Castlekeale

Area

66,621 m² (6.66 ha, 16.46 acres)

Buildings

No building touches it.

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

Castlekeale

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 13 recorded monuments.

• TS082-067 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Just off the crest of a SW-facing slope in rolling pasture, with the River Suir c. 300m to the S. Roughly circular area (diam. c. 33m N-S; c. 38m E-W) enclosed by an earthen bank (Wth 2.3m base-7.5m base; int. H 1.33m; ext. H 1.87m) which is less pronounced upslope to the NE. The interior and banks are heavily overgrown with scrub. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 11 February 2014

• TS082-068001 Church
  Description

  On a hill over-looking the River Suir with Ardfinnan Castle (TS088-001001-) and settlement (TS088-001----) c. 350m below to the SSW. St. Fionan Lobhar founded a monastery in Ardfinnan in the 7th century, supposedly on the site of the present Protestant church (Gwynn and Hadcock 1988, 29; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 66). The monastery, together with the town, was plundered and burned by the Anglo-Normans in 1178 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1988, 29). The medieval church is depicted in a sketch drawn in 1744 as a largely ruined building, though the central section is roofed (Harbison 2000, 196-7). This central portion was renovated for Anglican worship in c. 1724 (Butler 2006, 189-90). In 1807 the medieval church was replaced by the present C of I church (ibid., 282). Several of the early 19th-century windows have been replaced and some of the former surrounds are lying around the graveyard (TS082-068005-). The earlier monastery or medieval church is not visible at ground level. In the SE corner of the graveyard, adjacent to the boundary wall, there is an early 17th-century chest tomb (TS088-002003-). According to Gwynn and Hadcock (1988, 339), the church was confirmed to the Knights Hospitallers in 1212 and ‘The king, Philip of Worcester (Justiciar in 1184) and Raymond de Carreu granted the ch[urch] and lands which were alienated temp [or in reign of] Pr[ior] Walter de Ewyas (c. 1300), and a free chapel was served by a chaplain daily’. The tithes were leased by Prior Massingberd c. 1558 (ibid.). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 11 February 2014

• TS082-068002 Earthwork
  Description

  On a NE-facing slope in a field N of the church (TS082-068001-), under pasture. A hilltop enclosure (TS082-090----) is visible c. 400m to the E. A number of earthworks show up on aerial photographs (CUCAP 13 July 1966 APA 10 and 8 and GSI May 1977 S.689/8) including a roadway (TS082-068006-). The earthworks are visible as low banks sub-dividing areas within the field. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011

• TS082-068004 Enclosure
  Description

  On the S-facing slope of a hill NE of the medieval church (TS082-068001-) of Ardfinnan. A hilltop enclosure (TS082-090----) is clearly visible c. 220m to the SE. A circular enclosure (diam. 45m NW-SE), not indicated on the OS 6-inch maps, but visible on an aerial photograph (CUCAP 13 July 1966 APA 8). It has been partially levelled, the lower SW portion is difficult to discern. Otherwise the enclosure is defined by scarp (H 1.07m over 5m). The scarp in the NW quadrant is not clearly defined where the edge of the scarp coincides with the edge of a disused roadway/hollow. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 11 February 2014

• TS082-068005 Graveyard
  Description

  St. Fionan Lobhar founded a monastery in Ardfinnan in the 7th century (Gwynn and Hadcock 1988, 29), supposedly on the site of the present C of I church (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 66) which is roughly centrally placed within the graveyard. There is no visible trace at ground level of the earlier monastery or medieval church (TS082-068001-). The graveyard is sub-rectangular in shape (diam. 47m NW-SE; c. 50m NE-SW) enclosured by a stone wall with an entrance from the road in the SW quadrant. In the SE corner of the graveyard, adjacent to the boundary wall, there is an early 17th-century chest tomb (TS088-002003-). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 11 February 2014

• TS082-068006 Road - road/trackway
  Description

  On a NE-facing slope in the field immediately SE of the medieval church (TS082-068001-) of Ardfinnan, under pasture. A hilltop enclosure (TS082-090----) is visible c. 400m to the E. A number of earthworks (TS082-068002-) show up on aerial photographs (CUCAP 13 July 1966 APA 10 and 8 and GSI May 1977 S.689/8) between the church and the trackway. On the hill NE of the church there is a circular enclosure (TS082-068004-) the edge of which coincides with the edge of the disused roadway/hollow. This disused trackway (L c. 560m; Wth 5.9m) which runs NE-SW is marked on the 1st (1840) OS 6-inch map and on the 1904-05 ed. the lower portion is shown as a footpath, while the upper portion has become a field boundary. It runs downslope (L c. 250m) to NE and crosses a tarmacadamed road, it continues to run up the hill (L c. 330m) to NE of the church hill (Wth 4.5m; H of scarp 0.32m over 6m) before again meeting a tarmacadamed road (L 750m), which leads onto a disused footpath (L c. 1.5km) before joining with a possible section of the Rian Bo Phadraig which is a tarmacadamed road (TS082-006----). The SW section of this trackway runs up over the church hill and down to the base of this slope. However, this downslope section has been interrupted by the insertion of a garden across its path. The trackway is defined by a bank on either side. The NW side (Wth 0.8m; int. H 0.42m; ext. H 0.12m) is built into the slope while the SE side (Wth 1m crest, 1.7m base; int. H 0.3m; ext. H 0.75m) is free standing. The inner face of both banks is stone revetted. The roadway continues NE down the hill slope but is less clear than on the SW side of the hill. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 11 February 2014

