Donard Upper
Donard Upper is a townland in the civil parish of Donard, barony of Talbotstown Lower, Co. Wicklow. Its name in Irish is Dún Ard Uachtarach.
Parcel 4454535
- Area
- 280 m²
- Buildings
- 2 buildings touch it. Their footprint covers 92 m².
- Zoning
- M2 Primary Development Area (Donard Town Plan) The objective
- Townland
- Donard Upper
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 7 recorded monuments.
- WI021-004 Ogham stone (present location)
Description
Recorded as 'just near' another (uninscribed) stone (WI021-082----) 'on the farm called Old Mills, south of the village of Donard' (Macalister 1945, 52, no. 48; Corlett and Weaver 2002, 541), this ogham stone was moved to its present location in 1995, having been placed for a time at an interim location north of Donard (marked 'Ogham Stone' on the OS 6-inch map (WI021-083----)). It is a rectangular block of stone (dims. 1.52m x 0.68m x 0.53m). Macalister (1897, 77) describes the inscription as 'much worn and damaged. . . After it turns on to the top [after the I of KOI] nothing definite can be stated'. He read the inscription as IAQINI KOI MAQI MUC ... .' (Grogan and Kilfeather 1997, no. 1007) This stone has been studied as part of the ‘Ogham in 3D’ project undertaken by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. To access details go to the following website: https://ogham.celt.dias.ie/search.php?ciic=48 Compiled by: Nora White Date of upload: 3 September 2016 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 118/1940).
- WI021-005001 Church
Description
Situated on level ground at a break in a S/SW-facing slope. A fifteenth or sixteenth-century nave and chancel parish church (ext. dims. 12m x 6.5m) built of uncoursed masonry with punch-dressed quoins. The W wall has a bellcote and a central door with a possibly later porch. The window in the E wall has glazing-bar-holes and the internal tracery has been removed. Lying on the floor of the church at the W end is a late medieval graveslab (WI021-005003-) (L 1.79m; Wth 0.53-0.74m; T 0.19m) with bevelled edges. The upper face has the outline of a cross at either end joined by a shaft. A second tapering graveslab (WI021-005005-)(min. L 1.06m; Wth at top 0.54m; T 0.28m) stands upright against the outer face of the E wall. The ornament is similar to the former but is more crudely executed. There is no trace of the inscribed granite slab (WI021-005004-) described by Walshe (1931, 139-40). The church stands towards the N side of a rectangular graveyard (WI021-005002-)(dims. 45m NE-SW; 40m NW-SE) defined by a modern stone wall. A motte (WI021-006----) lies 75m to the SW. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 20 November 2012 Revised by: Mary Tunney
- WI021-005002 Graveyard
Description
Situated on level ground at a break in a S/SW-facing slope. A rectangular graveyard (dims. 45m NE-SW; 40m NW-SE) defined by a modern stone wall. A fifteenth or sixteenth-century nave and chancel parish church (WI021-005001-) stands on the N side. A medieval graveslab (WI021-005003-) lies within the church and another (WI021-005005-) lies against the outer face of the E wall. Revised by: Mary Tunney Date of revision: 20 November 2012
- WI021-005003 Graveslab
Description
One of two late medieval graveslabs at Donard church (WI021-005001-). A recumbent tapering slab (L 1.79m; Wth 0.74-0.53m; T 0.19m) with bevelled edges immediately inside W door believed locally to cover the grave of St. Sylvester. The upper face is ornamented by a cross in outline at either end joined by shafts. A second tapering slab (WI021-005005-) (L 1.06m; Wth at top 0.54m; T 0.28m) with similar but cruder ornament is now erect outside the E gable of the church. (Corlett 2003, 95-97) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 20 November 2012
- WI021-005004 Memorial stone
Description
Listed as ‘Miscellaneous’ in the SMR (1986), this record relates to the original location of a subrectangular inscribed granite slab (L 0.5m; Wth 0.28cm; T 0.25m) described by Walsh (1931, 139) as reading: ‘ ) M T ( ‘ on the first line and ‘171 ) 1V’ on the second line, perhaps representing the builder’s initials and a date. The present location of the stone is unknown. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 20 November 2012
- WI021-005005 Graveslab
Description
Set upright against the outer face of the E wall of a church (WI021-005001-). A granite trapezoidal graveslab (visible above ground to a height of 1.06m; Wth 0.54m at broad top end; T 0.28m). The upper end is decorated with a cross defined by a groove (D 0.005m; Wth 0.002-0.003m) and two grooves extend down to ground level. The slab and decoration are in the same style as the other slab (WI021-005003-) inside the church but are considerably cruder. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 20 November 2012
- WI021-006 Castle - motte
Description
Situated overlooking the medieval church of Donard (WI021-005001-). Archbishop John Comyn of Dublin granted Donard to Jordan de Marisco before 1190 and this may be the site of a motte built by him (Price 1953, 189). Largely natural steep-sided mound (diam. c. 40m; H c. 4-8m) with a level, roughly circular summit (diam. 24m) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 1.7m; H 0.4-0.7m). There is an entrance (Wth 3m) and an access ramp at the NE, a possible fosse at the E (c. 4m below the summit), with a corresponding berm at the W. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 December 2008 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 119/1940).
