Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity · Photo: Mamonov102 · CC BY-SA 3.0Donard: 18% of homes built before 1919
The typical town has 3.4%: Donard has 5 times the share. Donard has 15 buildings on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1770. Inside the town, the Sites and Monuments Record lists 6 archaeological sites.
Donard’s buildings in 2 pictures
The oldest building in Donard’s set dates from 1925: Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity. Look out for Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity and Kelsha Bridge.
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 Donard’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).
15 historic places in Donard
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 7, A to Z
8 recorded by their type and address
8 are recorded only by their type and address: 7 homes and 1 other buildings; most date from the 19th century.
Donard’s largest group: homes, 73% of the record
Leading the record by rating: Donard Demesne House and Miller Byrne's Cottage. Second on the record: churches and chapels, 2 of them. Its buildings rate regional: Donard has none of national importance.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Donard’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
2 of the 15 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Donard Demesne House, from 1770.
Archaeology in Donard
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.
| Graveslab2 records |
| Ogham stone (present location)1 record |
| Church1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
| Memorial stone1 record |
Just outside Donard: 5
| Donaghmore ChurchRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.7 km outside the town |
| Kelsha BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.6 km outside the town |
| Donard House (country house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 300 m outside the town |
| Donaghmore National SchoolRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.7 km outside the town |
| Catholic Church of Our Lady of Dolours and Saint PatrickRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.8 km outside the town |
12% of Donard’s homes are newer than 2011 (5.8% is typical)
More of Donard’s homes than usual date between the wars: 5.4%, against 3.9%. Donard’s largest group of homes, 27%, went up from 1946 to 1980. Just 16% of the homes in Donard went up in the 2000s, short of the typical 25%.
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.
Donard and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donard | 238 | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| Dunlavin | 1,074 | 17 | 1 | 10 |
| Baltinglass | 2,611 | 38 | 1 | 11 |
| Kilcullen | 3,815 | 30 | 2 | 2 |
| Rathvilly | 1,074 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Blessington | 5,611 | 27 | 0 | 19 |
| Athgarvan | 1,193 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
Donard in brief
More of Donard’s homes are old than in most places: 18% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 15 places on the record. Of the whole list, 73% are homes.
Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 11 of 15. The oldest, Donard Demesne House, dates from 1770. The archaeological record adds 6 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 Donard’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Donard?
15 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Donard?
Donard Demesne House: the first date on its record is 1770.
Are there archaeological sites in Donard?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 6 archaeological sites inside Donard.
How old are the homes in Donard?
18% 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).