Connaught Street, Athboy

Area

453 m²

Buildings

2 buildings touch it, 157 m² on the ground

Zoning

M2 B1 - Commercial Town or Village Centre (Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027) The objective

Townland

Town Parks

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

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 this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 16 recorded monuments.

• ME029-023 Historic town
  Description

  The town of Athboy is situated in a level low-lying landscape on the W side of a NNW-SSE section of the Athboy River, and close to the headwaters of the river which flows into the Boyne c. 3km above Trim. It is located about half way between the towns of Kells and Trim. The name is derived from the Gaelic Ath Buidhe – yellow ford – so the crossing point of the river was an important part of its development, and it may have had old associations with the prehistoric earthworks on Tlachta (Hill of Ward) c. 2 km to the ENE (ME030-001001-). Ath Buidhe Tlachtga was the scene of a battle between the Norse of Dublin and Maelseachlainn, King of Meath, in 1022 (AFM), which the Norse lost, and a Church synod, convened by Ruaraí O’Conchbhair King of Connaught, was held here in 1167 (AFM). (Bradley and King 1985, 16) During the period of the Anglo-Norman settlement Athboy became the centre of the barony of Lune, which was granted by Hugh de Lacy to William de Muset in the 1170s, and it passed on his death in 1213 briefly to the Tuites. The de Loundres (London) family held it until 1386 when it was divided between the Preston and Brown families (ibid. 16-17). A castle, probably a motte, was being fortified at Athboy in 1211-12 but its location is not known (Graham 1974, 43; 1980, 47). The ‘Castletown of Athboy’ is constantly referred to in the Gormanston Register but the location of a castle is not known. The date of the foundation of the town is not known with any certainty. A grant of murage was made in 1306, but the first mention of the borough is in 1337-8. However, a provost - one of a town’s officials - is recorded in 1329 and in 1407 the provost and commoners received a Charter from Henry IV granting particular privileges, including the right to form a guild of merchants. This was an important concession as the town was at the edge of the Pale and in 1423 twenty shillings in expenses were collected for the defence of the town against O’Connor Offaly. The town was burned by O’Connor in 1443, and in 1446 and 1462 further murage grants were made. In 1598 Athboy was listed amongst the walled towns of Meath, and in 1643 it was captured by Owen Roe O’Neill. There are few details available about the subsequent history of the town but it may have been quite prosperous. The Civil Survey (1654) describes it as having thirteen castles, which are probably merchants’ houses, 73 holdings and gardens, an abbey, a church, a bridge and one stone house (Simington 1940, 210). (Bradley and King 1985, 17-18) The town occupied a considerable area of at least 10 ha (c. 25 acres), judging by the burgage plots depicted on the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map, and these were all built on either side of the NE-SW main route through the town, consisting of Upper Bridge Street, Main Street or Market Street and what is now called O’Growney Street, formerly Chapel Street. The course of the town wall was probably at the distal ends of the burgage plots fronting onto this thoroughfare, which is unusually wide for a medieval street in the central, Main St. part, where the markets were undoubtedly held. A section of town wall (L c. 100m; H c. 2-3m; T 0.9m) survives on the SE side, SW of the graveyard of St James’s Church, with one open-backed tower (int. diam. c. 2.45m; ext. diam. c. 4.4m) projecting from it. A fosse outside the wall (L 26m; Wth of top 3.6m; ext. D 2.6m) could be a recent feature but it is probably on the line of an original one. Just W of the surviving tower the wall turned WNW to O’Growney Street as recovered in excavation as a robber trench (O’Hara 2004). No other towers or gates are known, but gates would have been needed to access the town from the NE, NW, SW and SE along the main roads (Bradley and King 1985, 19-21). Within the town are the remains of the parish church (ME029-023003-) and there was a Carmelite friary (ME029-023014-) at Athboy, but its location is not even known. Excavation within the town has produced some evidence of settlement in the form of pits (ME029-023011-) inside the line of the town wall (O’Hara 2004) and evidence of medieval occupation has been found on the E bank of the river (excavations.ie 1997:414; 2000:745) (Campbell 1998). Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 28 February 2019

• ME029-023001 Town defences
  Description

  Athboy was one of the four walled towns in Co. Meath and it seems to have been walled from the early fourteenth century. A grant of murage was made in 1306 and the construction of the walls may have begun shortly afterwards. Further grants of murage were made in 1446 and 1462 after the town had been burned by O’Connor Offaly in 1443, and it was still listed as a walled town in 1596 (Bradley and King 1985, 19-20). The town was quite large but the only part of the town wall that survives visibly is a section (L c. 100m) with a base-batter extending WSW from the graveyard (ME029-023012-) of the parish church but it could include the wall on the S side of the graveyard and a boundary wall further NE (total L c. 220m). The surviving wall (H 2-3m; T 0.9m) is of roughly coursed masonry with a rubble core. Towards the WSW end an open-backed tower (int. diam. c. 2.45m) projects from the wall and has an internal rebate to support a second floor. A short section of an external ditch or fosse (L 26m; Wth of top 3.6m; Wth of base 1.6m; ext. D 2.4m) is between the tower and the graveyard. (ibid. 19-20) Excavation (01E0883; 01E0883 ext.) c. 50m W of the surviving tower (Danaher 2001; 2003; O’Hara 2002; 2004) discovered a robber-trench (Wth of top 1.45-2.2.5m; D 0.9-1.5m) on the WNW-ESE line of the town wall (L 50m plus), which is on a different alignment to the ENE-WSW section of surviving wall. The robbed section was probably running to a gate at the junction of O’Growney Street, formerly Chapel Street, and Main Street. 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 revision: 28 February 2019

