Commons Little

Area

239 m²

Buildings

2 buildings touch it. Their footprint covers 148 m².

Zoning

R2 RES (South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028) The objective

Townland

Commons Little

Planning applications on this parcel

• 16 Jan 2006Grant permission & grant retention

  (a) Retention of 3 no. four bed house 2no. semi-detached houses and 1no. detached two storey houses of reduced widths as per permission SD04A/0065, (b) permission for an additional matching two storey three bed semi-detached house on the gable of the detached house.

  Permission and retention, 4 homes · South Dublin County Council, SD05A/0914

• 2 Sept 2004Grant permission

  Two semi-detached and one detached house (original application for four semi-detached) with associated site works including connection to existing main drainage.

  Permission, 3 homes · South Dublin County Council, SD04A/0065

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 13 recorded monuments.

• DU020-003001 Castle - motte
  Description

  Located in a level field of pasture W of the medieval church in the village of Newcastle (DU020-003005-). This is a broad flat-topped mound (diam. of base 26m; diam. of top 14m; H 5m). There is no evidence for a bailey. It was constructed c. 1200 AD (O'Keeffe 1986, 44-5). Austin Cooper writing in 1780 describes a very deep, wide fosse which is no longer apparent (Price (ed.) 1942, 27). DU020-003001-_01 Photograph courtesy of Tomás Maher, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/3707 © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies DU020-003001-_02 Photograph courtesy of Patrick Healy, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/2069 © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies DU020-003001-_02 Photograph courtesy of Rocshot.com/Rob O'Connor, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/10691, © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 25 January 2023

