Saint Patrick's Catholic Church · Photo: Oliver Gargan · CC BY-SA 4.0Slane has 50 buildings on the National Inventory
Old homes stand out in Slane: 7% were built before 1919, where the typical town has 3.4%. The oldest record dates from 1740. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 17 archaeological sites inside the town.
Historic Slane through 7 photographs
So far the camera has reached 3 of Slane’s recorded places. Saint Patrick's Catholic Church and Slane Castle (demesne walls / gates / railings) lead the set. Slane Castle, dated 1790, is the oldest pictured in Slane.
Slane Castle (demesne walls / gates / railings)Regional rating (NIAH)
Saint Patrick's Church (Slane)Regional rating (NIAH)
Knowth Passage Tomb CemeteryNational monument to visit
Catholic Church of the Nativity of Our LadyRegional rating (NIAH)
Slane BridgeRegional rating (NIAH)+2See 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 Slane’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).
50 historic places in Slane
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 32, A to Z
18 recorded by their type and address
18 are recorded only by their type and address: 12 homes, 4 farm and estate buildings and 1 walls, gates and bridges; most date from the 18th century.
Chapel Street and The Square have the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 50 records, 49 give a street address.
Slane’s largest group: homes, 46% of the record
In Slane, every record stops at a regional rating. The next biggest group is farm and estate buildings, 10 in all. Two of the highest-rated records are Mount Charles Lodge and Regina House.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Slane’s dated buildings come from the 16th to 18th centuries
Each building by the first date on its record.
36 of the 50 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Mount Charles Lodge, from 1740.
Archaeology in Slane
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.
| Burial2 records |
| Graveslab (present location)2 records |
| Tomb - effigial (present location)1 record |
| Architectural feature1 record |
| Armorial plaque (present location)1 record |
| Font (present location)1 record |
| Cross - High cross (present location)1 record |
| Religious house - Franciscan Third Order Regular1 record |
| Stone sculpture (present location)1 record |
| House - medieval1 record |
| Stone sculpture1 record |
| Tomb - chest tomb1 record |
| Cross1 record |
| Ritual site - holy well1 record |
| Cross (present location)1 record |
Just outside Slane: 8
| Knowth Passage Tomb CemeteryNational monument to visit · 2.8 km outside the town |
| Beau ParcRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.4 km outside the town |
| Slane BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Slane Castle (country house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 300 m outside the town |
| Catholic Church of the Nativity of Our LadyRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.9 km outside the town |
| Canal (section of), SlaneRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Weir, SlaneRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Worker's house, SlaneRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
Slane has added few homes since 2011: 2.9%, where most towns have 5.8%
Building in Slane peaked in the 2000s: 41% of the homes now standing. Few of Slane’s homes date between the wars: 2.5%, the norm 3.9%. More than half of Slane’s housing predates 2001.
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 Slane before 1900
From Elizabeth Owens Blackburne (1848) to Francis Ledwidge (1887): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Slane → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Slane and its neighbours
Slane in brief
More of Slane’s homes are old than in most places: 7% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. All told, the list holds 50 places on the record. Chapel Street alone has 15 places on the record. Of the 50 with a date, 36 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. The oldest is Mount Charles Lodge, from 1740.
Francis Ledwidge (1887), John Cassidy (1860) and Elizabeth Owens Blackburne (1848) were all born here before 1900. It also has 17 archaeological sites on the record.
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 Slane’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Slane?
50 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Slane?
House, Chapel Street, Slane: the first date on its record is 1740.
Are there archaeological sites in Slane?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 17 archaeological sites inside Slane.
How old are the homes in Slane?
7% 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).