Architectural heritage
- House, 1830–1850 · Regional interest
Description
End-of-terrace three-bay two-storey house, built c.1840. The façade is finished in painted roughcast whilst the gable-ended pitched roof is covered in artificial slate and has rendered chimneystacks. The entrance consists of a timber and glazed replacement door and the flat-headed windows have one over one timber sash frames. Cast-iron rainwater goods. The house faces onto a street but is separated from it by a small garden enclosed by a low rendered wall.
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 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 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
- 41.1 ha
- 101 acres
- Land parcels
- 45
- registered freehold, median 462 m²
- Zoning
- M2
- Primary Development Area
- Planning
- 9
- applications since 2010
Land parcels
Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann
45 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Donard Upper, from 2 m² to 116,316 m² (11.63 ha, 28.74 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary. 17 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
- M2Primary Development Area (City/Town/village Centre, central area)
Donard Town Plan, Wicklow · 21 parcels The zoning objective in the plan - R3Secondary Development Area (Residential, mixed residential and other uses)
Donard Town Plan, Wicklow · 14 parcels The zoning objective in the plan
Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.
Planning applications
Sites that touch the townland, newest first
19 Dec 2025Conditional
extension & renovation to existing dwelling to include; 1) demolition of existing roof and chimneys with new roof structure and finish, 2) erection of single storey flat roof extension to the front of the existing dwelling, 3) erection of single storey flat roof porch extension to the rear of the existing dwelling, 4) external insulation to the existing dwelling, 5) alterations to existing front, rear & side elevations, 6) relocation of existing site entrance and all associated site works
Permission · Wicklow County Council, 2561042
4 Sept 2025Conditional
change of house type on site Nos. 1 – 8 inclusive in previously granted residential development (Ref. 21/730) comprising of 2 No. 3-bedroom detached dormer dwellings & 6 No. 3 bedroom semi-detached dormer dwellings in lieu of 2 No. 2-bedroom bungalows & 6 No. 2-bedroom semi-detached bungalows. All ancillary site development works including estate road, vehicular entrance, services infrastructure, landscaped public open spaces & boundary treatment will be as previously granted permission under Ref. 21/730
Permission · Wicklow County Council, 2560697
31 Jul 2025N/a
proposed change of house type on Site Nos. 1 – 8 inclusive in previously granted residential development (Ref. 21/730) comprising of 2 No. 3-bedroom detached dormer dwellings & 6 No. 3 bedroom semi-detached dormer dwellings in lieu of 2 No. 2-bedroom bungalows & 6 No. 2-bedroom semi-detached bungalows. All ancillary site development works including estate road, vehicular entrance, services infrastructure, landscaped public open spaces & boundary treatment will be as previously granted permission under Ref. 21/730
Permission · Wicklow County Council, 2560585
22 Jun 2021Conditional
proposed residential development (8 dwellings) comprising of 2 no. 2 bedroom detached bungalows & 6 no. 2-bedroom semi-detached bungalows & ancillary site development works including estate road, vehicular entrance, services infrastructure, landscaped public open spaces & boundary treatment
Permission, 1 home · Wicklow County Council, 21730
27 May 2021Conditional
internal alterations and change of use from commercial to residential , to provide for a 2 bedroom dwelling house
Permission, 1 home · Wicklow County Council, 21624
20 Feb 2020Conditional
four detached dwellings with connection to services, roads, footpaths, public lighting, open space and landscaping, boundaries and boundary treatments, entrances and associated works
Permission, 4 homes · Wicklow County Council, 20166
6 Aug 2019N/a
four detached dwellings with connection to services, road, footpaths, public lighting, open space and landscaping, boundaries and boundary treatments, entrances and associated works
Permission, 4 homes · Wicklow County Council, 19856
22 May 2018N/a
development of seven detached dwellings with connection to services, road, footpaths, public lighting, open space and landscaping, boundary treatments, entrance and associated works
Permission, 1 home · Wicklow County Council, 18547
29 Mar 2018Conditional
497 sqm cattle shed with slatted tanks and all associated site works
Permission · Wicklow County Council, 18325
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 Donard Upper.
