Photo: HENRY CLARK · CC BY-SA 2.0Oldcastle: 55 buildings on the National Inventory
History in Oldcastle goes back at least to 1720, the date of its oldest recorded building. Inside the town, the Sites and Monuments Record lists 6 archaeological sites.
Oldcastle’s landmarks
The photo shows Loughcrew, one of Oldcastle’s recorded places.
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 Oldcastle’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).
55 historic places in Oldcastle
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 28, A to Z
27 recorded by their type and address
27 are recorded only by their type and address: 18 homes, 3 street furniture and 2 other buildings; most date from the 19th century.
Church Street has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 55 records, 50 give a street address.
The record in Oldcastle starts with homes, at 51%
The highest-rated include “Graveyard, Saint Bride's Church” and “Gates, Saint Bride's Church”. In second place come walls, gates and bridges, with 4. Rated by importance, Oldcastle’s buildings are all regional.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Oldcastle’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1 of the 55 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Graveyard, Saint Bride's Church (Oldcastle), from 1720.
Archaeology in Oldcastle
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
6 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.
| Church1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
| Cross1 record |
| Graveslab (present location)1 record |
| Castle - motte and bailey1 record |
| Fulacht fia1 record |
Just outside Oldcastle: 42
| LoughcrewArchaeological monument (SMR) · 2.8 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (walled garden)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (farm house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.1 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (tank / silo)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.1 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.1 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (farm house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
| Killeagh HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.1 km outside the town |
| Crossdrum House (country house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Saint Kaernan's Church (Loughcrew)Regional rating (NIAH) · 2.7 km outside the town |
| Loughcrew HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 3 km outside the town |
| Tubride HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 200 m outside the town |
| House, MillbrookRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.2 km outside the town |
33% of Oldcastle’s homes were built in the 2000s
From 2011 on, Oldcastle built 6.4% of its homes, near the typical 5.8%. A full 10% of the homes in Oldcastle went up between the wars, beyond the typical 3.9%. Before 1919: 4.2% of the homes in Oldcastle, roughly the usual 3.4%.
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.
3 notable people born in Oldcastle before 1900
From Richard Kirby Ridgeway (1848) to Kathleen Napoli McKenna (1897): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Oldcastle → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Oldcastle and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oldcastle | 1,409 | 55 | 0 | 6 |
| Virginia | 3,211 | 20 | 0 | 3 |
| Ballyjamesduff | 2,917 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| Castlepollard | 1,349 | 40 | 0 | 8 |
| Mullagh | 1,651 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Kells | 6,608 | 80 | 0 | 43 |
Oldcastle in brief
More of Oldcastle’s homes are old than in most places: 4.2% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 55 places on the record. On Church Street alone there are 14 places on the record. Of the whole list, 51% are homes.
Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 40 of 55. The oldest, Graveyard, Saint Bride's Church (Oldcastle), dates from 1720. Alicia Adélaide Needham (1863), Kathleen Napoli McKenna (1897) and Richard Kirby Ridgeway (1848) were all 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 Oldcastle’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Oldcastle?
55 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Oldcastle?
Graveyard, Saint Bride's Church (Oldcastle): the first date on its record is 1720.
Are there archaeological sites in Oldcastle?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 6 archaeological sites inside Oldcastle.
How old are the homes in Oldcastle?
4.2% 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 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).