St Columba's Roman Catholic Church · Photo: Michael O'Sheil · CC BY-SA 4.0Douglas: 51 buildings on the National Inventory
Douglas’s oldest recorded building dates from 1730. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 31 archaeological sites inside the town. For every 10,000 residents, Douglas has 23 buildings on the record; the typical town has 48. Of its homes, 1.8% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
typical town: 48
Douglas in 2 photos
There are photos of 2 of Douglas’s recorded places so far. Among them: St Columba's Roman Catholic Church and St Luke's Church of Ireland Church. The oldest building pictured in Douglas is St Columba's Roman Catholic Church, from 1810.
Photos 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.
Where Douglas’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
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).
51 historic places in Douglas
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 34, A to Z
17 recorded by their type and address
17 are recorded only by their type and address: 10 homes, 3 street furniture and 2 walls, gates and bridges; most date from the 19th century.
West Douglas Street and Churchyard Lane have the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 51 records, 24 give a street address.
65% of Douglas’s recorded buildings are homes
6 different kinds of building make up Douglas’s record. The next biggest group is walls, gates and bridges, 5 in all. Two of the highest-rated records are Donnybrook House and Hop Island House.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Douglas’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
6 of the 51 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Donnybrook House, from 1730.
Archaeology in Douglas
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
31 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.
| Fulacht fia6 records |
| Country house5 records |
| Ringfort - rath5 records |
| Graveyard3 records |
| Midden2 records |
| Enclosure2 records |
| House - fortified house1 record |
| Railway bridge1 record |
| Mill - woollen1 record |
| Souterrain1 record |
| Castle - unclassified1 record |
| Mill - flax1 record |
| Kiln - corn-drying1 record |
| Standing stone1 record |
Douglas grew fastest from 1981 to 2000, when 34% of its homes were built
Most of Douglas’s homes are older than 2001. Douglas built little between the wars: 1.3% of its homes, where most towns have 3.9%. Building since 2011 in Douglas, 6.8% of its homes, keeps pace with the norm of 5.8%.
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.
Douglas and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas | 22,029 | 51 | 0 | 31 |
| Tramore | 4,803 | 56 | 0 | 1 |
| Frankfield and Grange | 7,687 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Mahon | 13,892 | 109 | 4 | 14 |
| Ballinlough | 5,435 | 45 | 0 | 3 |
| Knockrea | 5,228 | 237 | 5 | 5 |
| Turner's Cross | 7,208 | 85 | 1 | 1 |
Douglas in brief
The official list counts 51 places on the record in Douglas. Most entries on the list, 65%, are homes. Of the 51 with a date, 36 come from the 19th century. The oldest is Donnybrook House, from 1730.
Its homes are mostly newer: 1.8% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. It also has 31 archaeological sites on the record. The rest is about typical: it has 51 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 71); per resident it sits near the middle of Irish towns of 2,500 or more; and Lennox Robinson (1886) and John Dunlay (1831) were born here before 1900.
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 Douglas’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Douglas?
51 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Douglas?
Donnybrook House: the first date on its record is 1730.
Are there archaeological sites in Douglas?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 31 archaeological sites inside Douglas.
How old are the homes in Douglas?
1.8% 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).