# Balsoon, Co. Meath: townland, land parcels and planning

Townland in the civil parish of Balsoon, barony of Deece Lower, Co. Meath; in Irish Baile Easúin.

- Area (Tailte Éireann): 849,428 m² (84.94 ha, 209.9 acres)
- Land parcels (Tailte Éireann): 22 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in it, median 2,355 m² (0.24 ha, 0.58 acres)
- Zoning (national zoning, MyPlan): P5 RA - Rural Area, the zone with the most parcels
- Planning (National Planning Applications): 0 applications since 2010
- Civil parish: Balsoon, https://everytownland.com/meath/parish/balsoon.md
- Barony: Deece Lower
- Electoral division: Kilcooly, the unit of the census
- Census 2022 (Central Statistics Office): 408 people lived in 131 households in the Kilcooly electoral division. 88% of households owned their home. 27% of homes were built since 2001. 6% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 0% were holiday homes.
- County: Co. Meath, https://everytownland.com/meath.md
- Placenames Database of Ireland: https://www.logainm.ie/en/39059
- Townland number at Tailte Éireann: 160179
- Centre: latitude 53.589012, longitude -6.695168 (WGS 84)

## Land parcels (registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann)

22 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Balsoon, from 38 m² to 601,775 m² (60.18 ha, 148.7 acres); 10 neighbouring parcels touch its boundary. Largest first:

- Parcel 151419: 601,775 m² (60.18 ha, 148.7 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/151419.md
- Parcel 214890: 92,124 m² (9.21 ha, 22.76 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/214890.md
- Parcel 149129: 35,185 m² (3.52 ha, 8.69 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/149129.md
- Parcel 198394: 30,009 m² (3 ha, 7.42 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/198394.md
- Parcel 145569: 20,440 m² (2.04 ha, 5.05 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/145569.md
- Parcel 148252: 18,065 m² (1.81 ha, 4.46 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/148252.md
- Parcel 2637311: 15,261 m² (1.53 ha, 3.77 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/2637311.md
- Parcel 185726: 13,925 m² (1.39 ha, 3.44 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/185726.md
- Parcel 136598: 6,267 m² (0.63 ha, 1.55 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/136598.md
- Parcel 144312: 3,646 m² (0.36 ha, 0.9 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/144312.md
- Parcel 174011: 3,091 m² (0.31 ha, 0.76 acres), https://everytownland.com/parcel/174011.md
- Parcel 211378: 1,618 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/211378.md
- Parcel 161316: 1,618 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/161316.md
- Parcel 204194: 1,341 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/204194.md
- Parcel 137939: 1,049 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/137939.md
- Parcel 206238: 920 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/206238.md
- Parcel 206726: 699 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/206726.md
- Parcel 165137: 697 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/165137.md
- Parcel 203975: 631 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/203975.md
- Parcel 146744: 546 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/146744.md
- Parcel 638138: 480 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/638138.md
- Parcel 214166: 38 m², https://everytownland.com/parcel/214166.md

## Zoning (national zoning of development plans, MyPlan)

- P5 RA - Rural Area (Mixed/general primary sector uses, including 'rural'): Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027 (As Varied), Meath; 32 parcels. The zoning objective in the plan: https://consult.meath.ie/en/consultation/consolidated-meath-county-development-plan-2021-2027-incl-variations-1-2

## Planning applications whose site touches the townland (National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

No planning application touches the townland of Balsoon in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

## Designated sites (National Parks and Wildlife Service)

- Special Area of Conservation: River Boyne and River Blackwater SAC, site code 002299, https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/002299
- Special Protection Area: River Boyne and River Blackwater SPA, site code 004232, https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004232

