Foyran

39 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Foyran, from 219 m² to 296,899 m² (29.69 ha, 73.37 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 20 neighbouring parcels touch it.

Download the townland: DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings; GeoJSON or KML.

No zone of a development plan covers Foyran 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.

• 3 Sept 2025N/a

  construct a single storey dwelling house with new entrance and to install a sewage treatment system with a percolation area and to bore a new well together with all associated site development works on site

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 2535

• 8 Feb 2023Refused

  construction of a single storey dwelling house, domestic garage, new entrance and install a sewage treatment system with percolation areas together with all associated site development works

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 2316

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 the townland of Foyran.

Recorded monuments

• WM001-038 Enclosure
  Description

  Situated on top of a drumlin-like ridge running NW-SE overlooked by higher ridge to W. No surface remains visible of moument on Digital Globe aerial photographs taken November 2011. Monument described by ASI in 1973 as 'small almond shaped enclosure (dims. 15m NE-SW x 9m NW-SE) bounded by a slight bank (Wth 2.8m; H 0.35m) with vague suggestion of a fosse outside it. The long axis is NE-SW and the short axis is NW-SE. The interior is smooth and almost level. No visible trace of an entrance but the bank is very slight' (ASI Field Report 30/07/1973). Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 18 November 2016

• WM001-039 Ritual site - holy well
  Description

  Situated in a low-lying flat poorly drained land, with stream 15m to S. Foyran Church (WM001-042----) and graveyard (WM001-042001-) 500m to ENE. Only a shallow marshy depression (diam. 3m) marks the site of the well marked as 'The Rose Well' on the 1911 ed. OS 25-inch map. There are no stones visible or any evidence of a structure associated with this well. In 1837 the Ordnance Survey field Name Books recorded that this well was known locally as 'The Rose Well' or ‘Tobernaroagh’, which at that time was described as 'a small well nearly closed up supposed to cure a disease called ‘the rose’ which was a swelling of the joints' (ASI File). Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 18 November 2016

• WM001-040 Cross - Wayside cross
  Description

  Drawn by Du Noyer in the 19th century (George Victor Du Noyer, “Small cross of road side Td. Of Foyran. 300 yards WNW of the old church. Co. W Meath. Sheet 1/4,” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 22, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23442.). Described in 1928 as 'A plain cross 3ft. 6in. (1.05m) in height with an unpierced ring similar to No. 1 (WM001-035----). It is unbroken, and stands on the west fence of the road one eight of a mile N.W. of Foyran Church (WM001-042----)' (Crawford 1928, 57, No. 2). Visited and described in 1980 as 'A limestone cross (H 0.91m; T 0.16m) with a solid ring-head (diam. 0.52m). The cross is made from a single piece of stone and it is set in the outer edge of the top of a broad field bank (NW-SE) on the SW side of the modern roadway a short distance (c.250m) W of Foyran Church (WM001-042----). There is no sign of a base, the cross shaft appears to be set into the bank itself. The SW face of the cross is damaged slightly just above the ring but otherwise the cross is in good condition. The arms are short (L 0.12m) and the shaft tapers in width from the bottom (Wth 0.24m) upwards (top Wth 0.21m). It is not now possible to determine the height of the cross. The cross is plain with no sign of carving or decoration' (SMR file). This cross is described in the OS Field Name Books of 1837 as the 'Remains of an old cross placed in the fence on the roadside opposite the old church of Foyran. The upper portions of it are all that remain' (SMR file). Wayside Cross (WM001-041----) which is similar in shape and size located 220m to SE. Church and graveyard (WM001-042----/042001-) located 240m to SE, holy well (WM001-043----) located c.500m to SE. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 3 December 2009