• ME029-023003 Church
  Description

  The medieval parish church of Athboy was dedicated to St. James, and the names of many of its clergy are known (Cogan 1862-70, 1, 164-5). It was probably established by 1200, but the earliest direct references to St James’ date from c. 1400 (Bradley and King 1985, 20). A church at Athboy is listed in the ecclesiastical taxation (1302-06) of Pope Nicholas IV (Cal. doc. Ire. 5, 256). Ussher (1622) describes the church as ruined but the chancel was repaired (Erlington 1847-64, 1, lxxxii), and Dopping (1682-5) describes the church as repaired since 1679, but of the chancel, only its walls were standing. Three bells had been hung and the graveyard was enclosed (Ellison 1972, 9). The graveyard is a subrectangular or D-shaped area (max. dims c. 90m NE-SW; c. 70m NW-SE) defined by masonry walls, that on the straight SE side having part of the town wall (ME029-023001-) at its base (L c. 75m). The present church is cross-shaped with pointed windows and was built in 1772, according to an inscription in a porch (Moore c. 1975, 12). However, the round-headed windows of the nave and western vestry may belong to an earlier period of building. The hood-moulding and decorated labels of the E window and the stone head over it probably came from the medieval church. The tower (ext. dims 6.75m E-W; 6.45m N-S) with a base-batter and a projection (dims 2.75m N-S; 2.5m E-W) at the NE corner to carry the newel stairs is situated just to the NW of the present church, which probably occupies the site of the medieval one. The tower has five floors and the E-W vault over the ground floor has wicker-centring, but its only light is from a round-headed window in the W wall. There is a string-course externally over the second floor and a grotesque head that is almost eroded away is on the outer face of the N wall. A vault of stone and brick is built over the third floor. The large pointed twin-light openings at the fourth or belfry stage are modern, and the bases of these openings have been filled in. The plain battlements above are also recent. A fragment of wall (L 2.7m E-W) S of church may be part of the older structure. (Bradley and King 1985, 20-1) An early 16th century double effigy tomb and three fragments of its surround (Hunt 1974, 202-03) that were in the graveyard beside tower have been taken into the church and are now displayed in the vestry. There is a 17th century graveslab (dims 2.3m x 1.15m; T 13cm) of James Talbot in the graveyard, although the inscription (FitzGerald 1908-09, 420) is no longer legible. The chest-tomb of Cusack and Lutwidge, dated 1702 abuts the fragment of wall in the graveyard (ibid. 420-1). Other graveslabs that were recorded in the 1740s (Butler 1892-4, 165) cannot be identified. Cogan (1862-70, 1, 163) noted a font in the graveyard that is no longer present, but the font now in church appears to be modern (Roe 1968, 109). There are the remnants of a field system (ME029-023008-) just S of the town wall. 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 revision: 2 January 2014

• ME029-023004 Tomb - effigial
  Description

  An early 16th century double effigy tomb and three fragments of its surround (Hunt 1974, 202-03) that were in the graveyard beside tower have been taken into the church and are now displayed in the vestry. It is described by Hunt as: No. 182 Athboy Tomb of a knight and lady Early 16th century On the south side of the tower and near the entrance to the Church of Ireland church of Athboy there is a double altar tomb with part of a carved tomb-chest. The mensa bears the remains of figures of a knight and his lady who have not been identified, though Lord Walter FitzGerald has tentatively suggested that they may belong either to the Cruise or Cusack family. The knight is armed in a harness of elegant form, the body defence being a finely waisted hauberk of many lames continuing as a lamed skirt to mid-thigh with short lamed tasses. The lames of the skirt are of reversed chevron form. The hauberk continues as a collar of lames to defend the throat. The vambraces are of gothic style, the pauldrons having fluted rosettes protecting the armpits. The cowters are splinted and have rosettes upon them, and they encircle the elbow joint. The head is very much damaged, but it probably bore a bascinet with visor, of which the pins are abnormally high, well above the forehead line, and the visor was decorated with rosettes,. The legs also are of a gothic style, with median ridge, the poleyns fluted above and below with expanded and moulded side-plates. The feet have the usual sabatons with short points and the lames are of chevron form. There is a belt at the waist from which the sword hangs by ring and straps. The knight is the sword-grasping attitude, and the sword has a slim straight cross. A chain over his shoulders supports a large ring-like jewel which appears to be a Crown of Thorns. The lady wears a mantel over a long pleated gown with a belt at the waist. The edge of the kirtle shows beneath the hem of the gown. The bodice has a high neck, while the gown has a collar of V-shape with a yoke across it. She has a twisted chain with a small jewel or cross hanging over the front of the undergarment. Her hands are in an attitude of prayer on her breast. Her feet rest on a dog, there are semi-hexagonal brackets above the heads of the two figures as well as in the centre between them. The slab bearing the effigies is very thin, like that at Castlemartin, Co. Kildare. It is probable that the effigies were carved by the Castlemartin sculptor. Tomb surrounds: 182b Dexter front-slab. On the front of the tomb-chest there are two panels, each with a flattened ogee arch above it. The dexter slab has the following two subjects: 1 St. Michael in feathered dress with four wings and a sword; he is represented in the act of weighing souls in scales. The pommel of the sword is of sixteenth-century type. 2 Christ as Judge, seated on a rainbow, swords issuing from behind his neck and with two figures of the Just beside him. His feet rest upon the globe of the world. 182c Sinister front-slab. The other font-slab has a representation of the Resurrection. Christ is shown stepping from the tomb on to a sleeping soldier beneath him. Two soldiers stand within the tomb on either side with what is evidently intended to be mail hauberks and pointed bascinets on their heads. One soldier holds a spear and the other a pole-arm. Christ holds the cross-staff in his left hand and blesses with his right. It should be noted that the small figure of a sleeping soldier under the foot of Christ is wearing a laminated hauberk of the same waisted form as that shown on the armour of the knight of the effigy. These two panels now forming the tomb-front may once have acted as end-slabs. The date of the tomb is probably early sixteenth-century. Now lying on top of the tomb is a broken figure of an ecclesiastic in Mass vestments with crozier staff in his left hand and with his right on his breast. His head is missing. This figure probably comes from one of the side panels of the tomb. Date of upload: 2 January, 2014