## Recorded monuments (Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service)

- ME031-020: Church, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CME031-020----. Situated on a slight rise in a fairly level landscape, with a slight slope down to the N and a greater slope down to the W where a SSE-NNW section of the River Boyne is c. 100m distant. A church at villa Riparii is listed in the ecclesiastical taxation (1302-06) of Pope Nicholas IV (Cal. doc. Ire. 5, 255). Ussher (1620) describes the church and chancel of Ripperstowne als Balsome as in reasonable repair (Erlington 1847-64, lxiii). According to Dopping (1682-5) the church and chancel were in disrepair since 1641 and it was not enclosed (Ellison 1972, 7). The parish church of Balsoon is now within a neglected rectangular graveyard (dims c. 35m N-S; c. 25m E-W) defined by masonry walls, which has three headstones dating from 1750-1840 (FitzGerald 1904-06, 589). This is a rectangular building (int. dims 14.45m E-W; 5.25m N-S) represented by the E gable, which has had a large window removed (Wth of embrasure 1.85m), and a portion of the S wall (L c. 4m; H 2.5m) with a rectangular light (Wth 0.35m; H 0.77m) in a lintelled embrasure and the E jamb for a doorway further W. A rounded chancel arch (Wth 1.16m; H 2m) is in an inserted wall that is not bonded to the church walls and divides it into two cells, the W (dim. 7.3m E-W) and the E (dim. 6.55m E-W). Three fragments of the early 17th century Eliot graveslab (dims 1.03m x 0.95m) were recovered in the graveyard and are now just W of the inserted chancel wall (Ball-Wright 1887-8, 463 5). The Latin inscription, deeply incised in gothic lettering, is running around the edge, with heraldic shields representing the Elliot, Smart, Might, Rochfort and Ussher families at the centre. The graveslab was examined again by FitzGerald (1904-06, 590) who translates the inscription as: ‘..Baron of the Exchequer, and Ismay Rochfort his wife, erected this chapel. She died x..’ Ismay was married to Sir John Eliot who died in 1616. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 9 January 2015
- ME031-020001: Graveyard, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CME031-020001-. Situated on a slight rise in a fairly level landscape, with a slight slope down to the N and a greater slope down to the W where a SSE-NNW section of the River Boyne is c. 100m distant. The parish church of Balsoon (ME031-020----) is within a neglected rectangular graveyard (dims c. 35m N-S; c. 25m E-W) defined by masonry walls, which has three headstones dating from 1750-1840 (FitzGerald 1904-06, 589). According to Dopping's visitation (1682-5) the graveyard was not then enclosed (Ellison 1972, 7). Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 January, 2015
- ME031-020002: Graveslab, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CME031-020002-. Three fragments of the early 17th century Eliot graveslab (dims 1.03m x 0.95m) were recovered in the graveyard of Balsoon church (ME031-020----) and are now just W of the inserted chancel wall (Ball-Wright 1887-8, 463-5). The Latin fragmentary inscription, deeply incised in gothic lettering, is running around the edge, with heraldic shields representing the Elliot, Smart, Might, Rochfort and Ussher families are at the centre. The graveslab was examined again by FitzGerald (1904-06, 590) who translates the inscription as: ‘..Baron of the Exchequer, and Ismay Rochfort his wife, erected this chapel. She died x..’ Ismay was married to Sir John Eliot who died in 1616. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 January, 2015
- ME031-021: Castle - unclassified, https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&query=18a4b61b268-layer-9%2CSMRS%2CME031-021----. A roofed gabled structure is depicted at Balsoon on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony map of Deece (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) Josaline Usher owned 169 acres there in 1640 and on the premises were ‘a stone house and a church’ (Simington 1940, 135). It is depicted as an oblong structure on the 1908 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. It is situated on a level landscape with a SSE-NNW section of the River Boyne c. 80m to the W and the parish church of Balsoon (ME031-020----) is c. 60m to the N. An oblong structure (int. dims 18.5m N-S; 3.28m E-W) has a barrel-vault with traces of wicker-centring. The vault is covered by an overgrown earthen mound and divided into 5 chambers by inserted walls. A lintelled doorway towards the N end of the E wall is the original entrance. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 June 2016

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 Balsoon.

## 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 Balsoon, 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 high, moderately low, low, partly inferred. Parts of the land are water.
- Terrain model: LiDAR of the Office of Public Works, flown in 2011, at 2 m: tile OPW_2707, https://gsi.geodata.gov.ie/downloads/LiDAR/OPW_NASC/OPW_2707.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/meath/balsoon.dxf
- GeoJSON, in WGS 84, for a map: https://everytownland.com/meath/balsoon.geojson
- KML, for Google Earth: https://everytownland.com/meath/balsoon.kml

## Homes sold (Residential Property Price Register)

No address of the register names Balsoon with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Meath: https://everytownland.com/meath.md

## Neighbouring townlands (National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann)

- Assey: https://everytownland.com/meath/assey.md
- Balgill: https://everytownland.com/meath/balgill.md
- Ballina or Bective: https://everytownland.com/meath/ballina-or-bective.md
- Bective: https://everytownland.com/meath/bective.md
- Craystown or Ennistown: https://everytownland.com/meath/craystown-or-ennistown.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.

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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/meath/balsoon
- In JSON: https://everytownland.com/api/townland/meath/balsoon