Porterstown (cooke)

46 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Porterstown (cooke), from 77 m² to 253,534 m² (25.35 ha, 62.65 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 28 neighbouring parcels touch it.

No zone of a development plan covers Porterstown (cooke) 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.

• 20 Aug 2026N/a

  development which will consist of permission for the construction of a new dwelling (220.50 sq m) and domestic garage (54 sq m). Permission is also sought for the installation of a septic tank and percolation area, and permission to upgrade the existing agricultural entrance to a domestic entrance and all associated site works

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 2660440

• 10 Oct 2024Conditional

  construction of a slatted shed with slurry holding tank underneath and all associated site works

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 2468

• 29 Jul 2024Conditional

  construction of a new part single storey/ part storey and a half type dwelling house, domestic garage, new vehicular entrance, septic tank and percolation area and all associated ancillary site services

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 2460269

• 14 Jun 2023Conditional

  construction of a dwelling house & detached garage with septic tank & percolation area with all ancillary site works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 2360171

• 17 Apr 2023Conditional

  development which will consist of a single storey extension to the east side of an existing dormer bungalow , including a single-storey porch to the front entrance, amendments to existing fenestration to the side and rear, and all ancillary site works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 2360094

• 30 Nov 2021N/a

  to construct a dwelling house and detached garage with septic tank and percolation area with all ancillary site works

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 21632

• 11 May 2021Refused

  Construction of a dwelling house & detached garage with septic tank & percolation area with all ancillary site works

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 21252

• 30 Jun 2020Conditional

  Alterations to the house plans and site layout already granted under planning permission Ref No. 19/6125, and all ancillary site services. The proprietry effluent treatment system and percolation area, domestic garage and entrance onto the public road will remain as originally granted.

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 206161

• 23 Mar 2020Conditional

  Domestic garage

  Retention, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 206071

• 15 May 2019Conditional

  private dwelling house, proprietry effluent treatment system and percolation area, domestic garage, entrance onto public road and all ancillary site services

  Permission, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 196125

• 13 Feb 2019Conditional

  of alterations carried out to previously granted planning file ref No. 04/5576 (construct a three bedroom bungalow with detached car garage to the rear of the building, septic tank and percolation area). Alterations include the provision of 2 bedrooms and lounge area at first floor level and ancillary site works

  Retention, 1 home · Westmeath County Council, 196030

• 29 Jan 2018Conditional

  construction of one number detached four bay slatted shed with calving pins and internal passageway and external concrete yard and all associated site works.

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 186017

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

• Proposed Natural Heritage Area: Royal Canal 002103

Recorded monuments

• WM027-014 Barrow - ring-barrow
  Description

  Situated on a prominent rise, in gently undulating pasture, with good views toward Lionabin. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a small circular-shaped earthwork. Monument described in 1980 as a low profile, roughly D-shaped mound (dims. 20m N-S) enclosed by a fosse and an outer bank and which sits in a saucer like depression. The wide shallow fosse is visible from NNE-E-S-W. The outer bank is low and the exterior ground level slopes gently away from it. The E side of the monument has been disturbed. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 04 November 2019