• WM001-041 Cross - Wayside cross
  Description

  Rising from the top of the S roadside boundary wall and hedge are the poorly preserved remains of a ringed cross with incised naïve crucified Christ on N face of cross. Impossible to examine S side of cross-head as it is now partly covered in vegetation. Drawn by Du Noyer in the 19th century (George Victor Du Noyer, “Cross on roadside. Townland of Foyran near the old church of St Eidan. May 1864,” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 22, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23439.). Described in 1928 as 'The head of a cross 2ft. 2in. (0.65m) in breadth, with a solid ring about 1ft. 4in. (0.4m) in diameter. A rude crucifixion is incised on the front. The stone is built into the west fence of the road opposite Foyran Church (WM001-042----)' (Crawford 1928, 57, no. 3). Visited and described in 1980 as 'the fragament of a limestone cross with a solid ring-head. The cross fragment is now lying on the NE side of the roadway a short distance NE of the position marked on the 1910 edition of the OS 6-inch map. Only the head of the cross remains and even that is damaged, one of the arms is completely broken off and another is damaged. Only a small part of the shaft remains but this shows that it expanded towards the base. The surviving edges of the ring of the arms are bevelled. One face of the cross is decorated with an incised 6 petal marigold design set in the centre of the ring. The other face has a crude carving of a figure of Christ crucified incised on it. The figure is only carved in outlined with grooves. The mouth, nose and eyes are crudely represented, while the head leans to one side. The hands of the figure are also roughly shown, the bottom of the trunk and legs are missing. There is what appears to be a double inverted V at the top of the face of the cross above the head of the figure ' (SMR file). This site was visited in 1997 when it was recorded that there is 'no visible trace of the cross despite much searching in the hedgerows by the road' (SMR file). Second wayside cross (WM001-040----) which is similar in shape and size located 220m to NW. Church and graveyard (WM001-042----/042001-) located 85m to NE, holy well (WM001-043----) located c.290m to E. (Fredengren et al. 2010, 114, Pl. 31a and b) Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 18 December 2012

• WM001-042 Church
  Description

  According to Cogan (1870, 569) the abbey of Foyran, anciently called Faebhrom, or Faobhran, was founded most probably in the sixth century. The Four Masters record at A.D. 754, ‘Eochaidh, Abbot of Faebhran, died’. In 1870 Cogan described the site as the ‘old church of Foyran, long since in ruin, stands at the foot of a hill in the heart of a wild lonely country. In the neighbourood of the church is a holy well called Tober-Aidan (WM001-043----), in memory of St. Aidus, or Hugh, the founder, or patron saint. In the Martyrology of Donegal, the festival of St. Aedh, son of Brec, of Foibren, is marked at the 1st of November. According to Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 385) a monastery was founded here by St. Edan (Aodh). Ó Riain (2011, 65) recorded that Aodh of Foyran (Faoibhréan) known locally as Aodhán (Edan) was the son of Raoi, whose feastday was celebrated on the 1st of November and is almost certainly the same as Aodh [Hugh] of Rahugh monastery (WM038-041----). The 1302-06 ecclesiastical taxation of Ireland valued the church of 'Farbune' [Faveran/Foyran] at 40 shillings per year (Cal. doc. Ire., 259). The church is depicted on the 1657 Down Survey parish map of Foyran (NLI, MS 723-4). The impropriate tithes of Foyran church belonged to the Earl of Westmeath. In 1864 George Du Noyer painted a watercolour of Foyran Church showing the ruins of a multi-period nave (approx. int. dims. 10.3m E-W ; 5.5m N-S; wall T 0.9m) and chancel (approx. int. dims. 6.7m E-W x 4.8m N-S) church with a possible doorway located off centre to W in N wall of nave and triangular-headed window of pre-Norman date in S wall of nave (Du Noyer Sketches VI (45), Royal Irish Academy). This window was located off centre to E in S wall of nave close to the chancel arch and was set into a round-headed window embrasure. A voussoir of this arch has now been built into the top of the graveyard boundary wall to the S of the church. On this painting a mound of stones in the centre of the nave represented the collapsed remains of the chancel arch. Only the N wall of the chancel appears to be upstanding at this time with the springing of a vaulted roof over the chancel. A square headed aumbry or niche is visible in N wall of chancel. Only the N half of the E gable was upstanding at this time. A second watercolour depicted the large masonry used in the construction of the S wall of the church. The W gable was surmounted by a triple pointed-arch belfry of late medieval appearance. A gap in the centre of the wall has now been broken out into a large opening with the remains of a broken out flat-headed window at first floor level in centre of W gable. A plan of the church drawn by Du Noyer (George Victor Du Noyer, “Small cross of road side Td. Of Foyran. 300 yards WNW of the old church. Co. W Meath. Sheet 1/4,” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 22, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23442.) shows that the church was a multi-period building with a chancel added to a pre-Norman single-cell church which later served as the nave. A door was located off centre to W in the N wall of the nave with the remains of a triangular-headed window at E end of S wall of nave. The chancel was lit by a window at the E end of the N and S walls of the chancel. A mural passage in the N wall of the chancel gave access to a mural stairs leading to a first floor above the chancel. The E window and chancel arch did not survive intact at the time of the Du Noyer sketch. Present remains consist of an ivy-clad church ruins which is impossible to examine due to dense cover of vegetation. The church was previously described in 1981 as 'the ruin of a rectangular church (nave int. dims. 4.7m N-S by 7.5m E-W; chancel 5.4m N-S by 10.95m E-W) aligned ESE-WNW stands at the centre of a subrectangular walled graveyard (WM001-042001-). The nave of the church measures approx. 7m wide (N-S) by 12.5m long (E-W) externally. The north wall has almost completely collapsed and massive chunks of masonry lie within the ruin and outside it to the north. The NW and SW corners have partly collapsed. Part of the south wall survives almost to roof level, the eastern end of this south wall of the nave has partly collapsed and a large ash tree grows out of the wall here. The walls of the nave are built of large and medium sized blocks of limestone. A rough opening in the west wall now partly blocked may be the original doorway. A roughly rectangular opening above this represents the remains of a window. No dressed stones remain. Above the gable rises a belfry with two simple pointed openings and a smaller arched opening above. The belfry is built of smaller stones, with roughly dressed corner stones and appears to be later than the rest of the structure. At the east end of the nave is a chancel approx. 7.3m long by approx. 6.4m wide. The north wall of the chancel and the NE corner remain intact, however the east and south walls have almost completely disappeared. These walls are built of smaller stones than the nave and appear to be of later date, probably 15th century. The upper part of the northern wall shows clear remains of the springing of a vaulted roof above the chancel. Towards the eastern end of the chancel the north wall is set inwards and there is the remains of a narrow mural passage, presumably a stairway within the wall. This stairs appears to have given access to a chamber or apartments above the chancel, presumably there was a tower here at the east end. Towards the western end of the chancel in the north wall there is a small narrow slit window. The chancel wall on the north side is not bonded into the nave wall, clearly indicating that it is of a different date. Built into the graveyard wall on the south side is a rounded window head. The head has a wide splay on the inside. The overall width of the window head is 90cms by 55cms deep, while the actual head of the rounded opening, a narrow loop or slit is 13cms wide. This head is of limestone and is of 12th or 13th century date. Such a date would suit the remains of the nave. This window head may be the remains of the original east window of a 12th or 13th century church which was altered or extended by the addition of a chancel and tower above and a belfry at the west end in the 15th century. No definite remains of earthworks. Part of what seems to be a cloister pillar probably from Fore marks a grave to the SW of the church' (SMR file). A holy well marked as 'Bishop Hugh's Well' (WM001-043----) is located c.235m to the SE. The remains of a cross (WM001-041----) are located c.85m to SW and a second cross (WM001-040----) is c.240m to NW. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 3 December 2009

