Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

On a narrow and fairly level terrace on the W face of a steep ridge on the E side of the valley between Gleninagh ‘Mountain’ and Cappanawalla Hill and within a field system (CL002-033001-). Hachured and named ‘Caherfeenagh’ on the 1842 and 1915 eds. OS 6-inch maps and named ‘Cathair Fhiodhnaigh’ on Robinson’s 1977 map. The name of the cashel and the townland refers to forests that must have once filled the area. Westropp (1908, 272) when remarking on this, noted the large ash trees that in his time still grew in it. A very substantial subcircular cashel (int. dims. 29.2m E–W; 26.4m N–S) defined by an internally terraced wall (Wth 7m; int. H 1.3m; ext. H 2.7m at N) well- reserved along the S side but collapsed and with abutting piles of clearance stones along the N. A line of internal facing-stones, along the S upper wall surface suggests that the walls are skinned in places. This and the terracing, visible intermittently between areas of collapsed stone along the inner wall-face, are like those at the Western Stone Forts (Cotter 2012). There appears to be three internal terraces. Just W of N, a depression in the top of the wall (2.5m x 2.5m) filled with collapsed stone may be the remains of a now roofless inter-mural chamber. A well-preserved entrance gap (Wth on outer face 4m; Wth on inner face 4.3m) at ENE is orientated E–W. The terracing and other details were more clearly visible to Westropp (1901, 275–6), who also recorded a ‘curiously divergent… character’ in the masonry, with sections of the S, E and N faces built well of large flat stones ‘laid as stretchers in the base courses but as headers above, but in other segments ‘ the masonry is very inferior, large and small stones being used indiscriminately in the facing’. From this detail we can deduce it seems likely that there are very different phases of construction or repairs to the fort. Two surviving flights of stairs were also visible to Westropp (ibid.), to the NNW and SSW, perhaps now still surviving beneath rubble. He recorded the NNW one as comprising six steps (visible above debris) and the SSW one as comprising three/four steps (av. step L 31”; H 7–8”/L 0.8m; H 0.2m). A hut site (CL002-033008-) is located c. 44m upslope, to the N. At least another three other cashels also occur within this field system (CL002-033001-), two largely denuded cashels (CL002-033002- and CL002-033003-) c. 370m NW and c. 140m NW and a cliff-edge fort ‘Lismacsheedy’ (CL005-018002-) c. 200m SE.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin

Date of upload: 25 November 2020

References

Westropp, T.J. 1908 The forests of the counties of the Lower Shannon Valley. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 27(C), 270-300.

Westropp, T.J 1901 Prehistoric remains in north-western Clare part II. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 31, 273-91.

Cotter, C. 2012 The western stone forts project. Excavations at Dún Aonghasa and Dún Eoghanachta. 2 vols. Dublin. Wordwell Ltd.