• ME029-023005 Graveslab
  Description

  There is a 17th century graveslab (dims 2.3m x 1.15m; T 13cm) of James Talbot in the graveyard (ME029-023012-) of St James' church (ME029-023003-), although the inscription (FitzGerald 1908-09, 420) is no longer legible. FitzGerald describes it as: Close to the path on the south side of the burial-ground is a large slab resting on masonry, on which an inscription in raised Roman capitals is traceable, running along its length. Unfortunately only the first three lines can, with great difficulty, be deciphered. In all there were about nine lines and a half, and at the foot is a sunk square containing an animal (a Talbot dog) on all fours on a wreath, in relief. The inscription commences: [HERE] VNDER LIETH THE BODY OF IAM[ES T]ALBOT OF ATHBOY [BURG]AES AND ONE OF THE HOUSE OF DARDISTON AND WAS BORNE [ ] IN ATHBOY IN THE YEAR OF OVR LORD GOD ON ….DESESED IN THE YEAR… Some three or four lines follow, and then the inscription ends with the words: GOD BE [MERCIFVLL] According to ‘Burke’s Peerage’, the Talbots of Dardistown, in the County Meath, were sprung from John, a younger son of Thomas Talbot, Lord of Malahide, who died in 1487. The slab on which the above inscription is cut belongs to the seventeenth century. Some of the letters are conjoined. Date of upload: 2 January, 2014

• ME029-023006 Stone head
  Description

  There is a string-course externally over the second floor of the medieval tower at St James' church (ME029-023003-), and a grotesque head that is almost eroded away is on the outer face of the N wall. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 2 January, 2015

• ME029-023007 Font
  Description

  Cogan (1862-70, 1, 163) noted a font in the graveyard (ME029-023012-) of St James' church (ME029-023003-) that is no longer present, but the font now in the church appears to be modern. It is an octagonal limestone font (ext. dim. 0.58m; H 0.41m) with a circular basin (int. diam. 0.47m; D 0.25m) and stands on an octagonal shaft and base, but all the stone has been cut with a saw and is likely to be 18th or 19th century in date. (Roe 1968, 109) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 2 January, 2015

• ME029-023008 Field system
  Description

  Situated on a fairly level landscape. Outside the town wall of Athboy (ME029-023001-) and immediately S of the graveyard (ME029-023012-) attached to church (ME029-023003-) are the remains of a grass-covered field system, defined by low banks or scarps, and with a sunken roadway (W 11m). It covers about 15 acres (c. 6 ha), but it may have been more extensive. 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 revision: 28 February 2019

• ME029-023009 Stone sculpture
  Description

  Two limestone plaques, probably from tomb surrounds and sculptured in false relief, are incorporated into the outer walls of the Roman Catholic church of St. James, which was built in the 1830s. This piece is high on the S wall at the E end and depicts a crucifixion with Mary and St John. 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 revision: 2 January 2014

• ME029-023010 Building
  Description

  At the SW angle of Athboy town but outside the line of the town wall. Excavation (01E0883) revealed two masonry walls that were parallel with each other and the robber trench of the town wall. One wall (L 6m; Wth 0.6m) was double-faced with a rubble core while the other was clay-bonded (L 1.9m; Wth 1.25m). The walls are undated and may have been unrelated to each other but are covered by post-medieval garden soils(O’Hara 2002, 2004, 401-02). (Danaher 2001; 2003) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 28 February 2019

And 6 more.

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

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).

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Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. 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.