Mellifont

112 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Mellifont, from 44 m² to 131,794 m² (13.18 ha, 32.57 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 38 neighbouring parcels touch it.

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

• P5RA - Rural Area (Mixed/general primary sector uses, including 'rural')
  Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027, Meath · 7 parcels The zoning objective in the plan

Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.

• 4 Jun 2024Conditional

  Retention permission for front extension to dwelling house including new site boundaries. *Further Information received on 30/08/2024*

  Retention · Louth County Council, 2460308

• 17 Apr 2023Refused

  construction of a new dwelling house, a proprietary waste water treatment system with percolation area along with all other associated siteworks

  Permission, 1 home · Meath County Council, 23412

• 24 Mar 2023N/a

  Permission is sought for extension to existing agricultural machinery storage shed and all associated site development works.

  Permission · Louth County Council, 2360048

• 4 Aug 2022Conditional

  Retention Permission for an existing agricultural machinery storage shed as laid out and constructed for use ancillary to farm holding. Permission sought for construction of surface water soakaway and all associated site development works.

  Retention · Louth County Council, 22624

• 24 May 2022Conditional

  Retention permission for alterations to an existing house including retention of a single storey extension to the rear

  Retention, 1 home · Louth County Council, 22408

• 19 Jan 2022Conditional

  permission for (i) construction of a detached single storey, four bedroom dwelling and detached domestic garage (45sqm) with on-curtilage car parking and private amenity space; (ii) provision of on-site waste water treatment system, percolation area and surface water soakaway to serve the proposed dwelling; (iii) provision of new vehicular entrance onto existing private lane to west of the site; and (iv) permission is also sought for all landscaping, boundary treatments and all ancillary site works necessary to facilitate the development. *Further Information received on 31/03/2022*

  Permission, 2 homes · Louth County Council, 2231

• 14 Dec 2021N/a

  permission for (i) construction of a detached single storey four bedroom dwelling with on-curtilage car parking and private amenity space; (ii) provision of on-site waste water treatment system, percolation area and surface water soakage to serve the proposed dwelling; (iii) provision of new vehicular entrance onto existing private lane to west of the site; and (iv) permission is also sought for all landscaping boundary treatments and all ancillary site works necessary to facilitate the development

  Permission, 2 homes · Louth County Council, 211483

• 28 Jun 2021Refused

  Permission for the construction of a single storey dwelling house, detached domestic garage, waste water treatment system, polishing filter, new entrance onto public road and all associated works

  Permission, 2 homes · Louth County Council, 21800

• 10 Mar 2021Conditional

  EXTENSION OF DURATION OF 16/291 Permission for development consisting of: a) refurbishment of existing derelict dwelling; b) single storey extension to side of existing derelict dwelling; c) single storey detached domestic garage; d) proprietary wastewater treatment system and polishing filter area, together with new soakaway and all associated site works.

  Extension of duration, 1 home · Louth County Council, 21250

• 21 May 2020Conditional

  Permission to construct a single storey house, proprietary effluent treatment system/percolation area along with the ancillary site development works. It is also proposed to construct a new vehicular access from the public road and to terminate the existing agricultural access to the field

  Permission, 1 home · Louth County Council, 20353

• 1 Oct 2019Refused

  EXTENSION OF DURATION OF 14222: Permission for development that will consist of a two storey dwellinghouse incoporating a domestic garage & a waste water treamtent system & percolation area on a site previously granted permission under reference numbers 06/954 & 11/358.

  Extension of duration, 1 home · Louth County Council, 19801

• 16 Oct 2018Conditional

  Permission for the demolition of an existing garage, construction of an extension to the rear of the existing dwelling house, and all associated site works. *Significant Further Information Received on 08/03/2019 proposed new wastewater treatment system*

  Permission, 1 home · Louth County Council, 18836

• 12 Feb 2018N/a

  Permission for development will consist of the construction of a single storey side extension (88m2), new roof lights to the existing pitched roof, changes to the existing window arrangements, rendering of the existing brick elevations and all associated site works.

  Permission, 1 home · Louth County Council, 1896

• 2 Feb 2017Conditional

  Permission for development to consist of the construction of a two storey rear extension & alterations to existing dwelling house, formation of new vehicular entrance to serve dwelling house and all associated site development works. *Significant Further Information submitted 20/09/2017 which provides for new proprietary waste water treatment system*

  Permission, 1 home · Louth County Council, 1757

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 Mellifont.

