Annagh

Area

258,112 m² (25.81 ha, 63.78 acres)

Buildings

3 buildings touch it, 946 m² on the ground

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

Annagh

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 4 recorded monuments.

• WM029-005 Crannog
  Description

  Described by O'Sullivan (2004, 117-8) as 'Originally located at east end of Twy Lough (a long, deep lake), formerly surrounded by water but now separated from the shoreline by marshes to east and southeast. The site was 130m from nearest original shoreline to south. This crannóg is a low cairn (diam. 27m; H 1.3m, 0.3m above water) of stone, earth and timber in shallow water at the east end of Twy Lough. The crannóg is a low, level cairn, with gradually sloping sides, apart from the east side where it slopes steeply into the water. The cairn has been heavily eroded by wave action on the west side, revealing a palisade of vertical wooden posts, set in irregular concentric rows 3-4 deep. There was no evidence for horizontal timbers. Animal bone was also common here and across the surface o f the site. The crannóg is heavily overgrown today with large trees and bushes and is surrounded by reeds. The crannóg was clearly used as a fishing station in the 18th-19th century. A small rectangular summer house (dims. 5.3m N-S x 3.6m E-W), with drystone walls, mortared and whitewashed interior walls and a possible fireplace at the east end sits in the middle of the island. There is also an old wooden jetty on the southwest side, 4m in length (in 1m depth of water), bound with rope and on stilts. This was probably associated with the summer house. Local folklore has it that this lake (apparently formerly known as Loch Lochraighi, 'lake of the lake-folk’) was the site of an event in the Life of Ciarán, when the saint cursed heathens and rabble on an island in lake that were disturbing the monastic community'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Aidan O'Sullivan. Date of upload: 10 March 2017

• WM029-007 Castle - motte
  Description

  Situated on NE-facing slope of a rise, in pasture, with good views overlooking Twy Lough 185m to N. Twyford House located 430m to SSE. Depicted on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map as an oval-shaped earthwork. Monument described in 1973 as an oval-shaped, steep-sided flat-topped mound the base of which is enclosed by a wide fosse with traces of an outer bank of earth and stone. The fosse has been partially defaced from SE-S-SW where it is infilled. The outer bank is best preserved from NW-N-NE. The summit (dims. 16m E-W; 12m N-S) of the mound is flat and strewn with stones. There is a roughly circular-shaped depression near the centre. Monument is visible today as an oval-shaped tree-planted earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 07 November 2019

• WM029-009 Ecclesiastical site
  Description

  The 'Site of Monastery' located in the grounds of Twyford House may have been the site of Íseal Chiaráin, or the low place of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (Cox 1969, 6-14; O'Donovan 1851, 824). Bealin High Cross (WM029-008----) removed from the grounds of Twyford house in the 18th century. Anglo-Norman motte castle (WM029-007----) 315m to NW and possible holy well (WM029-009001-) 100m to N. The S shoreline of Twy Lough lies 480m to NW. Íseal Chiaráin, may be identified as the hospital of St. Queran [Ciarán] that was sometimes thought to be identical with the guesthouse of Clonmacnoise monastery (Kehnel 1997, 69). In the year 1031 the Annals recorded that ‘Conn-na mBocht, head of the Culdees, and anchorite of Cluain-mic-Nois, the first that invited a party of the poor of Cluain at Iseal Chiarain, and who presented twenty cows of his own to it. Of this was said: O Conn of Cluain! thou wert heard from Ireland in Alba; O head of dignity, it will not be easy to plunder thy church' (AFM). In 1837 the Ordnance Survey recorded that the Bealin High Cross (WM029-008---) was, 'said to have been removed thither from an old graveyard (WM029-009002-) in Twy [ford] by the father of the present Lord Castlemaine [Reverend Richard Handcock]. No trace of this graveyard is now visible, but the cross proves that there was an ancient church there’ (OSL 1837, vol. 1, 68). The monastery site was possibly located in a rectangular post-1700 walled paddock adjoining the SW side of the walled garden, in the rear grounds to NW of Twyford House. Annotated on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as ‘Site of Monastery’. No surface remains visible of any fabric belonging to an ecclesiastical site or early Christian monastic site. The enclosing walls and features appear to be of late 18th or 19th-century date associated with the outbuildings of Twyford House. This country house was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage [NIAH] as a 'Detached five-bay two-storey over basement country house, built c.1760, having single-bay wings to either end (east and west) a three-storey elevation to the rear (north). Now out of use and derelict' (www.buildingsofireland.ie). The outbuildings were described by the NIAH as a 'Complex of two-storey outbuildings and a stable block, arranged around two courtyards to the rear of Twyford House (15402911), built c.1820 and extended c.1850. Yards are linked by a segmental-headed carriage arch to the centre of the party range'. Cox (1946, 62-3), identified Twyford [Tuogh/Tuaith Ford/ Ford of the Tuath] with Iseal Chiarain where a monastery was located. Cox (1969, 6-14) suggested that a portion of the ruins of a monastic building or church were incorporated into the wall of the garden of Twyford House. Cox (ibid), suggested that the parish church of Ballyloughloe (now Mount Temple WM030-045001-) was situated at Twyford until the fifteenth century. A nunnery mentioned in Archdall’s Monastica Hibernia as at ‘Farrenmackligse’ or ‘Fareneheglis’, which was near Ballyloughloe, possibly refers to Twyford. According to Cox (1972, 24), this religious complex was raided by Murchadh, son of Conchobar Macleachlainn, in 1072. The site of a high cross (WM029-008----), a holy well (WM029-009001-), a hospital and a graveyard (WM029-009002-) are reputed to be associated with this ecclesiastical site. Compiled by: Alison McQueen Date of upload: 23 November 2018