• WM027-015 Castle - unclassified
  Description

  On a low natural rise of ground now incorporated into a post-1700 farmyard. On the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map the castle is depicted as an L-shaped freestanding building located a few metres to the S of a small garden plot or farmyard. On this map the castle is depicted as an upstanding structure with N end of castle aligned E-W with return running N-S off NW angle. On the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map the castle is shown as a ruinous building the N portion of which is depicted an upstanding structure incorporated into a large farmyard, the S wing off the NW angle is depicted as an outlined structure projecting beyond the S wall of the farmyard boundary. Only two sections of the castle walls remain upstanding, the poor condition of the surviving remains makes it difficult to be certain about the original layout or ground plan of the castle. A portion of the W wall (L c. 2m; H c. 3.5m; Wall T 1.1m) survives covered in ivy and appears to be featureless. A section of the N wall (L c. 1m; H 2m) survives upstanding but no features are visible. The grass-covered footings of a wall (L c. 8m) can be seen running W off the SW angle of the castle and then returns NW (L c. 9m) where it has been incorporated into a field fence. The field fence running off the SE angle may also incorporate the footings of an earlier wall but it is not possible to be certain. The cartographic evidence would suggest that the wall running off the SW and SE angles are 19th century in date. The castle remains are now large incorporated into a post-1700 farmyard and it is difficult to ascertain the original layout of the medieval castle. The 1655 Down Survey map of Farbill barony depicts Porterstown Castle standing beside a medieval road connecting Mullingar to Dublin (NLI MS 723-4) In 1640 the lands of Porterstown belonged to Thomas Darcy, an Irish papist (NLI MS 723-4). After the Irish Confederate Wars of 1641-53 the forfeited lands of Porterstown were granted to Captain Robert Cooke, and Ensign George Eaton. Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 14 August 2013

• WM027-016 Standing stone
  Description

  Situated on N side of a small ridge, in pasture, with good views in all directions. Ringfort (WM027-017----) lies c. 170m to SE. Annotated 'Stone' on 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map. Monument described in 1976 as a large, limestone boulder (dims. 1.7m N-S; 0.75m E-W; H 2.35m) orientated N-S on its long-axis. Roughly rectangular in elevation, the surface is rough and uneven with numerous natural grooves and depressions. It has been used as a scratching post in recent times resulting in a hollow area around the base of the stone. There is an area of disturbance to the immediate N. A second, smaller stone lies prostrate a short distance to S. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 06 November 2019

• WM027-019 Barrow - ring-barrow
  Description

  Monument surveyed in 2015 and described by McGuinness (2015, 65) as following: ‘Severely damaged earthwork, comprising a circular, approximately flat-topped mound or platform (Base diam. 14.8m N-S x 15.2m E-W), its upper surface kept roughly level despite undulating ground level, which is surrounded on its NE side by an arc of ditch and external bank 18m in length; overall diameter of monument including central mound and the surviving ditch and bank on one side, is 21.3m NE-SW. Monument has been deliberately placed on sloping ground rather than on more even ground, or on a local summit; but its builders have made it more massive on N side than S, in order to ensure that it remained approximately level. Bank is up to 4.10m in width and, rising 0.92m over the ditch, is of a similar height to the central platform, which rises 0.90m over the ditch. Height of bank, taken down to a break in the steep natural slope immediately NE of the barrow, is 0.88m; there is a further drop of 1.22m before the natural ground levels out, so that the monument is most imposing from this side in the same way that the other Porterstown ring-barrow (WM027-036----), placed on the edge of an escarpment but kept approximately level, is most striking when seen from the N where its banks are most massive, and further exaggerated by following the slope of the escarpment. Although this was not observed on a single, short visit to the site by the survey-team, the ASI account of 17/5/71 notes that ‘On the W a slight earthen bank can be seen, extending approx E, on the central area’ [SMR file]. Although the monument is currently identified as a ringfort on the NMS website, one of the ASI accounts (17/5/71) is nonetheless headed ‘Ring-Barrow?’ [SMR file], and this classification seems most fitting: there is no clear evidence for an inner bank and there are three other ring-barrows (WM027-020----; WM027-021----) close by, at least two of them within sight in Riverstown; the well-preserved ring-barrow at Porterstown (WM027-036----), only 600m to S, has a very similar appearance, with flat-topped central platform, deep ditch and large external bank, and it too is kept more or less level despite greatly undulating topography, so that one side appears much higher from the outside, where the natural ground is lower. Monument lies beside road at edge of a large, recently ploughed field; presumably ploughing and related activities are responsible for removal of bank and ditch. Although the site is now mostly clear of vegetation, with only a few young trees growing on it and stumps of two older felled trees, it was covered by dense growth and fallen trees when visited by ASI fieldworkers on 17/5/71 and 5/6/80 [SMR file]. As such, while upper surface of central mound has the overall appearance of being flat-topped, it is in fact heavily disturbed with bumps and hollows presumably left by uprooted trees and burrowing animals’. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Date of upload: 10 February 2016