• DU020-003002 Church
  Description

  Situated at the W end of Newcastle village. This medieval parish church comprises a nave (int. dims. 13.6m E-W x 6.9m N-S; ext. dims. 15.5m E-W x 8.7m N-S) and chancel (int. dims. 12.8m E-W x 6.9m N-S; ext. dims. 13.5m E-W x 8.7m N-S) with residential W tower (dims. 6.5m x 5m). The chancel is ruinous while both nave and tower are in use. The tower is square in plan with a stair turret in the NW corner (int. dims. L 3.37m x Wth 2.94m). It rises to three storeys with a battlemented parapet and a double bellcote. Built of coursed limestone blocks, with dressed quoins. The W tower is entered through a later door on the S side. This opens onto a vaulted porch with access to the nave and a stair turret in the NW angle. There is a vaulted roof over the ground, first and second floors. Fireplaces are present in the NE angle on both upper floors. The first floor is lit by cusped ogee-headed windows with stones seats in the W and S. There is a loft at this level which provides access to a gallery in the nave of the church. The nave is still in use but the chancel is ruinous. The interior was lit by a double light window with round moulding and cusped ogee-heads in N wall. Close to it is another blocked opening with a round arch. This may have been an original entrance. There is another blocked doorway at the E end of the nave (int. dims L 13.4m x Wth 6.5m). There are buttresses along the N wall of the nave. The chancel is entered in the E gable through a round arched opening. Above this is a large pointed arched opening where until 1724 there was a fine tracery window until it was placed in the E end of nave (Leask 1960, 3, 18; O'Keeffe 1986, 47-53). Within the chancel are two deep embrasures, now blocked. On S side is a double light ogee-headed window with spandrels and chamfered jambs (int. dims. L 12.75 x Wth 6.9m). S of the medieval church is a Latin cross carved from granite and set into a granite base (DU020-003003-). Newcastle Church ruins were described by Ní Mharcaigh (1997, 272-4) as follows; 'Newcastle Church was originally a nave-and-chancel church with a west tower that was both a priest's residence and a belfry. The church at present in use consists of the former nave and the entrance is through a modern door in the south wall of the tower, the ground floor of which acts as a porch to the church while the top floor continues in use as a belfry. The intervening floors of the tower are not in use but are intact. The chancel. The chancel is the same width as the nave and almost the same length. The east window (now in the nave) has three cinque-foiled lights, chamfered and cusped, with round heads, all three within a single pointed arch. The tracery above has quatrefoil openings with daggers between, all with chamfers and cusps. In the east wall of the chancel, underneath the opening from which the window was removed, is an entrance with recessed jambs, under a segmental arch, opened to admit burials within the chancel when that part of the church fell into disuse. The south wall of the chancel has three windows, two of them blocked up. Each window has two lights, ogee-headed with a foil each side, cusped under a square hood with concave spandrels. Inside the chancel these windows have pointed arches. There is only one window in the north wall of the chancel. It is a two-light window, ogee-headed and foiled, similar to the windows in the south wall but the inside arch is a plain shallow-curved one. Also in the north wall of the chancel, at the eastern end and near the present ground level, are two aumbries, 2ft sq. and 1ft sq., respectively. St Finians head. On the outside of the south wall of the chancel, near the east end, is a small carved head of sandstone, known locally as St Finnian's head. The nave. There are three windows in the south wall of the nave and none now in the north wall. However, on the outside, the outline of a tall narrow window in the north wall of the nave, near the original chancel arch, is visible. It shows the remains of a plain architrave with a square lintel. There is also a blocked doorway at the east end in the south wall and, near it, the hood of a blocked window opposite the blocked one in the north wall. The existing windows in the south wall of the nave are round-headed with two lights, cinque-foiled with chamfers and cusps and a cruciform opening above, centred. The north wall of the nave is buttressed in three (evenly-spaced) places. The tower. Entrance to the church is through the vaulted ground-floor of the tower. In the north-west corner, a stone stairway leads to the priest's apartment. The first floor has a fireplace in the north wall and cusped trefoil-headed windows in the west and south walls with window seats. There is a cupboard in the south west angle. A loft over this floor has a narrow west light. The second floor has a rectangular window in the south wall, widely splayed, with window seats. The chimney continues up the north wall from the floor below. The stair turret, which projects from the north wall of the tower, is lit by small slits. An oversailing course near the top of the tower carries the double bellcote and a parapet with battlements. The east and south windows of the nave, essentially curvilinear in type, are coeval with the square-headed, fifteenth-century windows in the chancel. Leask suggests an early fifteenth-century date for both nave and chancel, with the tower an early addition to the building (Leask 1960b, 18-19). O'Keeffe considers the nave to be earlier than the chancel, which he dates to about 1420 (O'Keeffe 1986, 52-3). Bradley and King consider that the nave and tower were built together in the early fifteenth century and that the chancel is a mid-fifteenth century addition; they accept O'Keeffe's date of 1420 for the chancel (Bradley and King 1988, 277-9). The first quarter of the fifteenth century is suggested for the whole building, with the chancel slightly later than the rest'. To see a 3D model of the twin-light cusped ogee-headed window in the S wall of the chancel visit https://skfb.ly/oI6Oy To see a 3D model of the twin-light cinque-foiled traceried window in the S wall of the nave visit https://skfb.ly/oI6SF See attached plan of church taken from Ní Mharcaigh 1997, Fig. 12 Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 10 May 2023

• DU020-003003 Cross
  Description

  S of the medieval church (DU020-003002-) is a Latin cross carved from granite and set into a granite base. It narrows from the base to the top. There is a Latin Cross in relief on it's S face and a worn cross-in-circle on N face (dims. H 1.64m, Wth 0.62m, T 0.18m-0.30m; see Swan 1986, 80). Compiled by Geraldine Stout

• DU020-003004 Castle - tower house
  Description

  Situated in level ground SE of church yard (DU020-003008-). It is a square tower, which rises to two storeys and is built of coursed limestone blocks with dressed quoins. Formerly entered from the S, now blocked, the present entrance is on E side. There is a vault over the ground floor (int. dims. L 4.7m; Wth 4.55m). The interior has been partitioned in more recent times. The stairwell in the SW corner is entered through a plain pointed doorway and is lit by slit opes. There is a stepped embrasure on the S side before entering the stairs which is an original feature. First floor is totally overgrown. There are remains of chamfered jambs on the E side of the entrance. This is probably the remains of the castle held by the Canons of St. Patrick's in 1547 (Ball 1905, III, 138). According to O'Meara (1903, 63) there is mention made of this castle in a list of ecclesiastical buildings presented to Henry VIII on the dis-establishment of the monasteries. A building attached to the N end of the tower house contains a limestone tablet on which is the inscription T. M. S. Anno 1727. According to Austin Cooper writing around 1780, this building served as a stable attached to the parsonage (Mc Dix 1898, 40, 85; Price 1942, 47). DU020-003004-_01 Photograph courtesy of Tomás Maher, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/3772 © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies DU020-003004-_02 Photograph courtesy of Tomás Maher, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/4103 © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies Compiled by Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 25 January 2023

