Brownscastle
Brownscastle is a townland in the civil parish of Taghmon, barony of Shelmaliere West, Co. Wexford. Its name in Irish is Caisleán an Bhrúnaigh.
Parcel 393015
- Area
- 15,023 m² (1.5 ha, 3.71 acres)
- Buildings
- 5 buildings touch it. Their footprint covers 666 m².
- Zoning
- No zone of a development plan covers it in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply.
- Townland
- Brownscastle
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 1 recorded monument.
- WX036-037 House - 16th/17th century
Description
References date certainly from the early 17th century when a castle, possibly not this structure, was owned by David Synnott (Jeffrey 1979, 99 100). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) David Synnott owned 180 acres at Brownscastle and the castle is described as ‘a small pile of stone out of repair’ (Simington 1953, 82). It is situated on rock outcrop overlooking the E-W Corrock river c. 60m to the N, and a defile through the S escarpment of the steep-sided valley is immediately to the W. The defile now has a roadway leading to Taghmon, c. 2 km to the S, but an old roadway winds up the escarpment from the NE and passes immediately W of the monument before turning SE. This is a small two storey house (int. dims. 8.1m N-S; 2.75m E-W) constructed of shale with no dressed stone. There is a doorway (Wth 1.25m) towards the N end of the W wall, and there was probably a similar doorway at the same point on the E wall. There are two small slit windows in the long walls and one in the end walls at the ground floor. The joists for the ceiling are set directly into the long walls, but there are arches (D c. 1m) attached to the inner faces of the N and S walls, spanning the building. The first floor has two narrow lights on the E wall and one each on the other walls, that on the W wall with a horizontal slit beneath it. There is no evidence of a fireplace or of a stairs. There W doorway opens into a D-shaped enclosure (int. dims 5.9m N-S; 5.7m E-W) defined by masonry walls (T 0.3-0.45m; H 1.5m) with four small lights surviving and an opening (Wth 2.45m), which may be damage, at NW. See the attached section from the Down Survey (1656-8) parish map (N at top) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 725) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 7 November, 2012
Architectural heritage
- Farm house, 1842–1851 · Regional interest
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey farmhouse house, extant 1851, on a T-shaped plan with single-bay (two-bay deep) two-storey lower central return (east). Occupied, 1911. Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan centred on pitched slate roof (east) with roll moulded clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks having cut-granite capping supporting yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered eaves. Roughcast walls bellcast over rendered plinth with rendered "bas-relief" strips to corners. Segmental-headed central door opening with cut-granite step threshold, doorcase with engaged columns supporting shallow cornice on entablature, and rendered "bas-relief" surround framing timber panelled door having fanlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds.
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 5 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 moderately high, 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.
- Area
- 99.9 ha
- 247 acres
- Land parcels
- 14
- registered freehold, median 2,479 m² (0.25 ha, 0.61 acres)
- Zoning
- —
- not in a zoned settlement
- Planning
- 3
- applications since 2010
Land parcels
Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann
14 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Brownscastle, from 46 m² to 616,251 m² (61.63 ha, 152.28 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary. 15 neighbouring parcels touch it.
Download the townland as DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings, or as GeoJSON or KML.
Zoning
Development plans, national zoning
No zone of a development plan covers Brownscastle 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.
Planning applications
Sites that touch the townland, newest first
26 Mar 2025Granted (conditional)
Permission for the erection of a slatted tank house with cubicles
Retention · Wexford County Council, 20250341
5 Dec 2024Granted (conditional)
Permission for the retention of a detached building containing a home office
Retention · Wexford County Council, 20241517
23 Mar 2017Granted (conditional)
PERMISSION FOR ERECTION OF A SLATTED CUBICLE HOUSE AND ALL ASSOCIATED SITEWORKS
Permission · Wexford County Council, 20170344
Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.
Nature and heritage
Designated sites and recorded monuments
Designated sites
No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches the townland of Brownscastle.
Recorded monuments
- WX036-037 House - 16th/17th century
Description
References date certainly from the early 17th century when a castle, possibly not this structure, was owned by David Synnott (Jeffrey 1979, 99 100). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) David Synnott owned 180 acres at Brownscastle and the castle is described as ‘a small pile of stone out of repair’ (Simington 1953, 82). It is situated on rock outcrop overlooking the E-W Corrock river c. 60m to the N, and a defile through the S escarpment of the steep-sided valley is immediately to the W. The defile now has a roadway leading to Taghmon, c. 2 km to the S, but an old roadway winds up the escarpment from the NE and passes immediately W of the monument before turning SE. This is a small two storey house (int. dims. 8.1m N-S; 2.75m E-W) constructed of shale with no dressed stone. There is a doorway (Wth 1.25m) towards the N end of the W wall, and there was probably a similar doorway at the same point on the E wall. There are two small slit windows in the long walls and one in the end walls at the ground floor. The joists for the ceiling are set directly into the long walls, but there are arches (D c. 1m) attached to the inner faces of the N and S walls, spanning the building. The first floor has two narrow lights on the E wall and one each on the other walls, that on the W wall with a horizontal slit beneath it. There is no evidence of a fireplace or of a stairs. There W doorway opens into a D-shaped enclosure (int. dims 5.9m N-S; 5.7m E-W) defined by masonry walls (T 0.3-0.45m; H 1.5m) with four small lights surviving and an opening (Wth 2.45m), which may be damage, at NW. See the attached section from the Down Survey (1656-8) parish map (N at top) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 725) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 7 November, 2012
Architectural heritage
- Farm house, 1842–1851 · Regional interest
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey farmhouse house, extant 1851, on a T-shaped plan with single-bay (two-bay deep) two-storey lower central return (east). Occupied, 1911. Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan centred on pitched slate roof (east) with roll moulded clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks having cut-granite capping supporting yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered eaves. Roughcast walls bellcast over rendered plinth with rendered "bas-relief" strips to corners. Segmental-headed central door opening with cut-granite step threshold, doorcase with engaged columns supporting shallow cornice on entablature, and rendered "bas-relief" surround framing timber panelled door having fanlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds.
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, landslides, flooding
- Radon
- At the centre of the townland of Brownscastle, about 1 in 10 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 high, moderately high, moderately low, low, partly inferred.
- Terrain model
- No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Brownscastle.
- 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.
Homes sold
Property Price Register
No address of the register names Brownscastle with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Wexford.
The townland
- Name
- Brownscastle · Caisleán an Bhrúnaigh
- Area
- 998,688 m² (99.87 ha, 246.78 acres)
- Civil parish
- Taghmon, and its townlands
- Barony
- Shelmaliere West
- Electoral division
- Taghmon, the unit of the census
- Census 2022
- 1,201 people lived in 444 households in the Taghmon electoral division. 59% of households owned their home. 33% of homes were built since 2001. 5% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 0% were holiday homes.
- Neighbouring townlands
- Ballyhennigan, Bricketstown, Cloghulatagh, Forest, Harristown Big, Harristown Little, Poulmarl
- Placenames
- Brownscastle 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.