• WM001-042001 Graveyard
  Description

  Described in 1981 as 'the ruin of a rectangular church (WM001-042----) aligned ESE-WNW stands at the centre of a subrectangular walled graveyard. Built into the graveyard wall on the south side is a rounded window head. The head has a wide splay on the inside. The overall width of the window head is 90cms by 55cms deep, while the actual head of the rounded opening, a narrow loop or slit is 13cms wide. This head is of limestone and is of 12th or 13th century date. This window head may be the remains of the original east window of a 12th or 13th century church which was altered or extended by the addition of a chancel and tower above and a belfry at the west end in the 15th century. No definite remains of earthworks. Part of what seems to be a cloister pillar probably from Fore marks a grave to the SW of the church' (SMR file). An earlier site inspection carried out in 1980 records that the 'graveyard is a rectangular enclosure outlined by a relatively modern stone wall built against a bank of earth and stone on its inside, this may be due to presence of an earlier enclosing bank or the earth having been built up against the inside of the wall. An old field bank runs E-W up close to the NE corner of the graveyard wall. There is a gap about 1m wide between them. There is a stile and an iron gate in the S wall near the SW corner. There are no indications of an earlier monastic enclosure. A long straight bank-like mound of earth to the S of the graveyard and near the roadway seems to be due to upcast from a small stream running just inside the roadside fence. The graveyard contains 18th, 19th and 20th century grave stones' (SMR file). A holy well marked as 'Bishop Hugh's Well' (WM001-043----) is located c.235m to the SE. The remains of a wayside cross (WM001-041----) are located c.85m to SW and a second cross (WM001-040----) lies c. 240m to NW. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 3 December 2009

• WM001-042002 Ecclesiastical enclosure
  Description

  According to Cogan (1870, 569) the abbey of Foyran, anciently called Faebhrom, or Faobhran, was founded most probably in the sixth century. The Four Masters record at A.D. 754, ‘Eochaidh, Abbot of Faebhran, died’. In 1870 Cogan described the site as the ‘old church (WM001-042----) of Foyran, long since in ruin, stands at the foot of a hill in the heart of a wild lonely country. In the neighbourood of the church is a holy well called Tober-Aidan (WM001-043----), in memory of St. Aidus, or Hugh, the founder, or patron saint. In the Martyrology of Donegal, the festival of St. Aedh, son of Brec, of Foibren, is marked at the 1st of November. According to Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 385) a monastery was founded here by St. Edan (Aodh). Ó Riain (2011, 65) recorded that Aodh of Foyran (Faoibhréan) known locally as Aodhán (Edan) was the son of Raoi, whose feastday was celebrated on the 1st of November and is almost certainly the same as Aodh [Hugh] of Rahugh monastery (WM038-041----). The curve in the field fences to the NE and NW of the graveyard (WM001-042001-) possibly indicates the presence of an Early Christian ecclesiastical enclosure (Swan 1988, 21). Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 12 October 2015

