Historic town

The National Monuments Service's description

On the E bank of the River Suir. In the 3rd century AD there is a reference in the Book of Lecan to the destruction of Cahir fort (Burke 1909, 272) and there are other references to the fort in Brehon law texts (ibid.). In c. 1169 Cahir was granted to William de Braos and in 1215 the ownership of Cahir was granted to Philip Worcester and eventually passed, by his grand-daughters marriage, to the Birminghams, who possessed it until 1332 (ibid.). In 1375 the manor of Cahir was bestowed on James Butler, Earl of Ormond, in whose family it remained almost continuously up to the 19th century (ibid.). Cahir Castle was attacked in 1599 and captured by Elizabethan forces under the Lord Lieutenant Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 132-3). In 1647 Murrough "the Burner" O'Brien, Parliamentarian Lord President of Munster (Inchiquin), captured the castle which in 1650 was surrendered to Cromwell (ibid.). Upstanding monuments in the town include the castle (TS075-048001-); the abbey (TS075-048002-); the church (TS075-048003-); a holy well (TS075-048004-); a bridge ((TS075-048005-); a stone head (TS075-048006-); a stone plaque ((TS075-048008-); mills (TS075-048009-); weirs (TS075-048010-) and a graveyard (TS075-048011-). The precise location and extent of the medieval and early modern town of Caher is unknown.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 26 August 2011

References

Killanin, M.M. and Duignan, M.V. 1967 (2nd ed.) The Shell guide to Ireland. London. The Ebury Press.

Burke, Rev. W.P. 1909 Cahir castle. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland 39, 272-4.