Spencer Bridge · Photo: Alex Passmore · CC BY-SA 2.0Rathangan has 53 buildings on the National Inventory
Rathangan’s oldest recorded building dates from 1700. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 17 archaeological sites inside the town. For every 10,000 residents, Rathangan has 162 buildings on the record; the typical town has 48.
typical town: 48
Look around Rathangan: 3 photos
First come Spencer Bridge and 23rd Lock. 3 of Rathangan’s recorded places are photographed. Of the buildings pictured in Rathangan, 23rd Lock is the oldest, from 1780.
23rd LockRegional rating (NIAH)
Catholic Church of the Assumption and Saint PatrickRegional rating (NIAH)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 Rathangan’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).
53 historic places in Rathangan
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 26, A to Z
27 recorded by their type and address
27 are recorded only by their type and address: 21 homes, 4 walls, gates and bridges and 1 mills, stations and works; most date from the 18th century.
Leinster Street has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 53 records, 41 give a street address.
60% of Rathangan’s recorded buildings are homes
Across Ireland walls, gates and bridges make up 8% of the record, so Rathangan’s 17% stands out. Among the highest-rated: Rathangan Garda Síochána Station and “Gates, Rathangan Church”. In Rathangan, every record stops at a regional rating.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Rathangan’s dated buildings come from the 16th to 18th centuries
Each building by the first date on its record.
34 of the 53 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Rathangan Garda Síochána Station, from 1700.
Archaeology in Rathangan
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
17 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.
| Ringfort - rath4 records |
| Church2 records |
| Enclosure2 records |
| Settlement deserted - medieval1 record |
| Castle - tower house1 record |
| Castle - ringwork1 record |
| Designed landscape feature1 record |
| Well1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
| Architectural fragment1 record |
| Ritual site - holy well1 record |
| Standing stone1 record |
Just outside Rathangan: 6
| Agar BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 2 km outside the town |
| Wilson's BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.9 km outside the town |
| Glenaree Bridge and 22nd LockRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.1 km outside the town |
| Hollywood HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.6 km outside the town |
| Blakefield HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2 km outside the town |
| Bushfield HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.2 km outside the town |
Since 2011, Rathangan has added 20% of its homes, against a usual 5.8%
Building in Rathangan peaked in the 2000s: 37% of the homes now standing. Before 1919: 4.5% of the homes in Rathangan, where most towns have about 3.4%. Fewer of Rathangan’s homes than usual date from 1946 to 1980: 16%, against 24%.
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.
Rathangan and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathangan | 3,263 | 53 | 0 | 17 |
| Kildare | 10,302 | 97 | 2 | 68 |
| Monasterevin | 5,307 | 104 | 5 | 6 |
| Kilmeage | 1,054 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Allenwood | 1,685 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Newbridge | 24,366 | 89 | 1 | 4 |
| Derrinturn | 1,837 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Rathangan in brief
Old houses are part of Rathangan’s character: 4.5% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. All told, the list holds 53 places on the record. For its size, it has more recorded buildings than 82% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. Leinster Street alone has 12 places on the record.
Most entries on the list, 60%, are homes. Of the 53 with a date, 34 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. The oldest is Rathangan Garda Síochána Station, from 1700. Beyond that, it has 53 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 20); and George Pomeroy Colley (1835) and Éamon Broy (1887) 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 Rathangan’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Rathangan?
53 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Rathangan?
Rathangan Garda Síochána Station: the first date on its record is 1700.
Are there archaeological sites in Rathangan?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 17 archaeological sites inside Rathangan.
How old are the homes in Rathangan?
4.5% 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).