• WM027-035 Moated site
  Description

  Situated on E-facing slope of a gentle rise, in gently undulating pasture. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a long rectangular-shaped earthwork. Monument described in 1971 as a long rectilinear-shaped area (dims. 45.2m NE-SW; 23.5m NW-SE) enclosed by an earthen bank and external fosse. The bank is substantial and is steep on the exterior on all sides except where it is almost reduced to a scarp along the NE half of the NW side. There are the remains of a wide external fosse which is best preserved along the NW and NE sides. The fosse is absent along the NE side where cut by a modern field fence running NW-SE. The fosse is infilled for the most part along the SE side, which is quite disturbed. There is a large modern gap in the SE side and in the SW corner. The original entrance is not recognisable. There is a modern hole at the base of the bank at the SW corner and part of the ground is quarried away outside the W corner. The interior has a gentle ENE-facing slope and has a small, circular-shaped flat-topped low mound in the E corner, which appears modern. According to Lucas (1970, 157), a blue glass bead was found in the surface soil approximately 20ft from this monument. Monument is visible today as a long rectangular-shaped tree-lined earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. See attached profile of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 06 November 2019

• WM027-036 Barrow - ring-barrow
  Description

  Monument surveyed in 2015 and described by McGuinness (2015, 63-5) as following: ‘Large, well-preserved ring-barrow (Diam. 32.2m c. N-S) in high relief, its N half and parts of its S perimeter now covered by vegetation. It comprises a roughly circular, flat-topped central mound or platform (Diam. (top) 17.1m N-S; Diam. (base) 19.9m) with sharply defined upper edge and steeply sloping sides, its upper surface sloping down gently to S, which is surrounded by a ditch and a large, flat-topped outer bank. Mound rises 0.74m over ditch on SW side. Ditch is broad, deep and flat-bottomed through U- to V-shaped in section where best preserved, reaching a width of 2.8m at E side where it is not overgrown; in its S side are remains of fallen trees and other vegetation. Where largest on SW side, bank is 2.8m in width and rises 1.28m over base of ditch and 0.65m over nearest part of central platform; although it rises 2.72m over external ground level at this point, its outer face plunges down to the broad side of a large, possibly natural, crescent-shaped hollow (see below) which runs from SW-W, making it difficult to discern where bank ends and natural slope begins; giving a much better sense of actual height of constructed bank, the corresponding measurement just a few metres to E is only 0.74m. Bank is lowest on SE side of monument, where it rises only 0.27m above external ground level. On E side of monument, running approximately radially across ditch from ENE-WSW is what appears to be a causeway or partially uncut stretch of ditch, 3.10m in width and reaching a height of 0.43m above base of ditch immediately to NW. In its current state this feature is quite irregular in appearance, perhaps due to erosion, and it dips down slightly in the centre so that it is lower than both external bank and central platform; nonetheless it has the rough appearance of a causeway and was tentatively identified as such, along with a corresponding gap in the bank (see below), by the ASI fieldworker who visited the site on 19/5/71 [SMR file]. There appears to be a breach in the outer bank beside the ‘causeway’ but this is much narrower than the latter and even less regular in appearance, with bank on its N side being much higher and more massive than on S side, where it has been much reduced in height. The bank becomes more massive at the point where the natural ground surface begins to plunge down dramatically as a natural escarpment around NW half of monument, further increasing the apparent height of bank; this appears closely similar to the situation at SW, where bank rises by 0.66m close to the point where its outer face plunges into the crescent-shaped hollow (see above). The bank is much lower and less massive on SE half of monument. In a postscript, the ASI fieldworker who visited this site on 19/5/71 makes a case for the causeway and corresponding gap being secondary, drawing on observations of certain features which appear now to be concealed by fallen trees and other vegetation on S side of monument: The gap and “causeway” at the E would appear to be later features. The trench which cuts through the bank and fosse on the S. extends round to E. and has a slight bank along its NW side. The bank is against the inner side of the fosse between S. and E. it crosses the fosse to make causeway-like features [SMR file]. Monument is located on a low rise in undulating pasture, right on the brink of a natural escarpment, and up against what appears to be a second, at least partly natural, crescent–shaped hollow, so that the height of its NW edge, where the bank is most massive, is greatly exaggerated by the natural slope. The irregular, stony ground at the base of the crescent-shaped hollow might preserve the foundations of some structure if it does not indicate recent quarrying; the ASI accounts of 19/5/71 and 3/7/78 both identify the hollow as a disused quarry [SMR file]. But for vegetation, visibility would be fairly good on all sides, with a prominent hill (153m OD) visible to N, on the summit and slopes of which are further barrows (WM020-087----; WM020-143----), including the tightknit Rathnarrow group (to be dealt with next season). Barrow lies roughly midway between two kettle-hole lakes, the nearest visible c. 130m to ESE and the second c. 160m to WNW. Three further ring-barrows lie within c. 750m of this barrow on the opposite, northern side of the Royal Canal and railway line in Porterstown (WM027-019----) and Riverstown (WM027-020----; WM027-021----) townlands. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Date of upload: 10 February 2016

