Hilltown

65 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Hilltown, from 268 m² to 192,578 m² (19.26 ha, 47.59 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 20 neighbouring parcels touch it.

• P5RA - Rural Area (Mixed/general primary sector uses, including 'rural')
  Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027, Meath · 1 parcels The zoning objective in the plan

Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.

• 20 Mar 2026Conditional

  development which will consist of a single story, 3 bedroom dwelling, septic tank with percolation area and all associated works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 269

• 23 Dec 2025Refused

  development which will consist of a single storey, 2 bedroom dwelling, septic tank with percolation area and all associated works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 2545

• 30 May 2025Refused

  development which will consist of a barn style, single storey, 2 bedroom dwelling, septic tank with percolation area and all associated works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 2523

• 22 Apr 2025N/a

  Construction of barn style single storey two bedroom dwelling, septic tank with percolation area and all associated works

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 2512

• 10 Dec 2019Conditional

  Restoration and extension of existing house and outbuildings, provision of ancillary residential accommodation, percolation area and associated site works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 196339

• 22 Mar 2017Conditional

  existing domestic garage and permission to make alterations and amendments to the garage, including lowering of ridge height and placing of a roller shutter door to front, creating a single storey domestic garage (previous ref 16/6257) and all ancillary site works.

  Retention, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 176088

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 Hilltown.

Recorded monuments

• WM003-027 Castle - tower house
  Description

  The ruins of Hilltown Castle are now incorporated into W end of farmyard outhouse belonging to Hilltown House located 75m to S. Hilltown House described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as a 'Detached three-bay three-storey over basement Palladian country house, built c.1780' (www.buildingsofireland.ie). In 1606 the lands of Hilton (Hilltown) including 2 messuages, certain cottages, and 240 acres of arable land formed part of the land grant to Lady Marie Nugent, widow of Christopher, baron of Delvin, deceased, and to her son, Richard, now baron of Delvin (Erck 1846-52, 203-04). No castle is depicted in this townland on the 1657 Down Survey map of Fore Barony (NLI, MS 723-4). The terrier of the Down Survey map of St. Feighin's parish lists Nicholas Archbold, an Irish papist, as the owner of the lands of 'Hiltowne' in 1641 (ibid.). Rectangular-shaped two storey high tower house (ext. dims. 11.5m N-S; 9.4m E-W; W wall T 1.8m; S wall T 2.2m) with rounded corners and a small square-shaped projecting turret (ext. dims. 3.1m N-S x 2m E-W) at N end of W wall. Built of coursed limestone rubble with a slight base batter visible on the W wall, roughly shaped long and short alternating quoins. The main entrance at the W end of the S wall has been rebuilt and consists of a flat rectangular opening which gives access to a lobby area with access to mural stairs in E wall of lobby. The mural stairs now blocked up in the S wall which gives access to first floor level near the SE angle of the first floor. The castle survives two storeys high and the springers of a collapsed stone vault over the ground floor (approx. int. dims. 7.5m N-S x 5.8m E-W) can still be seen in the E wall. There is no access to the corner turret on the NW angle at ground floor level & without a ladder it is not possible to ascertain whether there is access at 1st floor level or not. It has been suggested that this corner tower is solid masonry and may have acted as a buttress on the NW angle of the castle. A probable broken out window gap in E wall. A window with external splay visible in W wall. A fireplace is present in the N wall of the first floor and there is a double-splayed ope in the W wall (Salter 2004, 150) No dressed or decorated stones are visible. A two-bay, two-storey high house, built c.1725 which was later used as an outbuilding extends E off the N end of the E wall of the castle. Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 2 December 2016

• WM003-045 Ringfort - unclassified
  Description

  Situated on top of a steep natural round-topped rise of ground with good views. Depicted as a polygonal shaped bi-vallate enclosure on 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map but not indicated on any subsequent ed. OS 6-inch map. Monument levelled between 1837 and 1912 ed. OS 6-inch map. No surface remains visible. Faint outline of levelled monument visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph taken November 2011. Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 January 2017

• WM003-046 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Situated on S facing slope of rising ground with good views to S and W. Ringfort known locally as 'Rathbane' (Adams 1957, 44) standing inside an old woodland plantation that is depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map. A circular area (approx. diam. 28m E-W) enclosed by earth and stone bank and wide external fosse with slight traces of an outer bank only visible from NNW-N. No entrance feature visible. The inner bank is best preserved from NNW-N-NNE and is reduced to a scarp from NNE-E-SE. From SE-S-SSW the perimeter has been quarried away and there is a large quarry hole visible. The fosse is visible from SSW-W-N-NNE only. The ground immediately outside the ringfort has been planted with trees and is enclosed by an earthen bank of post-1700 date. Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 January 2017

• WM003-047 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  A roughly oval shaped area (approx. diam. 45m N-S; 29m E-W) enclosed by a low earthen bank, shallow fosse and a slight external bank only visible from S-W. Entrance gap (Wth 1.8m) at SSE. The interior rises appreciably from the interior towards the centre. A post-1700 earthen bank has been placed around the site to delimit a woodland plantation that is depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map. Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 January 2017

• WM003-048 Moated site
  Description

  Situated on a low E-W ridge, Hilltown House and castle (WM003-027----) 270m to NE. This site is not marked on any edition of the OS 6-inch maps. A roughly square-shaped area (diam. 32m N-S; 29m E-W) enclosed by a wide low earth and stone bank with evidence of internal stone facing at S & E. No clear entrance feature visible. Small piles of stone probably the result of field clearance lie against the outer edge of the bank along the SE side. The interior is level and free of scrub but has traces of old cultivation ridges running NW-SE across the monument. Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 January 2017

• WM003-110 Castle - motte
  Description

  Outline of high steep-sided flat-topped mound with possible wall footings of a building on the summit of the mound visible on Google earth aerial imagery and Digital Globe aerial photos. See attached image taken from Google Earth aerial photographs taken 24/03/2017 Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Jean-Charles Caillère Date of upload: 6 March 2020

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. 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).

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

Name

Hilltown · Baile an Chnoic

Area

2,759,220 m² (275.92 ha, 681.82 acres)

Civil parish

St. Feighins, and its townlands

Barony

Fore

Electoral division

Hilltown, the unit of the census

Neighbouring townlands

Annagh (Co. Meath), Ballycomoyle, Ballymanus, Corbally, Stonestown, Templanstown, Tonashammer

Placenames

Hilltown on logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland

Townlands, civil parishes, baronies and electoral divisions, National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann, 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.