Commons (2nd Division)

Area

809 m²

Buildings

5 buildings touch it. Their footprint covers 382 m².

Zoning

G3 GB - Green Belt (The Fingal Development Plan 2023 – 2029) The objective

Townland

Commons (2nd Division)

Planning applications on this parcel

• 5 Dec 2017Grant permission

  Permission to demolish an existing single storey extension (rear),

  Permission · Fingal County Council, F17A/0536

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 5 recorded monuments.

• DU001-003001 Church
  Description

  Situated in an elevated position at roadside W of village. Grass-covered foundations of church survives with nave (int. dims. L 20m, Wth 8m, wall T 0.8m) and chancel (int. dims. L 9m, Wth 6m, wall T 0.8m), orientated NNE-WSW. Fragments of NE and NW corners of nave survive (H 3m). Built of coursed limestone masonry. This parish church of Balscadden was in 'good repair' in 1630 but in ruins by 1887 (Walsh 1888, 251). A holy well lies SSW of church (DU001-003003-). Graveyard attached (DU001-003002-). On inspection in 2010 it was found that while some grass-covered mounding was still visible, the nave and chancel as described in the 1992 inspection are no longer dicernible. The north-west corner fo the church is extant and has been stabilised and repaired (6.5m EW x 2mNS x 3m h.). Both the north-east (3m Ew x 2m NS x 0.75m h.) and south-east (2m EW x 1.5m NS x 0.6m h.) corners are also extant but have been added to with stone and cement to form the limits of the Dunne family plot. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Date of upload: 7 October 2014

• DU001-003002 Graveyard
  Description

  Situated in an elevated position at roadside west of village. Graveyard is square in plan except in SWE where the enclosed earth bank takes a curve (dims. W 2.4m H. 0.7m) indicating the existence of an early ecclesiastical enclosure. Graveyard is sub-square in plan, curved to the south-west and south-east where the entrance is. It slopes down from north to south. Bounded internally by a low bank with a steep drop to the road/house along southern boundary; Farmland to the north and west; access laneway to the east. Contains occassional 18th century gravestones but the majority date from 19th century to modern. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Date of Upload: 7 October 2014

• DU001-003003 Ritual site - holy well
  Description

  St Mary's holy well lies in S quadrant of Balscaddan graveyard (DU001-003002-), 20m SSW of medieval church ruins (DU001-003001-). Folklore collected in 1934 from Balscadden National School recorded the following beliefs about St Mary's Well; 'Situated in centre of very ancient graveyard beside this school. Well in hollow beside ruins of ancient Church, which was blown up by Cromwell when he visited this district on his was to Drogheda. Partly covered by briars but had a whitethorn growing on it in olden times. Has a never failing outlet into river on opposite side of road. Depth of well never varies, whether season be v[ery]. dry or v[ery]. wet. Patron Day 15th August. People suffering from sore eyes come wash them in well. V[ery]. many cures locally and even a non-Catholic is reputed have been cured here. Any prayers to our lady sufficient. Water is rubbed over eyes. Not drunk. Often carried away. In olden times pieces of cloth were suspended on white-thorn. This is not done now. It is unknown that any person attempted to prepare water from well. No fish ever seen. From all times there was, and is still, a pilgrimage on 15th Aug. to Balscadden to dress graves in this graveyard and around the well.' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0783, Pages 127-8; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428167/4383165). A second story collected by the same school recorded the following details about the curative powers of the well; 'Our Local well (St Mary's) is still visited by people for washing their sore eyes in the waters. Those who believe in this cure seldom fail to get relief. A rather gruesome cure for the tooth-ache is handed down from olden time. If a person had the nerve to pull a tooth out of a skull found in a grave-yard, and carried this tooth around always that person would never suffer from teeth trouble. The ordeal was to pull the tooth out of the skull with your own teeth' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0783, Pages 163-4;https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428167/4383205/4506927?ChapterID=4428167). Folklore collected from Balrothery School recorded the following tradition; 'There is a holy well near the ruins of the monastery on Hoars land in White Hart, It is called St Mary's well, and people with tooth-ache go to it and dip a rag in it and wash their jaw with it in the name of the father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ad then they tie the rag to a branch of a tree which grows over it, and leaves it there' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0784, Page 89; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4498253/4383805). Holy well described in 1958 as follows; 'enclosed by a masonry wall. Stone steps lead down to well. Still venerated. Patterns held here annually on the 15th of August' (Ó Danachair 1958, 72). Described by Paddy Healy (1975b) as a small well enclosed by masonry in the middle of the burial ground, the water from St Mary's well was not drunk but used to bathe sore eyes. A white bush from which rags overhung the well was gone. Located downslope from the church remains to the south of the graveyard. Currently the well has been 'improved' and is surrounded by a stone wall 'funnel' set in concrete with 5-6 granite steps downwards. The wall measures 2m from the top to the base. A metal grill has been inserted. The well is dry and the base filled with stone and detritus. See attached photos (03/04/05) taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, courtesy of and © National Folklore Collection, UCD. The Photographic Collection, F024.06.00136 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/16654; F024.06.00137 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/30783; F024.06.00138 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/30784. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Update by: Christine Baker Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 11 April 2023

• DU001-003004 Graveslab
  Description

  The 1992 report recorded a graveslab fragment orientated NW-SE (H 0.8m, W 0.15m, T 0.06m ) at the S end of graveyard (DU001-003001-). It was a focus for veneration and was adorned with wooden crosses on Pattern day, the 15th of August each year. The graveslab was not located on subsequent visits. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Date of upload: 9 October 2014

• DU001-003005 Ecclesiastical enclosure
  Description

  Situated in an elevated position at roadside W of village. At the SE corner of the graveyard (DU001-003002-) the enclosing earthen bank (Wth 2.4m, H 0.7m) takes a curve, indicating the existence of an early ecclesiastical enclosure. The south of the graveyard is enclosed by a bank which is particularly evident to the SE. It has however been punctuated by a house which appears recently extended and the bank in this area has been replaced by a wooden fence. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Date of upload: 9 October 2014

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).

Ground and risks

Radon

At the centre of this parcel, about 1 in 20 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.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of this parcel.

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.

Download this parcel as DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its neighbours and buildings, for a drawing program. GeoJSON, in WGS 84, suits a map, and KML opens in Google Earth.

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.