Recorded monuments

• LH023-007001 Gatehouse
  Description

  The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Part of the ecclesiastical complex at Mellifont (see also LH023-007002- to LH023-007008-). Situated just to the NE of Mellifont Abbey (LH023-007002-), it is constructed in a similar manner to the County Louth tower houses and almost certainly belongs to that class. It is four storeys high and built of uncoursed greywacke and limestone. The NW side is ruined and only the NE portion rises to its full height. It has the remains of projecting towers at the N and S angles. The S tower, which is almost completely destroyed, contained a spiral stairway while the N tower contains the garderobes. The N angle-tower projects to the NE by 1.7m but if the base batter is included it extends for a further 0.3m. There is a rectangular exit for the garderobe chute at ground level in the base batter. The S angle-tower has the remains of a spiral stairwell which rises to first-floor level only and has just the NE portion remaining. There is a NE-SW orientated barrel vault over the ground floor which is open at both ends and has the remains of wicker centring. It appears to have been partially blocked at the NE end while the SW end has been completely destroyed. There are some sandstone quoins at the SW end of the vault at the SE side which projects by c. 0.14m out from the wall face. Some of the quoin stones in the angles of the building are of hammer-dressed limestone blocks. Access to the upper-floor levels can now only be gained by ladder. The second and third floors must have been constructed of wood and there is now no evidence of these or of how they were carried. There are garderobe chambers at first, second and battlement levels in the N tower but none at the third floor. The angle-tower, which rises by one storey above the level of the battlements, must contain a garderobe since a chute can be seen bypassing the one at second-floor level. The garderobes are set in semi-circular recesses and are corbelled with large stone slabs. There are remains of windows at first-, second- and third-floor levels in the NE wall and at first and second in the NW. Most of them have been broken out but hammer-dressed limestone jambs remain in the NE wall at third-floor level and in the NW at second, where only the NE side remains. Those at first-floor level have the remains of window seats. All the windows have flat arches of small greywacke slabs. There are the remains of a sandstone head on the outer wall face above the SE jamb of the NE windows of the first floor. It is in poor condition but appears to be human. There is another head, definitely human and in better condition, higher up the same wall at the NW end. The construction of this building is very similar to that of the County Louth tower houses and must date to the late medieval period, shortly after the dissolution of the monastery in 1539 (Stalley 1980, 272-3). It seems that the structure was originally built as a tower house, probably at the time that Sir Gerald Moore fixed his residence here between 1566 and 1576 (D'Alton 1844, vol. II, 429), and that at a later stage the gable walls of the barrel vault were removed so that it could be used as a gateway.

• LH023-007002 Religious house - Cistercian monks
  Description

  The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Part of the ecclesiastical complex at Mellifont (see also LH023-007001- and LH023-007003- to LH023-007008-). A National Monument, excavated in 1954-5 (de Paor 1969) and conserved by the Office of Public Works, this is the parent house of the Cistercian order in Ireland. In 1142 St. Malachy of Armagh brought a small number of monks with him from Clairvaux. Some Continental influence can be seen in the architecture of the building which was constructed in 1157 and completed c. 1225. The abbey was burnt in the first quarter of the fourteenth century and parts of the nave were rebuilt later in that century. Comparatively little of the abbey remains standing and the most interesting building is probably the lavabo which was erected c. 1200. There is a vaulted chapter house to the E of the cloister, the latter now represented only by a small run of reconstructed arcading at the S. Little remains of the church itself other than the pillar bases and some wall foundations. The architecture of the abbey is fully described and discussed by Stalley (1980), as are the history and the results of the archaeological excavations which took place there under the direction of de Paor. In 1494 the monastery was apparently plundered by the local nobles and in 1556 it was converted into a residence. The plan of the abbey follows the Cistercian norm, a cruciform church on the N, an aisled nave, transepts with E chapels and a chancel without aisles. The cloister on the S was surrounded by ranges containing chapter house, dormitory, calefactory, refectory, kitchen etc. The overall internal length of the church was 58.67m and the width across the transepts 35.37m. The chancel is slightly narrower than the nave which is c. 8m wide. Each of the transepts had three E chapels, four of which had apsidal ends - a feature of the European examples. The church almost certainly had N and S aisles and it is possible that some of the arcade pillars are original. There is considerable evidence of alterations and reconstruction in the church; this is discussed by Stalley (1980, 279-335) who gives a plan (fig. 49) showing the suggested phases of building and the relevant dates. In his conclusions Stalley (1980, 345) states that 'although the general design of the church was Burgundian in inspiration, examination of the surviving stonework shows, that it was erected by Irish masons, some of them using techniques of English origin. Many of the details were subsequently copied by daughter houses'. He goes on to say (1980, 349) that the rebuilding of the chapter house was as much about architectural beauty as about functional requirements, and that the lavabo in particular is a design of quality. He further states (1980, 353) that 'for much of its four-hundred-year existence, the abbey exercised a powerful influence on Irish ecclesiastical architecture. This influence was at its greatest in the twelfth century ...... [but] ..... was still evident in the early years of the thirteenth century'. (CLAJ 1945, 28-33; Leask 1966, 41-3; de Paor 1969; Stalley 1980) This is a National Monument, in state ownership: No. 93. See the attached views: _1 aerial from N; _2 of the lavabo from N

• LH023-007003 Slab-lined burial
  Description

  The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Prior to 1886 a stone-lined grave containing bones and two gold pins was found inside the abbey (see LH023-007002-). (Bassett 1886, 129-30)

• LH023-007004 Graveyard
  Description

  The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To access available information for research purposes please make an appointment in advance with the Archive Unit (open Fridays 10.00 am – 5.00 pm), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, The Custom House, Dublin 1 D01W6XO or email NMarchive@housing.gov.ie.

