What is recorded here

Bawn in Cahermacon sits on a narrow rectangular stone platform in County Clare pasture, where a grassed wall and broken foundations still mark the edge of a late-medieval household. Locals call it Lochlann Riabhach Ó hEithir’s House, as if one red-haired man had stood at the centre of that small world, watching roads, herds and weather pass below. The platform slopes south, rises sharply on the east, and keeps its quarried northern face like a shelf cut for living rather than display. What is missing has not disappeared; it has been absorbed into grass, rain and the patience of stone.

In pastureland. Breen and Ua Cróinín (2000, 5) suggest that a bawn wall was built on this natural rectangular platform (66m N-S; 30m E-W) sloping to the S. Two possible late-medieval buildings (CL016-144001- and CL016-144002-) are located on its N half. The N side of the platform is defined by a scarp (H 1.5m) and a quarry face is visible at its base. A grassed-over stone wall runs along the top of the E edge of this side; it could be related to the building shown in this area on the 1940 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. The E side (H 2.2m) is steeper. A wall visible about midway along scarp face may have been built to retain the platform. The S side is indistinct but a briar-covered cairn and possible house foundations are visible in the SE corner; the latter may be the remains of another building shown on the 1840 ed. Breen and Ua Cróinín (ibid.) note that the linear wall/bank on the W side, which extends around to the W end of the N side, suggests that the platform was once protected by a wall. They also suggest that Ballycasheen Castle (see CL016-194----) may have been located within this site, which is known locally as ‘Lochlann Riabhach Ó hEithir’s House'. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 25 August 2022

A bawn wall was built on a natural rectangular platform in the late medieval period; its construction reflects local defensive adaptations during that era.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.