Sionhill

23 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Sionhill, from 169 m² to 769,521 m² (76.95 ha, 190.15 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 26 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 Sionhill 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.

• 30 May 2025Conditional

  A 10-year planning permission and a 40-year operational life for a solar energy development with a total site area of 157 hectares comprising (i) photovoltaic solar panels on steel mounting frames; (ii) electrical transformer stations; (iii) underground electrical and communications cabling within the proposed development site, private lands and within the carriageway of the L1501, L1505, L5610, L5611 and L5614 public roads; (iv) containerised battery energy storage facility; (v) the upgrade of 4 no. existing site entrances and development of 1 no. new site entrance; (vi) on-site access tracks; (vii) 4 no. temporary construction compounds; (viii) security fencing and gates; (ix) pole-mounted security cameras; and (x) all associated and ancillary site development, landscaping and reinstatement works. This planning application is accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment Screening Report and a Natura Impact Statement.

  Permission · Westmeath County Council, 2560268

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 Sionhill.

Recorded monuments

• WM020-043 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Situated on a high terrace on the NW-side of a high hill, in pasture with extensive views to S, SW and N. Depicted on the 1837 OS 6-inch map as a circular-shaped earthwork intersected at SE by a field boundary. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a D-shaped earthwork transected by a field boundary to SE. Monument described in 1970 as a broad oval-shaped area (dims. 41m N-S; 29m E-W) defined by a scarp and fosse. The scarp is relatively high (H 2.7m) and exists from SE-S-W-NW. There are traces of a fosse also from SE-S-W-NW. The original entrance is not clearly recognisable but it may have been through a gap (Wth at top 4m; basal Wth 2m) at ENE. There are gaps in the scarp at E and SE where traversed by modern field fences. The interior is divided into three parts by two modern field fences. One extends ENE-WSW and NE-SW across the S quadrant and the other extends NW-SE across the S sector. The division to N has clear traces of cultivation ridges running N-S. Monument is visible as a partially tree-lined earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 04 July 2019

• WM020-044 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Situated on a slight terrace, on the W-facing slope of a high-ridge, in pasture, with good views to W and NW. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a subcircular-shaped earthwork. Monument described in 1998 as an oval-shaped area (dims 19.7m E-W; 15.5m N-S) enclosed by an earthen bank (int. H 0.2-0.3m; ext. H 0.35m; Wth 2.6-3.5m) from NE-E-S-W, which has been reduced to an embankment (H 0.45-0.7m) from W-N-NE. The bank is flat topped (Wth at top 0.8m) from ESE-S-SSW. There is a gap (Wth 1.4m) in the bank at ESE and another gap (Wth 7m) at SW. There is no longer any evidence of a fosse, although an ASI field description from 1970 describes a deep U-shaped fosse that was visible from ENE-E-S. The interior has a gentle E-facing slope. Monument is visible as a plectrum-shaped earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 04 July 2019

• WM020-045 Castle - motte
  Description

  Situated on the summit of a high hill, in pasture, with extensive views in all directions. Enclosure (WM020-046----) lies c. 62m to ESE. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a roughly oval-shaped earthwork with an OS trig. point marking 503 ft. OD in the centre. According to Adams (1959, 57), a ‘mote’ is situated on Sion Hill and again Adams (1960, 25-26) references ‘an artificial platform on the highest point of Sion Hill’. Monument described in 1970 as a roughly circular-shaped earthen platform (approx. diam. 20m) defined by a high, steep-sided scarp (approx. H 2.3m). There is no visible trace of a fosse or an outer bank. A portion of the scarp has been quarried away from E-S leaving a slightly concave indent in the perimeter. The original entrance is not visible. The top of the platform has a very gentle WSW-facing slope. Within the centre is a low circular mound of earth and stones that supports an OS triangulation station. Monument is visible as a suboval-shaped earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. Classification of this monument is uncertain, the flat-topped platform and gently sloping sides of the monument suggests that this may be the remains of a prehistoric burial mound or an Anglo-Norman motte. Hilltop location may suggest that this was a burial mound rather than an Anglo-Norman motte, however flat topped platform would point towards motte castle classification or medieval raised rath/ringfort. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 04 July 2019

• WM020-048 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Situated on the S-side of a high ridge, in pasture and tillage with good views to E and W. Sionhill House lies c. 170m to NW. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a roughly circular-shaped earthwork. Monument described in 1970 as a large circular shaped area (approx. diam. 49m) enclosed by a bank which has been reduced to a scarp and with the remains of an external fosse. The bank is substantial and best preserved from E-SE. elsewhere it is slight with a number of gaps. The wide shallow fosse is visible from W-N-E-SE. A later trench has been dug outside the bank from S-W. The original entrance is not clearly visible. A possible entrance gap may exist at E-SSE where the bank is reduced to a scarp, it is slightly defaced and a depression exists at the base. There is a large, shallow quarry hole on the exterior from SE-SSE. The interior has a gentle NE-facing slope with traces of cultivation ridges running NE-SW. Monument is visible today as a partial circular tree-lined earthwork, the interior of which has been ploughed across as shown on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 11 June 2019

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Sionhill.

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 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 Sionhill.

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

Name

Sionhill

Area

1,605,225 m² (160.52 ha, 396.66 acres)

Civil parish

Killucan, and its townlands

Barony

Farbill

Electoral division

Raharney, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Raharney electoral division: 524 people in 182 households; 82% of households own their home; 28% of homes were built since 2001; 5% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 1% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Balrath East, Chanonstown, Clonlost, Corbally, Corbetstown, Edmondstown, Hodgestown, Lunestown, Millerstown

Placenames

Sionhill 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.