NatCountry house · 1640–1660The Castle (country house)CastletownshendPhoto: Jbuck78 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
The Castle (country house) · Photo: Jbuck78 · CC BY-SA 4.050buildings on the National Inventory
History of Castletownshend · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Castletownshend: 37% of homes built before 1919
The typical town has 3.4%: Castletownshend has 11 times the share. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records 50 buildings in Castletownshend, one of them of national importance. The oldest record dates from 1640. Inside the town, the Sites and Monuments Record lists 8 archaeological sites.
On the National Inventory
50
Of national importance
1
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
8
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1640
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
37%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
4 pictures of historic Castletownshend
Of the buildings pictured in Castletownshend, The Castle is the oldest, from 1640. Pictures exist for 3 of the places Castletownshend has on the record. You can start with The Castle (country house) and Drishane House (country house).
Drishane House (country house)Regional rating (NIAH)
Saint Barrahane's Church (Castlehaven)Regional rating (NIAH)
Knockdrum Stone FortArchaeological monument (SMR)+1See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The map
Where Castletownshend’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
National and InternationalRegional and other sites
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 50, by rating
1 National and International49 Regional and other sites
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is the State’s survey of buildings from 1700 to today, county by county; each record gives a rating, dates, a type and an appraisal. Being on it is not legal protection: that is each council’s Record of Protected Structures.
Points from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
National and International
One place of national importance in Castletownshend
Buildings the National Inventory rates National or International: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Each one opens its own page.
Regional and other sites
49 more historic places in Castletownshend
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 25, A to Z
Ard na GréineBow HallDrishane House (country house)Drishane House (gate lodge)Gally YachtHarbour ViewLill McCarthyMall CottageMall HouseRed HouseRose CottageSaint Barrahane's Church (Castlehaven)Seafield HouseShanacoteSperanzaSundial HouseThe Castle (folly)The Old Post OfficeThe Priest's HouseThe White HouseTop HouseTree CottageVirginia CottageWatch HouseWoodview
24 recorded by their type and address
24 are recorded only by their type and address: 17 homes, 5 street furniture and 1 farm and estate buildings; most date from the 18th century.
18th century16
19th century7
20th century1
Historic streets
Main Street has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Main Street37 on the record
The Mall4 on the record
Cross Street3 on the record
Of the 50 records, 44 give a street address.
What’s recorded
Castletownshend’s record leans to homes: 80%
Castletownshend’s record covers 6 kinds of building in all. In Castletownshend, street furniture weigh more than nationally: 10%, against 3%. The highest-rated include The Castle and Bow Hall.
Homes40
Street furniture5
Churches and chapels1
Farm and estate buildings1
Public buildings1
Other buildings2
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Castletownshend’s dated buildings come from the 16th to 18th centuries
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries25
19th century 1800–189917
1900 and later to today8
25 of the 50 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is The Castle, from 1640.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Castletownshend
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
8 archaeological sites inside the town
Sites on the Record of Monuments and Places, the statutory list drawn from this record, are protected by law: anyone planning work at or near one must give the National Monuments Service two months’ notice.
| Burnt mound2 records |
| Designed landscape - belvedere1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
| Church1 record |
| Country house1 record |
| Corn store1 record |
| Cupmarked stone1 record |
Just outside Castletownshend: 12
| Knockdrum Stone FortArchaeological monument (SMR) · 800 m outside the town |
| Rinneen Mills (mill (water))Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town |
| Castlehaven HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| St. Barrahane's Roman Catholic ChurchRegional rating (NIAH) · 900 m outside the town |
| Castletownsend National SchoolRegional rating (NIAH) · 800 m outside the town |
| Glen BarrahaneRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Rinneen Mills (house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town |
| WoodvaleRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.6 km outside the town |
| Gate lodge, FarrandeligeenRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Water pump, RinneenRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.7 km outside the town |
| House, RinneenRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.7 km outside the town |
| Post box, Rinneen Crossroads, RinneenRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town |
Homes by age
Castletownshend has added few homes since 2011: 1.5%, where most towns have 5.8%
Castletownshend added comparatively little from 1981 to 2000: 16% of its homes, the typical town 24%. A full 7.5% of the homes in Castletownshend went up between the wars, beyond the typical 3.9%. Building from 1946 to 1980 fell short in Castletownshend: 15%, against 24% in most towns.
37%
Before 1919
7.5%
1919–45
15%
1946–80
16%
1981–2000
22%
2001–10
1.5%
Since 2011
CastletownshendTypical town
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
Neighbours
Castletownshend and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castletownshend | 167 | 50 | 1 | 8 |
| Skibbereen | 2,903 | 119 | 0 | 5 |
In brief
Castletownshend in brief
More of Castletownshend’s homes are old than in most places: 37% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 50 places on the record, 1 of them in the top tier, including The Castle. On Main Street alone there are 37 places on the record. Most entries on the list, 80%, are homes.
Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 25 of 50. The oldest, The Castle, dates from 1640. It also has 8 archaeological sites on the record. Beyond that, Henry Boyle Townshend Somerville (1863) was born here before 1900.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
- Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
- Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
- Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
- The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Castletownshend’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Castletownshend?
50 buildings on the National Inventory, one of them of national importance, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Which places in Castletownshend are of national importance?
The Castle (country house).
What is the oldest building in Castletownshend?
The Castle: the first date on its record is 1640.
Are there archaeological sites in Castletownshend?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 8 archaeological sites inside Castletownshend.
How old are the homes in Castletownshend?
37% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
This page describes its history; it gives no grade.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata and English Wikipedia for people born here · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).