Brees

38 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Brees, from 101 m² to 137,552 m² (13.76 ha, 33.99 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 24 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 Brees 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.

• 5 Feb 2026Conditional

  New sewage treatment plant and percolation area to service an existing dwelling house, along with all ancillary works

  Permission · Mayo County Council, 2660092

• 8 Aug 2025Conditional

  retain extension as built to existing dwelling house

  Retention · Mayo County Council, 25329

• 25 Feb 2025Conditional

  Construction of a single storey rear extension to existing dwelling house, upgrading of the existing onsite wastewater treatment system and all ancillary works

  Permission · Mayo County Council, 2560097

• 8 Apr 2020Conditional

  DEMOLISH EXISTING DWELLING HOUSE, SEPTIC TANK AND PERCOLATION AREA, CLOSE UP EXISTING ENTRANCE, CONSTRUCT DWELLING HOUSE, WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM AND SOIL POLISHING FILTER, ESTABLISH A NEW ENTRANCE TOGETHER WITH ALL ANCILLARY SITE WORKS AND SERVICES.

  Permission, 1 home · Mayo County Council, 20246

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 Brees.

Recorded monuments

• MA091-008001 Castle - ringwork
  Description

  In pasture, encompassing a low rise bordering a lowlying area of wet ground. To NE ground rises to a N–S ridge on which Brees Castle (MA091-010----) is prominently sited c. 300m to SE. A farmstead lies immediately to W–NW. Not indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map; hachured on the 1920 edition, with ‘Children’s Burial Ground’ indicated at S. First recorded by Knox (1911-12, 149-153). This enigmatic earthwork may be a form of ringwork or earthwork castle, perhaps marking the site of an Anglo-Norman settlement prior to the construction of the masonry castle (MA091-010----) on the nearby hill to SE. A D-shaped area (81.5m NE–SW; c. 41.5m NW–SE) defined on the curving side SW–ENE by a scarp with an external fosse, and bordered on the straight side to SE by a field wall on a NE–SW axis. At S–W the fosse appears to have been re-cut to serve as a field drain. At NW–N the scarp is reduced to a slight rise, and the fosse is evident as a shallow depression, allowing access from the modern farmyard to NW into the interior of the enclosure. A septic tank is dug into the fosse at NW. The scarp and fosse are again well-defined N–NE but the fosse becomes increasing indistinct NE−ENE. Within the NE end of the enclosure, there is a sub-rectangular platform (16.5m NNW–SSE; c. 10.6m ENE–WSW), which what appears to be have been created by scarping a natural rise. The NNW side of the platform merges with the ringwork scarp and is topped with a raised stony rim or bank (Wth 3.4m; int. H 0.25m; ext. H 1.9m). On the ENE side the platform scarp (H 1.2; Wth slope 3.3m) is well-defined and retains a hint of a raised rim at its N end. On the SSE side the scarp merges with a broadly slumped slope which appears natural. The WSW side of the platform has been quarried away. This platform may have served a motte-like function within the ringwork. In the S half of the ringwork interior, there is an oval platform (16m NE–SW; 26m NW–SE) which was used as a children’s burial ground (MA091-008003-). The straight NE−SW field boundary has obliterated the form of the original enclosing element on the E side of the enclosure, but it is clear that the expanse of wet ground here would have offered a measure of defence. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 February 2022

• MA091-008002 Enclosure
  Description

  This is a duplicate record. See Ringwork -possible (MA091-008001-). Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 February 2022

• MA091-008003 Children's burial ground
  Description

  In the S half of a possible ringwork (MA091-008001-). Not indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map; named ‘Children’s Burial Ground’ on the 1920 edition. First recorded by Knox (1911-12, 149-153). A grass-covered oval platform (16m NE–SW; 26m NW–SE) in the SW end of the ringwork was used as a burial ground for unbaptized babies. A shallow depression (Wth c. 5m) on the N arc separates the platform from the rest of the ringwork interior and at W–SE the platform is defined by a scarp (H 0.7m at NE) which merges S–W with the scarp (H 1.3m at SW) of the ringwork. Stones protruding from the top of the scarp at SW–W may be remnants of a kerb or wall. The top of the platform is densely covered in gravemarkers consisting of small upright uninscribed slabs and stones. According to local information, the last burials took place in the early 1950’s. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 February 2022