• WM029-009001 Ritual site - holy well
  Description

  The 'Site of a Monastery' (WM029-009----) located in the grounds of Twyford House may have been the site of Íseal Chiaráin, or the low place of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (Cox 1969, 6-14; O'Donovan 1851, 824). A motte castle (WM029-007----) lies 270m to W. The site of a high cross (WM029-008----), a holy well (WM029-009001-), and a graveyard (WM029-009003-) are reputed to be associated with this ecclesiastical site. A holy well (WM029-009002-), said locally to be dedicated to St Ciaran, is located in a field outside the garden of Twyford House (Cox 1969, 6-14). A ‘well’ is depicted and named on the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map, c. 120m to N of the ecclesiastical site (WM029-009----). The original location of a high cross (WM029-008----), known locally as the Bealin Cross, is understood to have been situated nearby (ibid). According to Cox it was from near this well that the Bealin Cross, dated about 800 A.D., was moved by Dean Handcock about 1700 and erected where it now stands. An annual pilgrimage used to take place to the cross,where “stations” were performed up to about eighty years ago. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 29 November 2018

Architectural heritage

• Twyford House, country house, 1740–1780 · Regional interest
  Description

  Detached five-bay two-storey over basement country house, built c.1760, having single-bay wings to either end (east and west) a three-storey elevation to the rear (north). Now out of use and derelict. Pitched natural slate roof with remains of cast-iron rainwater goods and a rendered brick chimneystack to either end having terracotta pots over. Lime roughcast rendered walls, now failing in places exposing rubble stone construction beneath. Square-headed openings having cut stone sills and the remains of six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows. Central square-headed doorcase having dressed limestone surround, timber sheeted door and having the remains of an overlight above. Set back from road in extensive grounds with main entrance to the south and an extensive complex of outbuildings to the rear, arranged around two courtyards (15402912). Located to the east of Athlone.

• Twyford House, farmyard complex, 1800–1870 · Regional interest
  Description

  Complex of two-storey outbuildings and a stable block, arranged around two courtyards to the rear of Twyford House (15402911), built c.1820 and extended c.1850. Yards are linked by a segmental-headed carriage arch to the centre of the party range. Pitched and hipped natural slate roofs, now partially collapsed in places, having remains of cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast rendered walls, now failing in places exposing rubble stone construction beneath with brick dressings to the openings. Square-headed window and door openings to the ground floor with remains of cast-iron windows and timber sheeted doors. Segmental-headed carriage arches to a number of the ranges, a number having wrought-iron gates. Lunette openings to first floor, now missing early fittings. Square-headed loading bays to the first floor on a number of ranges. Located to the north of Twyford House and to the east of Athlone.

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

About 1 in 10 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

Susceptibility moderately low, low, low (inferred), on the 1:50,000 map; parts are water.

Flooding

The flood maps of the Office of Public Works: floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency; Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland; both CC BY 4.0.

Download this parcel: DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its neighbours and buildings, for a drawing program; GeoJSON, in WGS 84, for a map; KML, for 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.