• DU020-003005 Ritual site - holy well
  Description

  St. Finian's Well in the parish of Newcastle is an enclosed natural spring in a lintelled granite recess within a concrete structure. It is dedicated to St Finian (Ó Danachair 1958, 82; Swan 1986, 8-9). Folklore collected in 1937 from Saggart School recorded the follow details about this well; 'This is an old story going around the village of Newcastle about St. Finian's Well. The well which is about three feet in diameter and two feet in height and guarded by a concrete coping was by St. Finian himself. It is said that in the year 1798 English soldiers, stationed in the village of Newcastle, desecrated the well, by one of them washing his feet in it. The story goes on to say that well flooded the whole village of Newcastle, and the big body of soldiers were drowned. The Catholic curate of Newcastle had to bless the waters. When the waters were blessed by him, they slowly but surely receded back into the well. This is but one of the stories associated with St. Finian's Well. It is said that there are cures connected with it also. There is one story told of a lame man who came to the well and took a bucket of water home with him. He immediately bathed his foot in the water and kept doing so for some time, and at the end of three weeks his foot was completely better. This practice has been going on up to the present day for all kinds of diseases' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0794, Page 371; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428215/4386644/4456676). See attached photos (01/02/03) taken by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, courtesy of and © National Folklore Collection, UCD. The Photographic Collection, F024.06.00036 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/16620; F024.06.00037 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/46709 and F024.06.00038 accessible online at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbeg/46710. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 19 April 2023

• DU020-003006 Castle - tower house
  Description

  In level ground immediately E of bend in Athgoe Road between two other tower houses is the possible site of another marked in 1980s by the foundations of mortared walls (O'Keeffe 1986, 55, Fig.4.1:3). Not visible at ground level. Compiled by Geraldine Stout

• DU020-003007 Castle - tower house
  Description

  This is a square, urban tower house with a stair turret at the NW angle. It is two storeys high and is built of coursed regular limestone blocks with dressed quoins. It is entered through a pointed doorway in the W wall which contains a door rebate and bar-bolt holes. There is a vault over ground floor with traces of wicker-work centring. The interior is lit by slit opes on the W and S walls and a large rectangular opening in S wall. Wall presses are present in the S wall and NE corner of interior (dims. L 4.5m; Wth 1.03m; see Anon 1914, 275-6; Mc Dix 1898, 85). DU020-003007_01/02 Photographs courtesy of Rocshot.com/Rob O'Connor, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/10690, © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies DU020-003007_03 Photograph courtesy of Tomás Maher, https://hdl.handle.net/10599/4229 © South Dublin Libraries - Local Studies Compiled by Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 25 January 2023

• DU020-003008 Settlement deserted - medieval
  Description

  Newcastle was first mentioned as a royal manor in 1215 and had borough status by the late fifteenth century. The settlement was a linear one based on a single street, running east-west. The marketplace was located in the roughly sub-triangular space in front of the church. Compiled by Geraldine Stout

• DU020-003010 Graveyard
  Description

  Situated at the W end of Newcastle village. It encloses a medieval parish church (DU020-003002-). In the graveyard is a granite cross (DU020-003003-) and there are 18th and 19th century memorials in the graveyard. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Date of upload: 24 November 2011

• DU021-017001 Well
  Description

  Situated in the NW corner of a long narrow holding opposite the medieval parish church at Newcastle Lyons. It is bounded on the E by a patch of spade cultivation. Traces of mortared wall protruding from beneath the sod were interpreted as a possible site of a tower house (O'Keefe 1986, 55, No. 5). Recent clearance has revealed that the mortared wall was actually a covering for a well. Compiled by Geraldine Stout

And 3 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).

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

LiDAR of the Office of Public Works, flown in 2011, at 2 m: tile OPW_2973 (ZIP).

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.