W walls (H 1.2m; T 0.65m) constructed of mortared stone survive. Wall-footings of the SW half of a projecting circular tower (int. diam. 3.3m; wall T. 0.6m) are evident midway along the S wall. Its function is unclear - it may have marked the entrance into the gardens or was possibly a dovecote or gazebo. No traces of the internal dividing walls survive but the pathway or avenue is evident as a low rise running in a NNE-SSW direction. The SE part of the garden is now used as a farmyard and a number of outhouses have been built within it. The line of an old roadway can be seen on an aerial photograph (SMR file) in the fields to the SW of the garden. It possibly led to the pathway of the walled garden. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 18 February 2013

• LF021-011 Ringfort - cashel
  Description

  On a SSE-facing slope in rough pasture. Depicted as a roughly circular enclosure with the designation 'Fort' on the 1837 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. A raised subcircular area (21.3m E-W; 17.3m N-S) enclosed by the grassed-over remains of a low, narrow, drystone wall (Wth 2.1m; H 0.5m). The original entrance is not recognisable. Compiled by: Patrick F. O'Donovan Date of upload: 26 August 2011

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Formoyle (Newcomen).

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

At the centre of the townland of Formoyle (Newcomen), about 1 in 5 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

The 1:50,000 map rates the landslide susceptibility here as low, partly inferred.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Formoyle (Newcomen).

Flooding

The Office of Public Works publishes its flood maps on floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, and Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland, both under 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 Formoyle (Newcomen) with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Longford.

Name

Formoyle (Newcomen) · Formaoil (Newcowen)

Area

867,652 m² (86.77 ha, 214.4 acres)

Civil parish

Rathcline, and its townlands

Barony

Rathcline

Electoral division

Rathcline, the unit of the census

Census 2022

1,700 people lived in 675 households in the Rathcline electoral division. 63% of households owned their home. 37% of homes were built since 2001. 11% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 3% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Aghakeel, Aghaloughan, Agharanagh, Bleanavoher, Carrowstrawly, Formoyle (Farrell), Lismacmanus

Placenames

Formoyle (Newcomen) 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.