Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

On high ground with steeply sloping ground to the N and S and good views; within an extensive multiperiod field system (CL009-059001-). Indicated and named ‘Cashlaunawogga’ on the 1840 ed. of the OS 6-inch map and named ‘Cashlaunawogga in Ruins’ on the 1897 ed. Described by Westropp (1900, 398) as having massive walls with the name ‘Cashlaunawogga’ or ‘the sham castle’ about which no history was known. He later noted (1915, 253) that the name ‘Caheremon’ was reputedly transferred to the castle from a nearby cashel. Described by Petrie (1972, 254) as ‘another fine remain’ and by O’Donovan in 1839 (Comber 1997, 89) as ‘Caislen-an-Mhaga’ which according to the local population was ‘well begun but never raised any higher than it is at present’. O’Donovan (ibid.) also noted that some writers had assigned an ecclesiastical origin to the remains. Ua Cróinín and Breen (1997) name it ‘Caislean A’Mhaghaidh’ and repeat the tradition that it was never completed and that there is no written historical account relating to it.
A poorly preserved tower house (int. dims. c. 6.2m E-W; c. 5m N-S; H c. 3.5m) constructed from large, mortared limestone blocks with little evidence for dressing (Wth c. 0.7-1.1m). The base of the wall is steeply battered and the only evidence for the stairwell seems to be a single corbel and one slab at ground level perpendicular to the E wall. It is located in the NE corner of a bawn (CL016-011002-) of similar construction. The possible foundations of a building (CL016-011004-) lie c. 3m to the W and a limekiln (CL016-011003-) is built into the S-facing slope under the bawn (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997; Breen and Ua Cróinín 1997).

The following item has been uploaded:
CL016-011002-_01.pdf Details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Lynda McCormack

Date of upload: 1 February 2022

References

Westropp, T.J. 1915 Prehistoric remains (forts and dolmens) in Burren and its south western border, Co. Clare. Part 12: North Western Part. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5, 45-62, 249-74.

Breen, M. and Ua Cróinín, R. 1997 Some north-west Clare towerhouses. The Other Clare 21, 5-14.

Petrie, G. and O'Malley, D.J.S. 1972 Aspects of George Petrie. V. An essay on military architecture in Ireland previous to the English invasion. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 72, 219-69.

Westropp, T.J. 1900 Excursions of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Summer meeting, 1900. Description of the places visited. Section III. Third excursion; Section IV. Fourth Excursion. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 10, 392-419; 420-26.

Ua Cróinín, R. and Breen, M. 1997 The castles and tower-houses of Co. Clare, 6 vols. Unpublished report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.

Comber, M. (ed.) 1997 The antiquities of County Clare: John O’Donovan and Eugene Curry: Ordnance Survey Letters 1839. Clasp Press. Ennis.