• MA091-010 Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle
  Description

  In pasture, prominently sited on a rocky knoll on a N–S ridge, with the steepest fall of ground to SW overlooking a broad sweep of undulating grassland. A castle was built at Brees in the second half of the 13th-century castle by the Anglo-Norman Prendergasts, who later adopted the Irish name, MacMorris or MacMorys. In 1574 the castle was in the possession of Walter oge MacMorris, chief of the clan, who was succeeded by Richard Mac Morys. At the Composition of Connacht in 1585 Richard Mac Morys was granted title under English law to this castle and a large tract of land in the barony of Clanmorris, and in December of that year he transferred ownership to Francis Barkley, Marshal of the Connacht. Subsequently the property came into the possession of John Moore, whose title was confirmed by a patent of King James I in 1607. The property remained with the Moore family until the late19th century. This greatly ruined castle consists of a sub-rectangular area (16m E–W; c. 24m N–S) enclosed by a ruined masonry wall which encompasses the rocky knoll. The curtain wall is reduced to a low, sod-covered rubble bank on its inner face. Externally, the wall (H 2-3m) is built onto the scarped knoll slope, taking advantage of its steep slope. A short section of intact external wall face (H 2m) of roughly course limestone, incorporating remnants of a base batter (H 0.8m), can be seen at NNE, and another remnant is evident at S. But elsewhere around the circuit the curtain wall is robbed of its stone facing, exposing the rubble core. At the SE corner of the curtain wall, a slight projection of the wall is flanked at E by a broken block of masonry with traces of vaulting; these features may indicate the location of a gateway or entrance tower. In the interior of the enclosure, there are traces of an E−W wall 5m S of the N curtain wall. A few meters S of this, the ephemeral outline of wall footings can also be traced for c. 3m extending SSE through the interior. These walls may preserve the outline of a rectangular building or hall (MA091-010001) built against curtain wall at E. Large lumps of displaced masonry lie on the knoll slope to S and SW of the castle. Relict cultivation ridges, and areas of past quarrying, are evident on the slopes of the knoll and the surrounding ridge. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 February 2022

• MA091-010001 Field system
  Description

  In pasture in undulating terrain, adjacent to Brees castle, an Anglo-Norman masonry castle (MA091-10----). Fragmentary remains of a grid of rectilinear fields extend over an area of c. 200m N−S by c. 170m E−W. The intact outline of at least four individual fields (max dim. 45-50m) can still be traced. The fields are defined by drystone walls, now ruined and grassed over, and enclose relict cultivation ridges on a roughly NE−SW axis. Brees castle occupies a prominent knoll towards the SE extent to the field system. While it is possible that some of the field walls may be contemporary with the castle, it seems more likely that the field system relates to an 18th/19th-century farmstead, which was located c. 30m N of the castle and is shown on the 1838 and 1920 OS 6-inch maps. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 February 2022

• MA091-011 Enclosure
  Description

  In pasture, located on elevated ground c. 80m E of a castle (MA091-010----).A modern house and garden are immediately to S, and there are farm buildings immediately to E. A circular enclosure, marked ‘Danes Fort’ is shown on an 1811 estate map (NLI Ms. 2713) at roughly this location. It is not shown on the 1838 and 1920 OS 6-inch maps. There is no visible trace at ground level. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 February 2022

Architectural heritage

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

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 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 Brees.

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 Brees with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Mayo.

Name

Brees · Na Brí

Area

977,760 m² (97.78 ha, 241.61 acres)

Civil parish

Mayo, and its townlands

Barony

Clanmorris

Electoral division

Balla, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Balla electoral division: 1,661 people in 631 households; 81% of households own their home; 41% of homes were built since 2001; 13% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 2% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ballintleva, Barnagreggaun, Coolaghbaun, Facefield, Heathlawn, Mossbrook

Placenames

Brees 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.