• TS088-001 Settlement deserted - medieval
  Description

  In the 7th century St. Fionan Lobhar founded a monastery in Ardfinnan. This is located c. 300m N of Ardfinnan village on the site of the C of I church (Killanin and Duignan, 1967, 66). In 1185 Ardfinnan castle was built by Prince John of England (ibid). The settlement was granted borough status in 1558 by James, the fourth Earl of Ormond (Curtis 1941, COD vol. 5, 108-9). The precise location of this settlement is unknown, it is thus unlocated within the townlands of Ardfinnan and Commons (Ardfinnan Par.). However, it is likely that the settlement was located between the castle and the church. (FitzPatrick and Farrelly 1993, 1-5). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 29 September 2021

• TS088-001001 Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle
  Description

  In a strategic position on top of a massive rock outcrop overlooking the River Suir to the S, located in the NE angle of the bawn (TS088-001008-). According to the annals King John erected a castle at Ardfinnan in 1185 (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 27-8), this was probably when the land was granted to 'Philip of Worcester [who] was certainly in possession of Offa (alias Ardfinnan) at an early stage of the conquest, for he granted a fief there to Gerald fitz Maurice' (Empey 1981, 8, 10). It was beseiged during the Cromwellian wars in the mid-17th century (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 66). The Civil Survey (1654-6) in relation to 'The Mannor & castle of Ardfynane' in 1640, lists the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore as the proprietor and 'Richard Butler of Ardfinane' as 'Lessee' and states that 'Upon the s[ad]d lands stands a castle & the walls of a castle, ye walls of a stone house & a bawne' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 410). A roughly circular keep (int. diam. 6.9m N-S; 7.2m E-W; wall T 2.3m) which is four-storeys high and composed of limestone rubble, roughly coursed with a substantial base-batter (Wth 0.6m). It is entered at ground-floor level in the SE face, though the opening was much modified in the 19th century. The ground-floor chamber contains three embrasures, two with loops, that in the NE being a cross-loop, and one with a modified window opening in the N face. The ground floor was vaulted, however, this vault was modified in the 19th century when vaulted arches supported on six rectangular columns were inserted. Access from the ground to the first floor was via a spiral stairs (int. dims. 2.3m) which is contained within a projecting semi-circular turret on the SW face, entered from the W side of the ground-floor door embrasure. At first-floor level the spiral stairs leads to a mural stair in the W face which opens into an entrance embrasure, which possibly contained a light. This has been broken out to form a first-floor entrance to facilitate access from the garden. The first-floor chamber was lit by three loops and there is an inserted fireplace in the N wall. The second floor rested on a wooden floor which no longer survives and was accessed directly from the spiral stairs. The second floor was modified in the 15th/16th century, two window embrasures in the E and S have inserted two-light cusped ogee-headed windows while the embrasure containing a cross-loop in the N face has been altered to become a flat-lintelled fireplace of joggle-jointed dressed limestone with a chamfered edge. Another embrasure in the NW face has been blocked up. The spiral stairs continues up to battlemented wall-walk, of which only the crenellations on the N face remain. The exterior of the castle is quite heavily ivy-clad and the interior walls at first and second-floor level are obscured by vegetation. The keep is of early 13th-century date with later modifications from the 15th up to the 19th century. A towerhouse (TS088-001009-), still occupied, was built onto the SE angle of the bawn in the 15th century. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 November 2013

• TS088-001002 Bridge
  Description

  Crossing the River Suir at Ardinnan in a N-S direction. The earliest record of a bridge in Ardfinnan occurs in 1311 when Edward II made a pontage grant to the reeve and men of the village (Chartae priv.imm. 44). In 1399, the Earl of Desmond was drowned here (O'Flanagan 1930, vol.1, 28; Power 1908, 13). The 'Bridge of Ardfynane' is also mentioned in the Civil Survey of 1654-6 (Simington 1931, vol.1, 260). It appears that this point on the Suir was a fording point even before the bridge was built, as is reflected in it's name 'Ath-Arda-Fionain (the Ford of Ardfinnan)' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol.2, 28). The bridge (Wth 6.45m) with a parapet (H 1.15m; T 0.45) consists of nine spans, with three overflows, and eight triangular cut-waters on its E face. It is largely constructed of randomly coursed limestone rubble with cut-stone voussoirs employed around the semi-circular arch-rings of each span. The arch soffits are rendered with concrete. The parapet is capped with large flat roughly cut capstones except at the SE end where they have been replaced with concrete. There are a number of drainage holes placed at regular intervals in the parapet walls. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011

• TS088-001003 Mill - unclassified
  Description

  The Civil Survey (1654-6) refers to a 'mill Greist' as being included in 'The Mannor … of Ardfynane' of which the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore was the proprietor and Richard Butler was the leasee (Simington 1931, vol. 2, 410). This may refer to a mill which stood on the W side of Ardfinnan bridge (TS088001002-) at its N end and appears to be the building depicted on a sketch by Grose (1791, vol.1, Pl.109). This building was demolished and the site is currently occupied by 19th/20th-century structures. A sculpted head (TS088-001004-) was embedded in the masonry of the demolished mill. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011

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 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 low, low, partly inferred.

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.