Recorded monuments
- WI021-004 Ogham stone (present location)
Description
Recorded as 'just near' another (uninscribed) stone (WI021-082----) 'on the farm called Old Mills, south of the village of Donard' (Macalister 1945, 52, no. 48; Corlett and Weaver 2002, 541), this ogham stone was moved to its present location in 1995, having been placed for a time at an interim location north of Donard (marked 'Ogham Stone' on the OS 6-inch map (WI021-083----)). It is a rectangular block of stone (dims. 1.52m x 0.68m x 0.53m). Macalister (1897, 77) describes the inscription as 'much worn and damaged. . . After it turns on to the top [after the I of KOI] nothing definite can be stated'. He read the inscription as IAQINI KOI MAQI MUC ... .' (Grogan and Kilfeather 1997, no. 1007) This stone has been studied as part of the ‘Ogham in 3D’ project undertaken by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. To access details go to the following website: https://ogham.celt.dias.ie/search.php?ciic=48 Compiled by: Nora White Date of upload: 3 September 2016 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 118/1940).
Architectural heritage
- House, 1830–1850 · Regional interest
Description
End-of-terrace three-bay two-storey house, built c.1840. The façade is finished in painted roughcast whilst the gable-ended pitched roof is covered in artificial slate and has rendered chimneystacks. The entrance consists of a timber and glazed replacement door and the flat-headed windows have one over one timber sash frames. Cast-iron rainwater goods. The house faces onto a street but is separated from it by a small garden enclosed by a low rendered wall.
- House, 1830–1850 · Regional interest
Description
Terraced three-bay two-storey house, built c.1840. The façade is finished in painted render whilst the pitched roof is covered in artificial slate and has rendered chimneystacks. The entrance consists of a timber door and the flat-headed windows have one over one and two over two timber sash frames. Cast-iron rainwater goods. The house faces onto a street but is separated from it by a small garden enclosed by a low rendered wall.
- Handball alley, 1920–1940 · Regional interest
Description
Freestanding reinforced concrete handball alley, built c.1930. The walls are part painted part ivy-covered and part roughcast finished, with the tall wall to the west, sloping walls to north and to south, and the short wall to the east. There is a low open doorway to the north wall. The structure is set on the side of a street.
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 Donard Upper, 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 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 Donard Upper.
- 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 Donard Upper with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Wicklow.
The townland
- Name
- Donard Upper · Dún Ard Uachtarach
- Area
- 410,708 m² (41.07 ha, 101.49 acres)
- Civil parish
- Donard, and its townlands
- Barony
- Talbotstown Lower
- Electoral division
- Donard, the unit of the census
- Census 2022
- 586 people lived in 206 households in the Donard electoral division. 71% of households owned their home. 30% of homes were built since 2001. 6% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 2% were holiday homes.
- Neighbouring townlands
- Donard Demesne East, Donard Demesne West, Donard Lower, Donard Mountain, Drumreagh, Knockandarragh
- Placenames
- Donard Upper 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.