Architectural heritage

• Bridge, 1845–1850 · Regional interest
  Description

  Triple-arched railway bridge, built c.1851, carrying road over former Midland Great Western Railway Dublin to Mullingar railway line. Comprises a central segmental-headed arch flanked to the north and south by smaller round-headed arches over embankments. Constructed of dressed limestone with rusticated rock-faced limestone voussoirs and piers with projecting ashlar limestone string course at arch springing points and at parapet base level/road level. Rusticated coping to parapets. Located to the southwest of Killucan adjacent to the south of an earlier canal bridge (15402712).

• Footy's Bridge, bridge, 1800–1810 · Regional interest
  Description

  Single-arch canal bridge carrying small road over Royal Canal, built c.1806. Constructed of dressed limestone with ashlar limestone detailing including a projecting string course at parapet base level/road level. Cut stone pillars to ends of parapet walling. Base of bridge is slightly battered. Towpath with cut stone facing to canal edge runs under the bridge to the north. Located to the southwest of Killucan adjacent to the north of a later railway bridge (15402711).

• 25th Lock, lock, 1800–1810 · Regional interest
  Description

  Canal lock, built c.1806, consisting of pair of (restored) timber and steel breast gates with timber footboards, tail gates and balance beams. Set within ashlar limestone lock channel with early bollards surviving to the quay. Located to the east of Footy’s Bridge (15402712) with the remains of a derelict lock keeper’s house to the south.

• 24th Lock, lock, 1800–1810 · Regional interest
  Description

  Canal lock, built c.1806, consisting of pair of (restored) timber and steel breast gates with timber footboards, tail gates and balance beams. Set within ashlar limestone lock channel with early bollards to quay. Located to the east of Footy’s Bridge (15402712).

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).

No address of the register names Porterstown (cooke) with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Westmeath.

Name

Porterstown (cooke)

Area

1,492,225 m² (149.22 ha, 368.74 acres)

Civil parish

Killucan, and its townlands

Barony

Farbill

Electoral division

Huntingdon, the unit of the census

Neighbouring townlands

Ballinla, Balrowan (pakenham), Banagher, Kerinstown And Balrowan (rowley), Knocksimon, Mill Land, Porterstown (napper), Riverstown, Sarsfieldstown

Placenames

Porterstown (cooke) 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.