• LH023-007005 Church
  Description

  The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Part of the ecclesiastical complex at Mellifont (see also LH023-007001- to LH023-007004- and LH023-007006- to LH023-007008-). A National Monument, situated on the side of a hill to the E of Mellifont Abbey and overlooking it. It is built of uncoursed greywacke rubble and limestone and is L-shaped in plan, having a S transept (max. int. dims. nave c. 12.45m E-W, c. 4.30m N-S, and c. 8.10m N-S across transept and chancel). It has the remains of two windows, W and S doorways and a double bellcote in the W gable. The W doorway has a two-centred arch of four chamfered sandstone blocks. The original jambs are missing and have been replaced with concrete. A two-light window over the W doorway is an insertion and has been reconstructed with its top centre mullion obviously from a much later building. Several pieces of cut stone in the inner jambs are also from an earlier building. The jamb stones, which appear to be contemporary with the main body of the church, are of a hard sandstone and have glazing bar holes and grooves. Midway in the S wall there are the remains of a doorway, now blocked up, which has some moulded sandstone jambs on its inner face. It has a two-centred arch of chamfered sandstone which has been punch-dressed. There is a two-light window in the E end of the S wall of the main part of the church. Its jambs and part of the arch are constructed with hard greyish-coloured sandstone. The central arch stone is missing, as are the mullions. The two remaining arch stones set on top of the jambs each have an almost triangular shape and are slightly cusped but do not appear to match. The jambs do not match either, so that this window, like that in the W gable, is a reconstruction. The S transept is a later addition, as can be seen from straight joints in the masonry. It has a S window similar to the S one in the nave, and also has its centre arch stone missing. It has jambs of hard grey sandstone with glazing bar holes, and its mullions are also missing. The E window of the chancel has been completely destroyed and there is no evidence of its stonework. Most of the remaining stonework in the doorways and windows has been punch-dressed and is usually a hard grey sandstone which indicates a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century date. There is no obvious evidence of any earlier stonework in the church. A cross-engraved slab (LH023-007008-), which can be dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century because of the dressing with diagonal tooling, now lies in the nave. The cross appears to have had a round head with central boss enclosed by a circular raised area and a somewhat similar motif immediately underneath, but is too worn to give a detailed description. (CLAJ 1944, 294-6) See the attached view from W

• LH023-007006 Graveslab
  Description

  An unusual tombstone, the top of which is cusped, dedicated to Mary Langdals and dated of 1715. Located in Mellifont graveyard (LH023-007004-) SW of the pathway. Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 24 August 2012

• LH023-007007 Barrow - unclassified
  Description

  The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Situated on W side of an outcropping ridge overlooking the Mattock River. Ringbarrow, comprising a flat central platform (diam. 7.5m) enclosed by two fosses with intervening bank. The inner fosse (Wth 3.7m, D 0.2m) is enclosed by a bank (Wth 7.7m) which has been denuded almost to ground level from SW-N-NE. The outer fosse (Wth 9.5m, D 1.7m), visible only from NE-S-SW, has recently been recut. (Overall diam. 45-50m).

• LH023-007008 Cross-slab
  Description

  A cross-engraved slab, which can be dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century because of the dressing with diagonal tooling. The cross appears to have had a round head with central boss enclosed by a circular raised area and a somewhat similar motif immediately underneath, but is too worn to give a detailed description. Now located in nave of the church (LH023-007005-) but probably originated in graveyard (LH023-007004-). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 24 August 2012

Architectural heritage

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

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 20 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

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Mellifont.

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 Mellifont with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Louth.

Name

Mellifont · An Mhainistir Mhór

Area

1,535,177 m² (153.52 ha, 379.35 acres)

Civil parish

Tullyallen, and its townlands

Barony

Ferrard

Electoral division

Monasterboice, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Monasterboice electoral division: 1,445 people in 491 households; 93% of households own their home; 29% of homes were built since 2001; 3% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 0% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ardagh, Begrath, Glebe, Hurcle (Co. Meath), Mellifont (Co. Meath), Mellifont Park or Louth Hill, Townleyhall, Tullyallen

Placenames

Mellifont 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.