• WM001-042003 Font
  Description

  According to Cogan (1870, 569) the abbey of Foyran, anciently called Faebhrom, or Faobhran, was founded most probably in the sixth century. The Four Masters record at A.D. 754, ‘Eochaidh, Abbot of Faebhran, died’. In 1864 George Du Noyer painted a watercolour of Foyran Church showing the ruins of a multi-period nave and chancel church (WM001-042----)with a possible doorway located off centre to W in N wall of nave and triangular-headed window of pre-Norman date in S wall of nave (Du Noyer Sketches VI (45), Royal Irish Academy). A plan of the church drawn by Du Noyer (George Victor Du Noyer, “Small cross of road side Td. Of Foyran. 300 yards WNW of the old church. Co. W Meath. Sheet 1/4,” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 22, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23442.) shows that the church was a multi-period building with a chancel added to a pre-Norman single-cell church which later served as the nave. At this time Du Noyer recorded the presence of the base and capital of a font which he sketched (George Victor Du Noyer, “Two carved blocks of limestone from the old church of Foyran, pronounced Wheeran. Co. Westmeath Sheet 1/4 [plan and section],” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 22, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23441). The location of the base and capital of this font could not be found within the church and graveyard (WM001-042001-)at Foyran. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 22 January 2020

• WM001-057 Water mill - vertical-wheeled
  Description

  Balnacart corn mill and mill race may have been built on the site of the watermill depicted in the townland of Rathshane on the 1657 Down Survey map of Fore barony (NLI, MS 723-4). On this map the watermill is shown standing at the meeting point of the townland boundaries of Foyran and Rathshane in the area where Balnacart Mill is depicted on the OS 6-inch maps. The present corn mill was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as following, 'Detached two-storey corn mill on L-shaped plan, built c.1810 and altered c.1900. Restored c.2000 and now in use as a private house. Joint lines along structure indicate that section to south is a later extension. Pitched artificial slate roof with raised rendered verges. Constructed of coursed rubble limestone. Square-headed openings having replacement timber casement windows and timber sheeted doors. Restored cast-iron waterwheel to west side, set into original cast-iron overshot watercourse. Remains of single-storey rubble limestone outbuilding to the southwest having pitched corrugated-iron roof over and square-headed openings. Ruins of a small corn kiln remain to the north and silted-up mill pond to the southeast. Original millrace ran from pond to the southeast, over wheel and through culvert under the road and away to the northwest. Located to the southeast of Finnea close to border with Co. Meath to the east' (www.buildingsofireland.ie). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 23 July 2015

Architectural heritage

• Balnacart Mill, mill (water), 1780–1830 · Regional interest
  Description

  Detached two-storey corn mill on L-shaped plan, built c.1810 and altered c.1900. Restored c.2000 and now in use as a private house. Joint lines along structure indicate that section to south is a later extension. Pitched artificial slate roof with raised rendered verges. Constructed of coursed rubble limestone. Square-headed openings having replacement timber casement windows and timber sheeted doors. Restored cast-iron waterwheel to west side, set into original cast-iron overshot watercourse. Remains of single-storey rubble limestone outbuilding to the southwest having pitched corrugated-iron roof over and square-headed openings. Ruins of a small corn kiln remain to the north and silted-up mill pond to the southeast. Original millrace ran from pond to the southeast, over wheel and through culvert under the road and away to the northwest. Located to the southeast of Finnea close to border with Co. Meath to the east.

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).

Radon

About 1 in 5 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

Susceptibility high, moderately high, moderately low, low, low (inferred), on the 1:50,000 map.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Foyran.

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. 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.

No address of the register names Foyran with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Westmeath.

Name

Foyran · Faobhrán

Area

1,180,811 m² (118.08 ha, 291.78 acres)

Civil parish

Foyran, and its townlands

Barony

Fore

Electoral division

Finnea, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Finnea electoral division: 248 people in 102 households; 81% of households own their home; 21% of homes were built since 2001; 12% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 6% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ardnagross, Bigwood, Carn, Littlewood, Rathshane, Tonyowen Lower, Tonyowen Upper, Tullystown

Placenames

Foyran 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.