What is recorded here

Cahermacnaghten is a small stone ringfort on a Clare karst plateau, its broken wall still standing beside a later three-cell structure that never appeared on historic maps. The cashel measures barely twenty metres across, has no visible entrance, and hides inside a field system old enough to stretch across several ages. People may have lived, hidden or herded animals within it before scrub began swallowing the views, but the stones give no name and no date. What remains is a compact human shape on open land, half forgotten and still resisting the pasture that covers it.

On an undulating karst plateau under pasture, within a large multiperiod field system (CL009-001001-). At the N edge of a level area with lower ground to the N. View restricted by encroaching scrub c. 30m to the W and 60m to the E. Hachured on the 1842 and 1920 eds. of the OS 6-inch map, and on the OS 25-inch map (1897). Listed as ‘Enclosure’ in the RMP (1996). This and another cashel (CL009-001019-) c. 77m to the SE may be those named ‘Kaheriskebohell’ and ‘Karhirballyungane’ in the Book of Distribution (1655) (Westropp 1911, 365), and associated with Caheridoula cashel (CL009-001017-) c. 540m to the N. A small, poorly preserved subcircular cashel (19.4m N–S; 18.95m E–W) defined by a partially intact stone wall, against which lies a deposit of rubble and earth (Wth c. 1m). The upper part of the outer facing of the wall is built of medium-sized horizontally laid stones (H 0.6–0.8m). The internal ground level is higher than the exterior and a wider deposit of earth here (Wth c. 2–4m) is almost flush with the top of the wall (max. H 0.2m). The thickness of the wall cannot be gauged at any point. There is no visible entrance. Abutting the cashel exterior to the ENE are the collapsed walls (Wth c. 0.6m) of a possibly later structure (int. dims. 10.6m N–S; c. 2m E–W). This is made up of three cells or compartments, which get progressively longer toward the S (int. L 1.45m, 2.25m and 5.2m respectively). No entrance is visible and it is not marked on historic maps. A possibly contemporary field wall visible on Digital Globe (2011-2013) extends for c. 5m from the S exterior of the cashel before turning SE for c. 11m. Almost touching the outside of the enclosure at the SW is a field wall aligned NW–SE, which marks the boundary between Cahermacnaghten and Lissylisheen townlands. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 12 October 2021

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