St. Mary's Catholic Church · Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0Greencastle: 32 buildings on the National Inventory
Greencastle has kept more old homes than most towns: 7.2% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1770. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 5 archaeological sites inside the town.
4 photos of Greencastle’s landmarks
Of the places on Greencastle’s record, 3 have a photo here. Two to begin with: St. Mary's Catholic Church and Northburgh Castle. Inishowen Maritime Museum and Planetarium, dated 1820, is the oldest pictured in Greencastle.
Northburgh CastleArchaeological monument (SMR)
Inishowen Maritime Museum and PlanetariumRegional rating (NIAH)
Warren LighthouseRegional rating (NIAH)+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.
Where Greencastle’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).
33 historic places in Greencastle
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 18, A to Z
15 recorded by their type and address
15 are recorded only by their type and address: 13 homes, 1 street furniture and 1 farm and estate buildings; most date from the 18th century.
The record in Greencastle starts with homes, at 72%
Nothing on Greencastle’s record is rated of national importance. The runner-up group is farm and estate buildings: 2 records. Leading the record by rating: St. Finian Church of Ireland Church and Carnagarve House.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Greencastle’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
7 of the 32 dated ones were built before 1800.
Archaeology in Greencastle
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
5 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.
| Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle1 record |
| Bawn1 record |
| Church1 record |
| Standing stone1 record |
| Ringfort - rath1 record |
Just outside Greencastle: 8
| St. Michall'sRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.9 km outside the town |
| Warren LighthouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| House, BallymacarthurRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| House, CarrowhughRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town |
| House, CarrowhughRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town |
| House, GreencastleRegional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| House, TawnawaddyRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.1 km outside the town |
| House, StrooveRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.9 km outside the town |
The biggest share of Greencastle’s homes dates in the 2000s: 36%
By 2001, Greencastle had built the greater part of the homes it has now. The last decade or so added 4.7% of Greencastle’s homes, much as in most towns (5.8%). Building between the wars gave Greencastle 3.8% of its homes, near the usual 3.9%.
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.
Greencastle and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greencastle | 1,268 | 32 | 0 | 5 |
| Moville | 1,390 | 54 | 0 | 3 |
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | 32 | 0 | 17 |
Greencastle in brief
More of Greencastle’s homes are old than in most places: 7.2% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 33 places on the record. Of the whole list, 72% are homes.
Of the 32 with a date, 22 come from the 19th century. The oldest is St. Finian Church of Ireland Church, from 1780. The archaeological record adds 5 sites.
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 Greencastle’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Greencastle?
32 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Greencastle?
House, Greencastle: the first date on its record is 1770.
Are there archaeological sites in Greencastle?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 5 archaeological sites inside Greencastle.
How old are the homes in Greencastle?
7.2% 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.
History is described here, not graded.
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 (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).