Rathgarve

10 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Rathgarve, from 2,156 m² (0.22 ha, 0.53 acres) to 175,246 m² (17.52 ha, 43.3 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 19 neighbouring parcels touch it.

No zone of a development plan covers Rathgarve 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.

No planning application touches the townland of Rathgarve 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 the townland of Rathgarve.

Recorded monuments

• WM003-068 Church
  Description

  Situated atop hillock with good views of surrounding countryside. Rathgarve church ruins stand in the centre of a D-shaped graveyard (WM003-068001-) with possible medieval roadway running N-S forming E boundary of graveyard. A tower house (WM003-066----) and mill (WM003-066002-) stands 430m to the S with a wayside cross (WM003-044----) 490m to the NNW, a 17th century wayside cross (WM003-069----) lies 100m to S with motte and bailey (WM003-070----) 115m to SSE. Described in 1980 as 'The church is a plain rectangular almost featureless ruin of a stone built structure (int. dims. 15.3m E-W ; 5.7m N-S; wall T 0.9m) with its long axis lying E-W. Only the W gable survives to near the original height while the N, S & E walls only survive to a max. height of 1.75m. The walls are built of small blocks of rough undressed stone laid in fairly regular courses and bonded with mortar. There is a plain rectangular window ope in the W gable, this has a flat, roughly built arch across its top. Opposing gaps in the N & S walls W of their midpoints may represent the sites of doorways but this is uncertain. The E half of the church is filled with burials of 19th and 20th century & the W end also seems disturbed. The graveyard (WM003-068001-) is a roughly D-shaped enclosure bounded by a post-1700 stone wall with entrance gate and stile NE. The site is on a rise on the summit of a large N-S ridge in undulating pasture with very good views all round.' (SMR file 1980). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 19 July 2010

• WM003-068001 Graveyard
  Description

  Situated atop hillock with good views of surrounding countryside. Rathgarve church (WM003-068----) ruins stand in the centre of a D-shaped graveyard with possible medieval roadway running N-S forming E boundary of graveyard. A tower house (WM003-066----) and mill (WM003-066002-) stands 430m to the S with a wayside cross (WM003-044----) 490m to the NNW, a 17th century wayside cross (WM003-069----) lies 100m to S with motte and bailey (WM003-070----) 115m to SSE. Described in 1980 as 'The graveyard (WM003-068001-) is a roughly D-shaped enclosure (approx. dims. 66m N-S by 42m E-W) bounded by a post-1700 stone wall, the straight side of the D is along a N-S laneway on the E, there are no indications of a larger enclosure extending to the E of this laneway. The ground there slopes down away from the lane. Inside the wall and at varying distances from it there is a steep but fairly low scarp in places which may mark the outline of an earlier & smaller enclosure. The ground outside the wall is at a lower level than inside it as if the wall was built against a scarp. The graveyard contains a large no. of gravestones mainly 19th and 20th century, but possibly also some later 18th century, difficult to decipher the inscriptions. The monument is on a rise on the summit of a large N-S ridge in undulating pasture with very good views all round' (SMR file 1980). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 19 July 2010

• WM003-068002 Ecclesiastical enclosure
  Description

  The semi-oval form of the graveyard (WM003-068001-) boundary wall possibly indicates the presence of an Early Christian ecclesiastical enclosure (Swan 1988, 21). No evidence of earlier enclosure visible on aerial photograph. Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 12 October 2015

• WM003-069 Cross - Wayside cross
  Description

  A loose pile of stones marks the site of a 17th century wayside cross now lying on the ground located on W side of a possible medieval road, 80m S of Rathgarve Church (WM003-068----) and graveyard (WM003-068001-) with motte and bailey (WM003-070----) 40m to the W and a castle (WM003-066----) 350m to the S. Unable to locate the base and shaft of the cross which may be located amongst the stones now incorporated into field boundary of the old roadway. The cross stood on a rise of ground with good views in all directions. Cross recorded in 1874 by the Ordnance Survey as 'a portion of a cross. The upper portion is nearly perfect and there is an inscription on it but much defaced. I would read ….. The socket stands on a raised mound, the head is seperated from it' (OS Field Name Book 1874, 10). The cross was shown standing in a triangular-shaped base when it was sketched by George Du Noyer in 1864 (George Victor Du Noyer, “Calvary cross from the road side near the old church of Rathgarve Co. W Meath. Sheet 3/4.,” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 24, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23479). Described in 1928 as 'The fragments of a cross with solid recessed ring 1ft. 5in. (0.4m) in diameter. The head is 2ft. 3in. (0.67m) across the arms, and has in the centre a narrow panel containing several initial letters and date 1604. The head is placed on the base to which it belongs, and part of the shaft 2ft. 6in. (0.75m) long lies beside it. It is situated in the field W of the lane and S of the church (WM003-068----)'(Crawford 1928, 58, no. 6). Described in 1980 as 'The head of a solid ringed cross (H 0.58m; Wth 0.7m; T 0.14m). This is set in a small mound of grass covered stones in the W side of a N-S field fence on W side of laneway S of Rathgarve Church (WM003-068----) and NW of a motte and bailey (WM003-070----). There is now a barbed wire fence running along the field bank and the wire has been trained across the face of the cross so that I am unable to move it to examine both faces, with assistance it should be possible to move the cross without damaging it or the fence. The edges of the arms and ring are bevelled and there are 4 shallow depressions or cusps on the face of the ring near the edge. The arms have suffered damage in the past with sections of the surface having flaked off so that the ring appears to be raised at the junctions with these arms, but this is purely due to the damage as the surface is level at the junction with the other arm. It is not possible to see what if anything remains of the shaft without moving the cross. The hidden face appears to have the cusps and possibly also a figure carving or an inscription' (SMR file). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 23 June 2010

• WM003-070 Castle - motte and bailey
  Description

  Situated on top of a high steep ridge in grassland, with commanding views of the surrounding countryside. Tower house (WM003-066----) 280m to S, 17th century wayside cross (WM003-069---) 50m to W, Rathgarve church (WM003-068----) and graveyard (WM003-068001-) 120m to NNW. Stream which forms the townland boundary with Stonestown is 150m to E. The remains of a narrow roadway flanked on either side by a low stone wall 50m W of motte and bailey could be medieval in date. Present remains consist of a high steep, flat topped earthen mound (top diam. 18m E-W; base diam. 30m E-W) now covered in scrub vegetation which is enclosed by a wide, deep fosse and earthen bank, with a narrow causeway across the fosse at N. To N of the motte is a rectangular bailey (approx. dims. 32m N-S x 29m E-W) enclosed by an earthen bank and fosse. The enclosing bank is visible only at N. Traces of cultivation ridges are visible running WSW-ESE across the interior of the bailey. See attached plan of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI. Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 22 May 2017

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 Rathgarve with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Westmeath.

Name

Rathgarve · Ráth Garbh

Area

396,598 m² (39.66 ha, 98 acres)

Civil parish

Rathgarve, and its townlands

Barony

Fore

Electoral division

Hilltown, the unit of the census

Neighbouring townlands

Ballycomoyle, Gilbertstown, Millcastle, Robinstown Upper, Stonestown

Placenames

Rathgarve 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.